Reflections on the Eternal City

The Roman Forum as viewed from Capital Hill

Trevi Fountain

I recently spent several days in Rome, Italy, and I can easily see how it earned its nickname of the Eternal City. It was my third trip here.  On this particular trip I began a cruise from Rome, and I will share the cruise experience in a later post.  But Rome deserves its own chapter.

Of course, there is a lot that I could write about.  But I'll try to summarize my experience by focusing on these 3 subjects: History, Art, Food.






1.  History

Inside Pantheon

I love history, and Rome offers it in abundance. It has buildings that are 2000 years old, which is simply impossible to comprehend.  Sure... other cities have structures as old or older.  But consider Pantheon.  It was the largest domed structure on Earth until the 1960 Olympics (also in Rome).  It is still in fantastic condition, in the heart of the city, and is a testament to the marvel of Roman Engineering.  Also, anyone can enter it free of charge.

Consider the Coliseum.  It was built over a lake, and yet was made with such precision and planning that it still stands today.  The reason much of it disappeared over time is because its stones were plundered for other building projects.  But remarkably, much of the original structure is well preserved.  So much so that you can still see the original gate markers above the arches ("My ticket says gate XXIV... where are your seats.....?")

Inside the Coliseum

But I think the most intriguing legacy of Rome's history is its churches, and their juxtaposition with the remnants of the Roman Empire.  Originally, the Christians were the remnant.  They were an infant culture subject to much persecution by Rome.  The two cornerstones of the Christian church, Peter and Paul, were both executed here.  But today, you can witness the ruins of that empire in the shadow of multitudes of Christian basilicas.  According to TripAdvisor, the top 11 of 15 sites in Rome are churches (including Pantheon).  I should also add that there is a significant Jewish district in Rome, along with an impressive synagogue.  Which is also significant considering the extremes to which the Romans endured to eliminate the last remnant of a Jewish revolt at Masada in 73 AD.


The National Museum of Rome is well worth a visit.  It has an amazing collection of mosaics and frescoes collected from the excavations of various villas. Also, it has an impressive collection of coins spanning over 2500 years.
     

A Fresco in the National Museum

An Elaborate Mosaic in the National Museum

2. Art

It doesn't take long to get spoiled by the immense treasures of artwork in Rome.  It's quite fun to get a touristy "Must see" site listing and just try to follow it.  No matter where you are in the city, you are never far from seeing an exhibit of the "Masters".  Go to this church to see a Michelangelo sculpture.  That one has a Bernini.  This church has a Caravaggio painting.  That other church has a lessor known Michelangelo, but other than that, it's just another jaw-dropping immaculate church. Oh yeah... and there's the Vatican, where you can see the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica -- simply the most impressive church on earth.

The church buildings are an attraction on their own merit. The interiors in some are simply wonders to behold. Of course there is St. Peter's and many others. But two of my favorites are never crowded (except during mass) and can usually be enjoyed in quiet serenity: Sant'Ignazio di Loyola and Santa Maria degli Angeli.   

The baroque Sant'Ignazio di Loyola has a captivating array of paintings, stone sculptures, and even wooden sculptures. Its most impressive feature is its trompe l'oeil fresco ceiling painted by Andrea Pozzo, which is a stunning visual sensation to behold.

The Ceiling Fresco inside Sant'Ignazio di Loyola 

There is also a fake dome, so that if you stand in the nave it appears much larger.  But when standing directly beneath it, you see that it is actually just a canvas painting. I guess not every church can have Michelangelo build them a grand cuppola!

The Trompe l'oeil dome inside Sant'Ignazio

Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri (Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs) was one of Michelangelo's last architectural projects. The building was not originally a church, but was actually a part of the immense Diocletian Baths complex. This greatly adds to its appeal, since you can appreciate Michelangelo's skill as an architect as he reconstructed a marvel of a basilica in what was once a communal bath house. There is really no facade at the entrance, just what is left of the ancient bath complex. You would not think it would lead to the interior of an ornate church!

