Today we slept in until 8 am - slackers!!! But it's been a crazy few days of death walking and marathon sight seeing, so I felt super justified.
Last night, Greggy and I picked a random place for a light dinner... two feet away from our apartment door entrance was a Chinese joint. I have no idea what the name of the place is (I have to find out), but all I remember is that the menu was entitled "Cinese Menu". You don't have to be a master linguist to know that that means "Chinese Menu."
It was a very surreal experience. The owners and the servers were visibly Chinese, and the weirdest thing is that they are only able to speak Italian and Mandarin (or Cantonese). So they interacted with us all night with their very authentic Italian accents. Here I am trying my best with my basic Italian to keep up.
Every time they gave us something I would say "Grazie" (pronounced "gra-tzee-ah") and they would come back with "Prego", always Prego. Prego feels like an abused word here. It technically means "You're welcome" but I hear it used often and not always in an situations were "You're welcome" is warranted.
Example, Greggy and I were in the elevator going up to the Spanish Steps. When we got to our floor, I waited to let the guy go out first, but then he also paused and smiled at me and said "Prego!" with a gesture to go first.
Of course I came back with a "Grazie!!!"
The other instance is when we were being ushered to our table at a restaurant, our server kept saying Prego. But with different meanings I think, based on their intonation.
Prego??? - "is that ok"
Prego? - "are you ready"
Prego - "ok"
Prego! - "go ahead"
Prego!!! - "you're welcome"
I digress. Back to the Chinese restaurant then... we ordered 4 dishes. We were afraid that it was going to be much too much, based on the portions we typically get from Congee Star back in Toronto. I assured Greggy that we can use the left overs for next day's breakfast, etc and that nothing would go to waste.
We need not worry after all because they were the SMALLEST PORTIONS EVER! It was quite literally a serving and a half each, tops. It was fine for last night since we had a big lunch, but I laughed because I thought about how my mom and T would be so shocked at how little the portions were. I can't help but smile now because I can totally see their shocked faces. I wish T would have come with us, but you know, things happen for a reason.
So today we walked to Testaccio, a working class neighborhood. This is the "real" Rome compared to the tourist kitsch over on the other side of the Tiber. We walked past apartments, shops, a small pyramid (commissioned by some crazy emperor to show off how Rome conquered Egypt back then).
After that, we got out our handy dandy Roma Pass (3 sights plus unlimited transportation for 3 days) and braved the subway system.
It was super easy to navigate! Not like New York, or any other big city subway systems. The Metro ("M") only has two lines and they both converge at Termini, which is like the Yonge and Bloor of Rome.
We took the M to the Colosseum and walked around there for a bit. Of course the first thing we saw were the giant massive lines to get in. But they must not be smart like I am because the Roma Pass let us bypass the lines like Rock Stars and we were in the actual Colosseum within 3 minutes of arriving.
Hordes of stupid tourists in line were gawking at us as we confidently strolled past all of them and straight to the entrance gate.
I wonder why people don't do their research before travelling? My favourite part of any travel escapades (other than getting to the destination) is the research part. I spend hours and hours trying to figure out how we can have the best, most authentic, most cost and time efficient experience. Why spend hours in lineups? Why eat at shitty expensive restaurants with "Menu Turista"? Why stay in a hotel when you can rent an apartment from a local and experience your destination like only a local would?
Doesn't make any sense. Oh well. Greggy said that I should plan vacations for people... he's happy with my service, being the beneficiary of all the research that I do. We always have great, authentic experiences.
After the Colosseum, we went to the Palatine Hill, where we saw the ruins of the Roman Forum, Arc of Constantine and various Palazzos (palaces).
The sun was on and I was getting a wee bit tired, so we decided to take the M again to the Spanish Steps.
The Spanish Steps was ok, there is nothing really remarkable about it other than it's pretty and it's a lot of steps. I do remember a scene from "The Talented Mr. Ripley" when Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett were walking down the steps... that was pretty cool.
Heading down on Via del Corso, we passed by all the luxury shops - Fendi, Gucci, Dolce and Gabanna, Burberry, etc., all fancy and nothing I can afford (or would waste money on). I am not a brand whore like others.
We stopped to have lunch at this place called "Ginger", and I swear they had the slowest service ever. But that's ok, because when in Rome....
By this time, the last 3 days were really catching up to me (meaning I am getting super tired and our feet were raw). So we decided to walk back to our apartment (after a couple of failed attempts at waiting for a bus that goes to Trastevere).
But before the apartment, we stopped at Billa, the grocery store near our square and conveniently located in the basement of the department store Oviesse. We picked up some wine, a whole roasted chicken, and chicken wings.
I don't think I mentioned this yet, but on our first day in Rome, we also went to Billa to stock up on groceries for the week. Remember this is after an 8 hour flight from Toronto and with almost no sleep at all. Anyway we stocked up, lugged our groceries to the apartment, only to discover we left the 2 roasted chickens and 10 pack of chicken wings we were going to have for dinner.
Prego!!!!
Tomorrow: Eurostar train in first class to Florence!
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