Fred Said:

After the confiscation of my Chapstick (it gets dry at 30,000 ft) and a fantastic flight (as good as a red eye can be), I arrived in Roma Saturday morning . From there, I took a patient trip into the city center (things moved a bit slower than in New York City).

Fashion Footnote: On the train I noticed the Italians have built upon the male "European Carry All" and have graduated to full fledged purses; purses with dangles, flair, and small enough to carry your lipstick in.

From there, I walked around with my bag in search of Challi, whom I met up with on their "laundry day".

Challi Footnote: Chad is not abashed to wear his Gator championship shirt in Roma, quoted as this being his "laundry day" shirt. At that moment I knew the power of my white pants would be needed this trip.

We walked around some, and I must say it as a theme of Roma, it is an easy city to walk and you really do stumble across history at every corner. That evening we had a simple meal and drinks in Trastevere and Campo dei Fiori, stories where told as we tried to avoid American bars.

The next day we continued with more touring, more "old things", and more history. We saw the Colosseum (it is as awe inspiring as they say) followed on by Palatine Hill.

Team Italy Footnote: Offending others is very American, or at least that is the only "language" I understand . On our tour of the Palatine Hill, it was brought to my attention that I possibly offended our nice Australian tour guide. Not to let that be, Alli continued to make me aware of all possible future offenses, to create this list, compiled over 2 days in Rome.
- Australians (began with our nice guide)
- Asians (generally) and Philippinos (specifically)
- Jews (sensitivity being the impetus for this banter)
- Utah-ians (those from Utah)
- Middle America (the 45 odd states in the middle, but who does not generalize that part of the country?)
- Italians (numerous offenses here, too many to list)
- Gays (both in connection with previous offended group and as a singular group)
- Germans (slipped in somewhere)
Thank you Alli.

Monday was God's day, but not any God, the God; the Roman Catholic one. As I learned about my persecuted past and partook in the beauty of some of the great artists, I also learned about a modern day miracle, "the miracle of the bella guida" (on a 90-min line and a 3 hour tour, a good-looking tour guide helps) . The Vatican was amazing, so many people that day, but still it was a sight. The Sistine Chapel was amazing for only the fact that Michelangelo can paint that much on every inch of a room and have it not be too ornate or overdone (like a Mexican wedding, add that to the list...I was going to use an Italian wedding, but they where on the list already). We then went unto St. Peter's Basilica, now that is a Church.

In the evenings, we would go to different restaurants, enjoy the sea of white the Italian men and women wore, and wondered why Italians must always yell. By the way, Challi did wonders in how easily they were able to befriend old people, like 45 plus old people. The streets of Centro Storico seemed safe, a larger Times Square, but clean.

Homeless Footnote: New York bums are good, but the ones in Roma, amazing. They put on a performance that is theatrical at times and down right evil at others; gypsies with suckling babies, hunchbacked old ladies w/ tin cups, or crying men . I ask why New York City bums don't dress up, outfits, costumes put some effort into it.

Tuesday was Mary's Day, ("Ferragusso" in Italy, "The Assumption of Mary" in the USA), for all Catholics a holy day of obligation, and for Challi, "Travel-day". But, before we set sail for Sorrento, I decided to shop some, and as I searched for an open Prada or Valentino, I saw many a visitor window shopping, but no open stores.

Capitalism Footnote: Well, we know the Italians (many a European), do not like money. Vacations, yes, wine, yes, good shoes, yes, siestas, yes, money, no. As I witnessed this vision of endless shoppers with no shops, I bowed my head and cried a small tear in the shape of a Euro; it was a dark day for capitalism.

That was Roma. Good bye history, hello beach.

She said:

We left Orvieto early in the morning to try and find accommodations in Rome before Fred arrived. We walked from the train station, through a few less than desirable areas, to a place near the Roman Forum. After some good cop/bad cop negotiating, we settled on a place we thought Fred would like for his first time in Italy. We did our laundry while we waited for him to arrive, and when he did, despite the long flight and probable jet lag, he was ready to go . We dropped his stuff off in the room, and headed for a lively square to get a bite to eat and begin exploring.

Rome is littered with ruins everywhere you look. It's like a hidden ancient city beneath the modern day city, and you never know when you will discover a glimpse of the past. It is not unimaginable to think that locals and tourists alike pass these sites everyday completely unnoticed. It seemed like each time we turned the corner there was something to be looked up in the guidebook to determine its historical significance.

During our "general direction" walk towards nourishment, we stumbled upon the Pantheon. Seems crazy to have just stumbled upon it, but that is exactly how we found many of Rome's ancient sites. We fought the summer tourist crowd to see this beautiful church with a gaping hole in its roof! From there, we walked the back streets and wandered through different areas to get a feel for the city . My phone rang as we turned down a darker, more desolate alley and Chad and Fred decided to sit on a stoop to wait for me. I was looking around during the brief call, and when I hung up, I asked, "Where are we?" Turned out we were in the Jewish Ghetto, one block from the Sinagoga Ashkenazita. Once we turned the corner, I immediately saw the temple on the Tiber River. I noticed the armed guards on three of four sides, and I was saddened, not only because of why they were originally placed there (the bombing in 1982), but also because of what is going on right now in Israel.