The "non-facade" entrance to Santa Maria degli Angeli

The interior of Santa Maria degli Angeli

         
3. Food

The Italian dinning experience is FUN!  The meals are meant to be enjoyed over a long period of time, and your table is yours for the night.  So expect to relax and savor the food and drink. The menu courses typically are divided into Antipasti, Primi (pasta) , Secondi (entree), and dessert.   I have found that it is best to order "family style" and just share everything, as the pasta courses tend to be very filling.  About one dish per person should be enough, plus antipasti and dessert.  And by the way... if you consume both an antipasta and a pasta dish, they negate each other, resulting in zero net calories! So always order one of each...

Some of my favorite antipasta dishes are prosciutto wrapped melon (who knew that would be so good!?!?), caprese salad, and a simple plate of olives & cheeses.  The pastas are very similar to what is served in American restaurants, although they just seem... fresher.  As for the entrees, I really enjoyed the veal dishes.  I had that in several different restaurants, with different sauces, and found it to be very tender and flavorful each time.  Finally... dessert.  These will vary in each place, but a particular one is offered almost everywhere: tiramisu.  And each restaurant makes it differently, so it is fun to try it from at least a couple of places.  Another option is always gelato.  You can opt out of dessert while dinning in, and just take a stroll to a gelateria.  One is never more than a block away, no matter were you are in Rome.

No Italian dinner is complete without some wine.  Wine lists are usually short and focused, and a house wine is always offered.  The house wine is a good choice if you cannot decide what to get.  It is usually very inexpensive, yet with good quality.  Another great aspect of Italian wine lists is that the bottles are usually priced about the same as in stores, which is a big contrast to American restaurants which price them at 2 to 3 times their retail value.    

If you want to eat a quick meal, Rome has several offerings for that as well.  Pizzerias are plentiful and usually offer slices to go, which are great for a quick lunch.  One of my favorite snacks is a traditional street food called Arancini.  These are small fried rice balls coated in bread crumbs and filled with some sort of sauce or cheese.  A couple of these make a quick and filling meal.

In conclusion, I just want to point out a few practical tips for potential tourists.  Rome is a great city and has so much to offer any visitor that it can be somewhat intimidating to plan an itinerary.  So don't plan too much in one visit.  You just cannot take it all in unless you spend a month there.  Just make plans to return again. Throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain so that you are assured to return (according to local traditions).  And I can say that each time I have done that, it has worked!  This was my third visit, and I still have not seen all that I would like to see.  

Some of the major sites can be very crowded: The Vatican, the Coliseum, the Borghese Gallery.  But if you plan well, you can avoid most of the tour groups and enjoy them at your own pace.  Early mornings or late afternoons seem to be best. And Galleria Borghese offers a call ahead reservation system. So definitely take advantage of that.  And if you visit St. Peters, plan a few extra hours to do the rooftop excursion and climb to the top of the dome.  It is spectacular!

Also, Rome has great public transportation which is very easy to use.  The bus stops each have the route and stops clearly posted, so it is quite easy to see if a particular bus will be stopping anywhere near where you want to go.   

And for you fellow Pittsburgh Steelers fans, there is even a Steelers bar in the city!  La Botticella, near Piazza Navonna.  Don't miss it if you are nearby.

La Botticella

The Grand Canyon

Last week I spent a few days at the Grand Canyon. It was a brief trip, and my main purpose was to hike to the bottom, spend the night at the one and only Phantom Ranch, and hike back to the rim the next day.


My initial desire to do this began during my first trip here in 2005.  It was a brief visit then.  Just a day at the rim.  But from that vantage point I could clearly see the hiking trails leading to the bottom and was very envious of those that were on them that day.  I also was able to see the Phantom Ranch and campground, the only overnight accommodations at the bottom.  I determined on that day to make plans in the future to come back and do the "full canyon experience" - a hike to the bottom and back.


