Winding Down in Rome

Monday, May 30, 2011:

I slept fitfully last night due to some strange abdominal pain of unknown origin. Just before bedtime, I had eaten some of those shelled peanuts that I brought from Sant Agata, and perhaps they didn't agree with me.

The girls were looking for a boat tour today, and I just didn't think it was a good idea for me since I was experiencing these stomach pains. I suggested that they go ahead and I would try to just relax and feel better and perhaps take a walk later.

They set off on their adventure to locate the boat tour across the river, and I rested for a little while and ate the gigantic orange I had purchased in Sant Agata. That seemed to help. I worked on emails and confirmed my airline reservation for tomorrow. Fred had successfully upgraded me to first class, which I kept telling him was unnecessary, but he was so sweet to think of my comfort.

After my relaxation time, I decided to chat with the owner of Caesar House. Simone tole me that she and her sister, Julie, are the owners. She communicates very well in English, so I enjoyed our visiting time. Previously one large apartment, they purchased the Caesar House in 2002. She said that they performed a tremendous amount of renovating and redecoration, wanting to create a tasteful, yet simple ambience. They were highly successful in doing so.

Simone believes that at some time in the past, it may have been a small hotel, but was then converted to a private apartment. She and her sister shared the vision to once again turn it into a six bedroom hotel. It is quaint and offers very personal service. Rosanna and Summy were quite helpful, and Rosanna's enthusiasm for her job brightly shines through.

With the free Internet usage on their guest computer, the breakfast delivered each morning, and the proximity to major points of interest, we highly recommend this intimate hotel. We met a couple who were staying there, and they indicated that this was their home away from home every time they visit Rome. We could easily see why.

After visiting with Simone, I felt like taking a walk. I started out trekking toward the Coliseum (or Colloseo in Italian) and ate some bruschetta and drank iced tea at the Gran Caffee Rossi Martini, where we had enjoyed lunch a few days ago. This was located next to the gift shop where the gentleman had written his life story and wondered if I could translate it from Italian to English. Sorry!

Under the restaurant's canopy, there were misters in operation. It was a very hot day, and I wanted to linger there under the mist. When I was ready to move on, I walked to San Giovanni Laterano and straight to La Scala Sancta (the Holy Steps) again. This time I managed to ascend three steps before I thought my knees would crack, said a few more prayers, and just knelt in awe of having the opportunity to hover over the steps that Jesus had walked. Saying that it was an amazing experience is truly an understatement.

There was a vendor positioned a short distance from the building that housed the Holy Steps, and he had some cute tote bags for sale. This was my last day to shop, so I bought one for each of my Cape May girlfriends. This vendor was willing to negotiate, and I took full advantage of that.

I worked my way back to our hotel on Via Cavour and stretched out on the bed to catch up on my journal writing. Sharon, Laura and Marianne returned very shortly thereafter, having decided against the boat trip once they were at the river. During their adventurous walk, however, they found themselves crossing a street with almost no traffic. Just as they arrived at the center of the roadway, out of nowhere came multiple lanes of traffic straight at them. They only had a split second to decide whether to run back in the opposite direction, stay put, or try to dodge cars and dart across. They held their position until they could safely dash across the remaining section of road. They momentarily thought that they were going to be killed by tiny cars, taxis, scooters and little trucks on their last full day in Rome, but eventually they managed to make it to the other side. They were safe, but shaken.

Their walk was not unsuccessful, however, because they found more shoe stores! It's probably just as well that I wasn't with them or I would have likely ended up with more shoe purchases. We all ended up taking a little snooze, and Sharon and I decided to go back to the store, Il Tesoros, where we found great prices on some items yesterday (shoes).

We showered, dressed and set out to locate a place for our last dinner in Rome. We didn't want to go too far away because we have just about worn out the bottoms of our feet from walking all over Italy. Luckily, we found a little cafe just around the corner called Ristorante Cleto, which we all agreed was perfect.

I'm a somewhat picky eater--always have been--and before leaving the United States I had wondered what my dining experiences would be. I pretty much stuck with things that I recognized throughout the trip. I sampled lots of bruschetta, mixed salads, veal dishes, and a few margherita pizzas, lasagna once, and spaghetti a couple of times. I had no difficulty finding appealing meals to devour!

After our dinner, we weren't really ready to call it a night. We walked back by our hotel and continued to another cafe where we shared a bottle of wine, and I ordered a lemon sorbet, which once again seemed to make my tummy feel better. The pain had subsided, but it still felt uneasy and slightly uncomfortable. We toasted one last time to our friendship and to our wonderful Italian adventure. We thought about all of the scarves, shoes, handbags and tote bags we have purchased. Quite a collection to behold! I'm looking forward to accenting some of my outfits at home with these lovely scarves, and we now understand why Italy is renowned in the fashion world.

We ventured back to Caesar House to pack and prepare for tomorrow's early morning trip to the airport. We actually settled our bills with Summy tonight so we'd already have that detail behind us. The time has gone so quickly, but we are all ready to plant our new Italian shoes on American soil and throw our arms around those husbands of ours.

The Holy Steps

Sunday, May 29, 2011:

We thoroughly enjoyed our usual breakfast supplied by Caesar House this morning, and then we set out on a long, long walk to locate the Holy Steps. I had downloaded a Rome guidebook to my Nook and had been astonished to read about this special place to visit that is nowhere near the Vatican area. Many people have never even heard of it.