We took a short siesta and headed to an area known as Trastevere to celebrate Fred's first night in Italy. This area reminded me a little of South Street Seaport or Coconut Grove with tons of locals, tourists, and everything in between hanging out by the Tiber for food, drinks, dancing, and again, everything in between. We had some dinner and enjoyed the new dynamic of having a third party while traveling.

The next day was "Roman Day". It began with a Roman church called San Pietro in Vincoli, or St. Peter in Chains. Here we saw Moses with horns (possibly where one of the theories of Jews having horns came from) perched between Leah and Rachel. This was all part of Michelangelo's tomb, originally created for Pope Julius II, although never finished for lack of funding when the Pope died . It's now part of this church's main attraction, with St. Peter's chains in a glass case across from Moses. From there, we attempted to see Nero's palace, but could not get in without a reservation. From what we read about his arrogant ways, I wasn't terribly disappointed to miss the product of his vanity.

The next stop was none other than the Roman Colosseum. Since I had been here before, and obviously Chad and Fred had done their homework, we were privy to the information of taking a tour to skip the ridiculous line. Also included in the tour was Palatine Hill, so saving two hours of standing in line and getting a personal tour guide for the Colosseum and Palatine Hill was a great investment. Both sites were truly spectacular, and I found that while I was listening to our guides, my mind continued to wander to what life was like during Roman times. The Colosseum guide adamantly denounced Hollywood's version of gladiator fighting and told us of how it really was (by the way, the "thumb up, thumb down" thing does not indicate to kill or not to kill, but is really a phallic symbol to indicate something I will allow you to figure out!) .

The guide on Palatine Hill told us the "real" story of the legend of Romulus and Remus and was quite interesting how it all tied into Roman history and the development of power (I actually didn't even know the old story, so my basis for comparison was nil). When both tours were completed, we took the Rick Steves/Chad Stamm guided tour of the Roman Forum. Chad and I are big fans of the HBO show Rome, and I learned a lot about Roman history from watching it. So now, seeing the ancient city, the Forum, and the spot where Caesar was burned after he was assassinated was awesome. Obviously we needed a break after all that, so after another siesta, we re-grouped and headed out to a new neighborhood for some dinner and nightlife.

Since the Vatican is closed on Sunday and we were leaving Tuesday for the Amalfi Coast, Monday was our day to "do Vatican City". Unfortunately, this fell on the day before a major Catholic holiday, the Assumption of Mary, in which the Vatican would be closed Tuesday and Wednesday (apparently the Assumption is a big holiday over here, and announcing that I had no idea what it was did not go over well, despite my "but I'm Jewish defense") . This meant that we would have to compete with the expected one million guests to see the great works of Bernini, Raphael, Michelangelo, and many others on the one day of four that it was open. Oh boy...

We agreed to a tour that Fred pre-booked; however, this tour did not allow us to skip the approximate 90-minute, sun-filled line for security. It did, however, provide us with a well-educated tour guide, who also happened to be good-looking (It's a good thing I'm not jealous and can appreciate an intelligent, beautiful woman, because otherwise, I may have killed both Chad and Fred for gawking! I am pretty sure I lost Chad when she recited Dante by heart!)

Anyway, the Vatican museum was overwhelming and crowded, but made more interesting by a guide who pointed out the important, but not-so-obvious pieces that could easily be missed by the many others. She gave us insight to the sorted past of sculptures, paintings, and a lengthy overview of the Raphael room and the Sistine Chapel before we entered . The chapel was as breathtaking as I remembered, and many stood looking up in complete awe at this magnificent piece of art. Many chatted and took pictures despite the repeated requests by Vatican security not to take photos and to be quiet. Since we were just given some detailed background information, I considered the entire ceiling and surrounding walls, trying to appreciate not just the religious implication of Michelangelo's biblical creation, but also the amazing talent he possessed in painting it from such an awkward position!

Rome has left me with a new appreciation for "ruins". Although I am greatly looking forward to a few days at the beach, I find myself with a new understanding of what Fred and I jokingly called "old stuff" and am excited to visit Pompeii again in a few days...

She said Addendum:
-Happy Birthday Allison Omara! Hope you had a wonderful day, I miss and love you!!!
-Welcome to the world Gavin Arguez, I can't wait to meet you! Congratulations Jessica, Sergio, and big brother Dustin!
-Happy Birthday Kernal! Miss you and hope you are celebrating NYC style! Love you!

He Said:

The one thing I've learned about touring a city is to make sure you see a site when you're actually standing in front of it. You never know if you'll make it back before leaving in three or four days . This is especially true in Rome.

