Plucky Survivors See Europe Day 18: Florence to Rome

I collapsed pretty early last night so I woke up early and decided to knock out laundry before I headed to Rome.  I was briefly flummoxed by the need for cash in a denomination less than the 20 Euro bills that I had, but I accosted a pair of German tourists on the street, and they very kindly gave me two tens.

A side note.  All bottles (water, soda, etc.) have caps that don’t come all the way off.  I didn’t understand that at first and was confused about why it was so hard to get the cap off and why it would leave behind sharp, jagged pieces of plastic.  Now that I get it, I’m still working on embracing the concept, but mostly it just gets in the way.

Freshly laundered, I hit the road heading south through Tuscany and Umbria.  I have to tell you this is some of the most gorgeous countryside in the world.  It is exactly what you think Italy looks like.  Rolling hills, gentle mountains, acres and acres of vineyards, medieval looking fortresses, centuries old villas, and earth tone villages.  At some point I want to come back and do a real road trip through this area as opposed to speeding through it at 80 miles per hour.

I was going to wait until I got to Rome to have lunch, but my stomach disagreed so I had a truck stop hamburger and fries that was a lot better than it had any right to be.  Fresh bun, tasty beef, caramelized onions.  I’d give it a solid B+.

There was a lot less traffic and a lot less drama on the highway but that all came to a cataclysmic halt when I got into Rome.  Every bit of trauma I’ve experienced driving through Italian cities was just a warm-up for this.  It’s mostly chaos and what isn’t, is total mayhem with a dash of red pepper sociopathy and I may just have to stay here because I don’t want to have to drive through it again on my way out.

I got to the hotel and it took two people to help me guide PluckyMobile into the microscopic parking garage and the even more microscopic parking spot.  You ever see the “Austin Powers” movie where he tries to turn around a cart in a tunnel?  It was like that, only in Italian.

The Una Deco Hotel Roma is located in the Esqualino neighborhood, just a couple of blocks away from the main train station and about a mile from the Colosseum.  It’s very nice and my room has a giant terrace, although the view is a little bland.

I started my sightseeing with something very offbeat, driven there because of limited hours of operation.  It involved taking the subway, which is a breeze to get in – just tap a credit card and you’re done – but the trains were insanely crowded.

A brief walk after the subway took me to Profundo Rosso, a horror-themed costume and novelty shop.  It wasn’t because I wanted a Jason or Freddie or Chucky mask, although if I did I would have been in luck, but because of their Horror “Museum.”

It’s located in the basement, down a scary set of spiral stairs (hey – maybe there’s a horror movie in that) and has a half-dozen recreations of old horror movies, but not the ones you have most likely ever seen.  It’s weird and more than a bit macabre and so it was right up my alley.  You can’t spend more than about 15 minutes here, so it’s probably not worth going out of your way for unless you are a big fan of obscure European horror movies.

From there I got back on the subway and road a few stops to see the Spanish Steps except I took the wrong exit out of the station and wound up a mile away.  Hard to explain.  But I got there eventually and no, I did not climb them.

I wandered through the touristy streets around the Steps, which have lots of stores and cafes and people.  My god, the people.

Quite by happenstance, I found myself at the Trevi Fountain and went ahead and paid the two Euros so I could get up close and toss some coins in just to say I did.  The legend says turn your back to the fountain and toss one coin over your left shoulder to ensure that you will return to Rome someday, two coins for romance, and three coins for a wedding.  I’ll let you guess how many I threw in.

I started to walk to the Colosseum just to see it and snap a pic, but the crowds and heat defeated me and I gave up.  It is 96 degrees today and the forecast is for that or more the entire weekend.

I took an Uber back to the hotel, freshened up, and then headed out for dinner.

Some research led me to Da Tuduni 1969, a highly rated little bistro right around the corner from my hotel.

I started with a limoncello spritz and proceeded to drink it like it was lemonade.  It most certainly was not.  Wow those things have a kick.

The most amazing salad started with garden fresh lettuce, radicchio, carrots, and insanely flavorful tomatoes plus hunks of buffalo mozzarella.  Add a little olive oil and balsamic and you’ve got yourself a salad, my friends.  Delicious.

Then came the beef and pork ravioli, which was devoured quickly.  Loved every bite.

Tomorrow I’ll try to brave the heat to get some more of the Rome basics done.  We’ll see how it goes.