Paris & Rome 2018

[Drunk Monk]

I just had the best ginseng espresso in my life -

IN MY LIFE 

- actually it was the first one. I thought I was ordering ginseng tea. I’m at the Galleria Borghese waiting for our times entrance and that drink is making me ready to sprint this effin Museum.

[Drunk Monk]

Did Borghese & Pantheon - walked about a bit, ate & drank. Very nice. I didn’t expect so many Egyptian obelisks. I get the feeble architecture of our capitol now. Even Rome’s shopping malls have better architecture.

---

Poke your head inside every damn church. Enjoy!

To quote g -

Blow me knickerboy

There’s a damn church on every corner. Enough crucifixions already!

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Yeah, obelisks and former chariot racetracks. The pantheon neighborhood is great, central to everything you want to see. It is funny how they under-utilize the Tiber. Other European countries would have built it up with promenades, cafes, etc. (like Paris).

[Greg]

The problem with the Tiber is it's too shallow unlike those other rivers.

Churches is where the art is.

[Drunk Monk]

Can't throw a rock around here and not hit some art.  Or a gelato place.  

Across from our super cool airbnb is a building with a crumbling fresco on the top floor (3 or 4 floors up).  It's beautiful, probably centuries old and in such disrepair and so neglected that it's even more beautiful.  Who painted it?  Who lived there?  Who remembers?  No one.  But that just adds to its sublimity.  It's the essence of Rome to me right now, a dirty, touristy city with such undeniably antiquity and majesty in every feckin corner.  I can't look away.

Tomorrow is the king daddy of churches - our Vatican tour.  Might try to squeeze in that Armor exhibit too at the Castel next door.  If not tomorrow, then Tuesday.  

It's a little pricier than Firenze here.  A lot of aggressive tourist hustlers.  That's always exhausting.

We were so close to the Pantheon last night.  Missed it by one church.  We got our legs under us now tho.  The first night was confusin with the rainstorm.  Might rain tomorrow too.

[Drunk Monk]

Night stroll to the coliseum. Spectacular area. The ancient ruins, the massive architecture, so powerful and timeless. But how did Bruce & Chuck get there from some deserted field?

---

All the street buskers were playing Ed Sheeran’s Perfect. That was weird.

Levi’s T-shirts are really in fashion - we’ve seen a lot of them throughout our whole trip. It’s the only thing that has made me proud of America.

[Drunk Monk]

Selfie violence and illegal bathing at Rome's Trevi Fountain
Francesca Street, CNN • Published 14th August 2018
(CNN) — The quest for the perfect travel Instagram is a pursuit many of us are familiar with -- but hopefully you wouldn't take it as far as these selfie-takers.
Last week, two tourists in Italy both tried to snap a selfie in front of Rome's Trevi Fountain in at the same time. 
They confronted one another -- first verbally, but then the interaction became physical, before disintegrating into an eight-person brawl as their family members joined in the fight.
Police intervened and the tourists were reported for violence. The local police posted about the incident on Facebook.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the police said that two Canadian tourists had been fined 450 euros ($513) each for bathing in the fountain -- another strict no-no, despite the iconic scene from Federico Fellini's 1960 movie "La Dolce Vita."
Jostling tourists

• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  

1/8
Popular spot: The Trevi Fountain is one of Rome's most famous attractions, but that means it's often busy and overcrowded.
The Trevi Fountain is one of the world's most recognizable attractions and its position as one of Rome's most popular spots means the area in front of it is often overcrowded and full of jostling tourists.
The baroque water structure opened in 1762 and has a starring role in classic movies including "Three Coins in the Fountain," and "Roman Holiday," starring Audrey Hepburn.


The fountain is busy night and day.

Tradition dictates that if they desire to return to Rome one day, visitors should throw a coin over the left shoulder into the water,
Italian newspaper La Republicca reports that government officials were already considering trying to control the flow of tourists visiting the fountain by directing tourists to pass by the fountain single file, without stopping. This was trialled last summer on a temporary basis.
Last week's violence might prompt lawmakers to make this extreme option more permanent.
The problem of overtourism



Balancing tourism and overcrowding is a difficult act.
ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Rome isn't the only Italian city balancing being a livable city with its status as a must-visit tourist destination. Earlier in 2018, Venice tried separating tourists and locals over the busy May Day weekend. Pedestrian traffic was policed in an attempt to avoid overcrowding.
Vacationer Faye Richards visited Venice that weekend and told CNN Travel crowds went hand-in-hand with the experience:
"In the center [the crowding] was really bad," she said. "Especially on super-narrow streets you had to walk so slow behind everyone."
Meanwhile, in the Italian island of Sardinia, officials are cracking down on another kind of tourism issue: sand thievery.
Thieves are being warned that they could be fined anywhere from 500 euros (roughly $580) to 3,000 euros (roughly $3,482) if they are caught pilfering from the island's beautiful beaches.
Tourism issues aren't confined to Italy, though. Chile's Easter Island is limiting the number of people who can visit the island as well as the length of stay and Mount Everest is attempting to deal with the human impact of waste on the world's highest peak.
If you're planning to visit the Trevi Fountain any time soon, definitely snap that selfie while you can -- just try to avoid fighting any fellow tourists for it.