Seven years later I accomplished just that.  The hardest part in planning this trip was booking a reservation at the Phantom Ranch.  Reservations usually sell out as soon as they become available, about 13 months in advance.  I just happened to call last October and asked when the next opening would be.  They said June 28, 2012.  So I booked it, and planned everything else around that time.

At the beginning

I asked my brother Michael to accompany me.  He's always up for some adventure, and we had previously had some great experiences hiking together in Colorado.  He eagerly accepted.


It was difficult to prepare for this kind of hike, and I was not quite sure how to do it or what to expect.  What makes Grand Canyon hiking so different than other hiking is that you go down before coming back up.  A long way down - 4400 feet.  To put that in perspective, the highest point in Georgia is about 4700'.  Going down was not a worry, but it was hard for me to gauge how I would do on the way back up.

We decided to traverse the South Kaibab Trail on the descent.  It is 6 miles long (2 miles shorter than the more popular Bright Angel Trail) and is quite steep.  But it follows a ridge for much of the initial descent and allows for some really great viewpoints.  There were not many other people on the trail so we had most of it to ourselves.  In some ways going down is more difficult.  My ankles and knees were VERY sore at the end of the trail, as they absorbed a lot of impact from the many steep steps along the trail.  Trekking poles helped tremendously for this, so I highly recommend them for any downhill hike.


As we descended the trail we could definitely notice the considerable change in temperature as we neared the bottom.  It is typically about 20 degress warmer at the bottom than at the rim.  That day the high was 106, and it was very apparent in the last hour of the hike.  We were feeling the heat, and ready to get to the ranch. 

The Kaibab Trial can be seen along the ridge

It was a euphoric feeling seeing the Colorado River getting closer and finally seeing the Black Bridge that we were going to cross.  One end of the bridge was built into a cliff and we had to go through a tunnel to reach it.  As we crossed the bridge we enjoyed a moment of solitude as there was no one else around and we just took in the view and sound of the river below and the canyon above. After about 30 more minutes walking along the river and past the Bright Angel campground, we arrived at our destination for the day: The Phantom Ranch.

Canteen at the Phantom Ranch

The Ranch is quite historic, dating back to the early 1900's, and has been completely supplied by mules since its founding.  And yes, Teddy Roosevelt stayed there once (that guy sure got around!)  It does have electricity and running water, and the facilities are quite modern despite its austerity.  Most importantly the sleeping quarters and dinning hall are air conditioned! The dinning hall doubles as a canteen, so it was the place to hang out with fellow lodgers.  Surprisingly, it had lemonade, iced tea, sodas, and even beer and wine.  We arrived around 10:30am, after hiking for about 4 hours.  So after a cold shower we plopped ourselves down at a table for a few hours and enjoyed some very refreshing beverages and snacks (I drew upon a German inspired concoction and made a "radler" by mixing lemonade and Tecate....ahhh yes... so that's why they do it - for days like this...) As we were sitting there it was somewhat amusing watching other hikers stumble in.  And I thought we looked ragged!  But everyone was the pretty much the same at the canteen -- tired but exhilarated to be there. While waiting for dinner we got to know many of the other residents, including those who were sharing our dorm.  We saw some young girls playing cribbage, and we joined them for a few games -- not something I expected to be doing at the bottom of the canyon!  


Dinner was a surprising treat. It consisted of steak, potatoes, corn, peas, and salad.  It was surprisingly good despite the fact that it was all supplied from the rim.  Shortly after dinner it was back to the dorm for an early slumber, which most of us did since we had to be up at 4:30am for breakfast and the hike up.  An early start was important due to the extreme heat.  We needed to get to the higher elevations (and cooler temperatures) before the heat became unbearable.


One thing I really enjoy about travelling is the opportunity for many random encounters. They always make the trip more interesting.   We shared a dorm with 6 others -- a dad and his 2 teenage sons, and 3 60+ year old hikers who were doing an ambitious rim-to-rim hike (North to South). I thought it was great to see a family do this together.  What a bonding experience for them! The older guys names were Doc, Don, and Don.  I really enjoyed our brief time  together and we were all strangely excited about the next day's challenge.