The reported history about the Holy Steps is that they are supposed to be the actual steps that Jesus walked to stand before Pontius Pilate. The twenty-eight steps are referred to under a variety of different names such as: the Holy Steps, the Holy Staircase and La Scala Sancta. The story is told that Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, had the steps brought over from Jerusalem in 334, and they are obviously considered to be most sacred.

In order to find the Holy Steps, we walked to the Coliseum, turned onto S. Giovanni Laterano, and continued in that direction until we saw a huge church. This church is the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. Directly across the street from the church was a building that was quite understated on the outside, but contained the revered set of steps on the inside. This building is a part of the old Lateran Palace. There was also a smaller church on the second floor, accessible by an unremarkable second set of stairs. This is a photo of the building that houses the Holy Steps.

Walking on these steps is prohibited. There is only one way to ascend them--on your knees. A sign indicates that silence is requested, as people are praying. There is also another sign that explains the complete history of the steps. Covered with wood to protect the actual white marble surface of the original steps beneath, one can still easily see those steps below the wood. One problem is that the knees protest as soon as you kneel on the first step. Actually, my bony knees were screaming. I suppose you could wear knee pads, but I believe that would defeat the purpose. Considering the sacrifice and agony that Jesus suffered for us, a little bit of knee pain for a short time is certainly tolerable!

What I found most challenging was maneuvering from one step to the next on my knees. These are not narrow steps, but I wisely positioned myself by the handrail so I could use it to awkwardly help pull myself to the next level. This will sound rather wimpy, but I was only able to travel two steps. I offered prayers, said a special one for Liz and spent a few minutes in reflection and in awe of being present on these sacred steps. I thought about the countless numbers of Christians who have made a pilgrimage to these very steps and asked Laura to take a photo with my camera. I wanted to always remember this moment. This was such a moving and spiritual event for me, I wanted to be able to recall every detail.

We ascended the second set of steps to the small sanctuary where Mass was being held in Italian. We sat in the back of the church for a few minutes, but we had no idea what was being said, and there wasn't a hint of air movement, so it became stifling. We decided to move along, but I was still in complete awe as we descended the regular stairs and saw people continuing to gather on their knees in prayer on the Holy Steps. This will be at the top of my list of most memorable experiences of my life!

Setting off to locate the nearest Metro station, we wanted to find our way back to some of the shops we had passed yesterday when we didn't have the time to explore them. We exited the Metro at Ottaviano and found that many of the stores are not open on Sunday--even in the afternoon. Craving pizza, we stopped for lunch at an outdoor cafe, Il Ciociaro Ristorante, and then discovered that they didn't serve pizza until dinner time. Really????? I ordered a salad and thought it would be a good idea to offset it with some roasted potatoes. Laura and Marianne had ordered risotto and seafood, but the "seafood" turned out to be octopus, which they managed to transfer to the sides of their plates and avoid.

To our delight, we did eventually find a few open stores. In one clothing store, Sharon and I were looking at a particularly attractive top. The male store clerk was standing nearby, closely watching us. Sharon asked him, "What size is this?" He replied, "One size fits all." She frowned and said, "Oh. Do they seem a little small?" He said, "Yes. They for YOUNG girls!" Sharon responded, "Alrighty." She then promptly walked out of the store. When I caught up with her outside, we were talking about the store clerk's lack of tact during the exchange. We laughed when Sharon said, "He should have left it at 'they run a little small.'"

Returning via the Metro to our hotel for a little rest, Marianne and Laura ended up going back out for a walk and returned with new shoes. Heaven forbid that Sharon and I should miss out on seeing a great shoe store! We needed to check out all of the available choices. So off we went to locate the store, in which we did manage to leave a few Euro. You have to love these shoes!

Back at the hotel once again, I checked email and then we chose Le Tavernelle Roma for dinner. The spaghetti was delicious and huge in circumference. We weren't worried about the good food causing us to gain weight, as we have been walking many miles every single day. It's the ONLY way to truly absorb the culture. As a matter of fact, we have done so much walking--including many, many stairs--we feel as though we have new and protruding calf muscles. We are certain that the walking has more than offset the intake of calories, as not one of us is feeling that our clothing is snug.

The prevalence of so many stairs to climb in Rome has made us wonder how on earth the elderly folks or those with compromised knees could have made this journey and been able to see and do everything that we have enjoyed. Sharon's favorite sandals were almost a casualty of the constant walking, as one evening just as we approached our hotel, the strap on one of her sandals completely broke. She retrieved her little emergency sewing kit and performed an impressive leather repair. So far, so good.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Rome, and we are all beginning to admit that we miss our husbands. This has been a long stretch of time to be separated from them. Fred and I are accustomed to our independent lives for a few days at a time due to his travel for work, but we've never been apart for this length of time. We all wish that our guys were here in this amazing city with us. I don't know how Marianne's husband would feel about all of this, but Sharon, Laura and I know that unless there was a golf course involved, our husbands would be suffering from very short attention spans on this trip. With all of the shopping and sightseeing in which we have participated, they would be distressed due to serious withdrawal from their drivers and putters. Perhaps it is just as well that we are simply 4 women who love 2 travel!