---

So with all the Rome savvy DOOMers here, none of you recommended Castel Sant'Angelo?  WTH?

[Greg]

You might not have noticed this, but Rome is pretty big. There are a lot of things to see there. It has always come up short on my list of things to do. The best thing being the secret passage from the Castel to the Vatican.





Stay out of the fountains.

[Drunk Monk]

Rome isn’t big. It’s just dense. Dense with churches. Trying to go in each one would be like trying to eat at every gelato stand or every homemade pasta place. What is up with DOOM travel advice? Stacy is convinced it’s all a big yetiprank.

---

Tomorrow is my last day sadly. I’m just going to chill and enjoy. My flight out is rigorously early and my airline won’t take online check in for anyone traveling to the US - wth? I was stressing that for the last hour because we booked thru cheapair.com and they weren’t responding. Called the airline. Hopefully it’ll work out.

---

Today was the aforementioned Castel (in all fairness, I love castles especially with armories and extra bonus here because there was a special exhibit running thru summer). Then the Vatican. That was okay.

[Drunk Monk]

Trevi Fountain and no, I didn’t get into a fight. Too hot.

I had the best fettuccini Alfredo & spaghetti con vongole in my...aw you get the idea. Blood sugar be damned. It’s my last day. 

Bought some cheese by rosaries for my coworkers so they don’t dump on me too hard when I get back.

[Greg]

Hmm, I didn't notice the Cheese by Rosaries while I was there.....

I did buy a rosary there for my dad at the site of the 13 steps that Jesus walked up to see Pontius Pilate. (Steps taken from Jerusalem) It's across from the original home of the Popes, the Church of St. John the Lateran.

I suggest you start calling in sick to work now and stay out there with the familia. I hear they have good food in Venice. Could be the best food of your life.

[Drunk Monk]

Cheesey - dumb autocorrect. There were some fine rosaries for sure, but I got some cheap touristy ones just outside the Vatican. Not my faith. Tara got a nice cross in the Vatican, a modestly priced gold one with glass insets. She really wanted that souvenir.

---

The Vatican was overwhelming, like the louvre. Too much to look at - ceilings, floors, walls, and then there’s the art. We took a guided tour and the guide was this cute enthusiastic gal with a thick accent, and given the crowd, we were grateful for her guidance. The Sistine was so packed, literally elbow to elbow everywhere. The basilica was incredible. There was a terrific thunderstorm adding drama to our tour, and being there during the pope’s pedophilia ‘apology’ was really weird.

---

I really enjoyed the Castel. Got there when it opened with about a dozen other tourist and had the run of the place. It’s 3 room arms display was solid and you just gotta luva castle with trapdoors. I indulged in a cappuccino in their cafe overlooking the Vatican. Lovely.

---

The aforementioned special arms exhibit was excellent. Icing on the cake. Or gelato, which I think is just frozen wetter icing. Some of the collection was from the Castel, some on loan from Stibbert and most from the Venice Palace, which made me wish even more that I could see out the rest of this trip with my family. But I got to get home and start paying the rest of this trip off, not to mention the mortgage and tara’s tuition.

---

PWe walked the streets some more today and will walk more tonight. Cab picks me up early tomorrow for the long flight home. I have a layover in Stockholm, then to OAK, then bart to Fremont where hopefully my mom will pick me up (my car is at her place). Then back to the bungalow.

---

It’s been a truly wonderful vacation. Far exceeding my expectations. So much beauty in such a short time. I am grateful that I could share it with my family.

[Drunk Monk]

How much was that rosary Greg and what became of it?

[Greg]

The Sistine Chapel is always like that. I was fortunate to find one of the benches along the side for a short respite of just looking up at the ceiling. Did you know that Japanese TV owns the rights to the images of the Sistine Chapel or they did. And that is why photography is forbidden in the Chapel. Japanese TV paid for the clean-up.

I think my rosary was between 5 and 10 euro. It was mostly for the card that talked about the steps to see Pontius Pilate. I believe it is still mixed in with my father's things. I vaguely remembering my mom trying to give it to me. Although it might be with the Jerusalem Cross I got for him when I was in Jerusalem. That time was a bit hectic.

[Drunk Monk]

Ah 5-10 ain’t bad. Thought you might’ve splurged for one of those really high end ones. I got a dozen for 10 and they come in plastic containers with a sticker of the pope.

---

I figured the Sistine would be tight. Didn’t quite imagine the Museo would be that bad. 25k tourists a day on average. But a cute tour guide redeemed it... well, that and all the great art.

---

Honestly I was more awestruck by the basilica

---

We did one more walk for gelato at that 140 year old chocolatier near Trevi, stopped by Trevi once more, then went by that Temple to the Fatherland. Now back at the Airbnb getting ready for tomorrow’s journey home.

---

I have this thing about taking pix in temples. If it says ‘no’ I always honor that. Sistine was rigorous, but we’ve been elsewhere where pix were forbidden and the other tourists went for it anyway. So disrespectful. Sometimes I feel that way about selfies in front of great art too (but I can’t resist some myself as you know). Taking pix of great art with my little point&Shoot seems silly sometimes, but it’s my own memento. And the pix of swords are research because a lot of those can’t be found elsewhere