Beginning the Hike up

At 4:30am the next day came the wake up knock on the door.  No snoozing here.  We all got moving and went to breakfast.  It was a good one with eggs, bacon, and pancakes.  Mike and I departed on our own around 5:30. We took the more popular Bright Angel Trail on the way up.  It is about 9 miles long, but not as steep as Kaibab.  It also had 3 points along the trail that provided drinking water, so we didn't have to carry as much water.  It was shady and quiet at first, and the trail followed the river for about the first half mile.  Then it entered into a cool shady canyon and began a slow ascent.  We soaked our shirts and hats in a cool spring, something that we repeated several times on the trip and it really helped keep us cool.  Then came the first set of switchbacks, called the "Devil's Corkscrew".  I love how the names are always so intimidating!  After completing that section we finally left the shade and came into direct sunlight.  It was also our first real viewpoint, and we could finally see the rim.  It looked so high and far away!  

The Devil's Corkscrew

Soon we arrived at the first major checkpoint -- Indian Gardens.  It was about halfway along the trial, although we still had about 3000 more feet to climb.  This had the feel of a highway rest stop, but for hikers.  There was drinking water, rest rooms, a ranger station, and a campground. Here we began to encounter the day hikers since this is a popular turnaround point when hiking from the top.  I knew that we had lost the quiet intimacy of the canyon for the remainder of the day.  Here we ate our sack lunch that was prepared by the Phantom Ranch, and it was plentiful.  After that we met back up with Doc and Don, with whom we had shared a dorm.  The other Don and gone on his own and was well ahead of us.  Don had a really large and heavy backpack since he had brought camping gear as well.  He offered to pay me to carry one of his items, half joking/half serious.  I was doing surprisingly well, and had a very light pack.  So I agreed to carry his tent in exchange a few rounds of drinks at the top (yeah... I'm easy like that).


So after the rest stop we set off again and soon arrived at the steepest part of the trial - "Jacob's Ladder".  From this point on we hiked as a foursome and kept pace with each other.  It also provided a sense of camaraderie and we were constantly encouraging each other along the way. We had lost our shade at this point and were in the sun for much of the remaining hike.  But at least it was somewhat cooler as we got higher.  The rest of the hike was mostly switchbacks, one after another.  And the view was not as interesting as on the Kaibab trail. We lumbered up, slowly making our way to the other rest stops which always seemed farther than they were supposed to be.

The end in sight - the Kolb Studio can barely be seen on the Rim in the middle

At last we came to the point where we could at least see the end of the trail, and yet it still seemed very high and far off.  But it always helps me to look down every once in a while.  I was often amazed at how far we had climbed when the trail below seemed so far below and so far distant.  It put it all in perspective.  At last we reached the last turn and made the last stretch to the top.  And then we were done... 9 miles, 4400', 8 hours.  And that's one more item off the bucket list! 

Overall it was a fantastic experience for me.  I was somewhat worried about my physical endurance, since this was about double the magnitude of any previous hike I had done.  Add the blistering heat and sunlight and it was even more of a challenge.  But in the end I realized I had much more endurance than I had thought, and I felt a youthful exhilaration in the accomplishment.  Also, I was extremely encouraged by the perseverance of Doc and Don.  I had previously held the misconception that I was pushing my age limit in attempting this.  But they inspired me that I can do this again in 25 years if I take care of myself.  We had a great lunch together at the Bright Angel Lodge (Don paid... for me carrying his tent), after which we parted ways and they headed back home to Portland, OR.

Endless switchbacks on Bright Angel

Also, it was a great bonding experience with my brother Mike.  He's always up for adventure and he certainly made the most of the experience.  We were both incredibly sore afterwards, and had some impressive blisters.  We laughed at ourselves walking with a limping shuffle the remainder of the trip. I hope we have many more adventures together!

Mike, Me, Doc, and Don