After Fred arrived, we had a short Team Italy meeting at our new accommodations, which were three blocks from the Colosseum. We headed for the Centro Storico, or the old town, and walked past the balcony Mussolini spoke from to rouse support for his regime. We stumbled upon Piazza Navona and admired Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers. We turned a corner only to find the Pantheon growing out of a tiny piazza. We stopped for some shade in what turned out to be the old Jewish Quarter. We discovered the ruins of the Teatro Marcello next to a temple that Augustus built for his sister who he was in love with (HBO Rome fans?). We wound up on the oldest Roman bridge over the Tiber River still in existence. And this was just in our first few hours. With dueling guidebooks, we navigated through Rome's antiquity block by block, site by site.

That night we headed for Trastevere, a neighborhood that is described as Rome's Left Bank and is a thriving district for expats from around the world . The bridges over the Tiber were all illuminated. We got our first look of the Dome of St. Peter's down the river, and Fred got his first look at the European lifestyle of public alcohol consumption.

After two months of traveling over here, I have fully refined my opinion on public parties, and more specifically, the way we crack down on celebratory gatherings at home:

Romans don't binge drink, but they do gather on bridges, in parks, or on bus stop benches to share a bottle of wine or a few beers. In Ronda, Spain, teenagers don't all throw house parties when Mom is out of town. They gather in a parking lot next to the bullring, play music from their car stereos, and mix drinks on the tailgate into the wee hours of the morning. In Arles, France, kids like to park their mopeds, drink wine along the Rhone, and make out on picnic tables. In Rome, Ronda, and Arles, the police are all standing within 300 meters of these gatherings, and they just don't seem to care . Or do they?

First of all, as I mentioned before, drinking is not a big deal over here because kids aren't brought up to view it in the taboo, hypocritical manner we have in the States. But more interesting to me is the fact that they are even allowed to gather in public places in the first place. At home, if kids gather in a parking lot, the cops show up and send them all home. But what really happens is the situation goes from a controlled gathering where law enforcement knows where everyone is and what they're doing, to random groups of kids cruising town in an uncontrolled environment unknown to police. This is when people get in trouble or get hurt.

So why do our local police crack down? What is wrong with our public spaces actually being spaces for the public? Why do parks have to be vacated at dusk? Why are people allowed to drink wine in Central Park for the free opera concerts, when people are ticketed for drinking beers at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival downtown in Tompkins Square Park? In sidewalk cafes, why is it against the law to have a glass of scotch on one side of a partition where it happens to be legal to smoke a cigarette, but on the other side of the railing it's fine to have a drink but illegal to smoke? Is that boundary finite or does it change when the portable metal fence is moved closer to the street? And what happens at closing time when the staff takes the dividing wall inside? Is it still OK to have a drink there? If you really think about them and just don't except our laws because they are our laws, you really begin to see how ridiculous some of them really are . And after enjoying glasses of wine at places like the steps along the Tiber River, it's going to be very difficult to readjust to the restrictions we have at home.

The nights and days of Rome are really as different as, well, day and night. After an evening of bars and riverside dance floors, the next morning we found ourselves strolling down the Via dei Fori Imperiali, a road built by Mussolini that runs from the Colosseum to Piazza Venezia and next to the Roman Forum. Unfortunately, the road was placed atop part of the Imperial Forums, and today, excavation work continues twenty feet below street level. In Rome, history seeps from the street - literally.

A nice thing about exploring the ancient city on a Sunday is that the government shuts down Via dei Fori Imperiali, an extremely busy thoroughfare, making it, essentially, a pedestrian island. Tires on cobblestone were replaced by shoes on gravel. Whistling mopeds gave way to swaying branches . Creaking bus brakes became crying crows. And the lack and replacement of Rome's modern sounds turned the entire day into a more "Roman" experience.

The Colosseum was truly massive, and remarkably well-preserved. Palatine Hill, from where we get the word "palace" because all the emperors made their homes here, was a true display of the power Roman rulers had, and the perks that went with it, from a personal race course inside a palace to a veranda overlooking the courtyard bathtub in the House of the Vestal Virgins, six pure women who were in charge of keeping Rome's sacred flame alive. The Via Sacra, which bisects the Roman Forum, is where "all roads" lead, and with a little imagination, is like walking through a history book. It comes to life when you see the spot where Julius Caesar's body was burned (today a mound of memorial roses) and the podium from which Marc Antony would have said, in the words of Shakespeare, "Friends, Romans, Countrymen..." But the most amazing spot in all of Rome is a walkway on Capitol Hill adjacent to the Roman Forum . It overlooks the entire ancient city, from the eight massive columns of the Temple of Saturn in the foreground to the upper levels of the Colosseum off in the distance. As Fred and I said, looking at each ruin individually doesn't compare to stepping back and looking at the entire ancient city in one, collective glance.

On our last day in Rome, we headed to Vatican City for a crowded day in the museum and St. Peter's Basilica. I'll just come and say it: our guide was hot. Not only was she hot, but her multiple degrees in Italian lit, history, and art made for an expensive, yet 100-percent-worth-it experience. We learned about the history of the Catholic Church, saw early works that inspired the likes of Michelangelo, walked through the room of the Muses, discovered how Pagan holidays were molded into modern Christian ones, learned about Raphael and his most inspiring works, and finally, got a half-hour lesson on the Sistine Chapel before entering its doors .

The Sistine Chapel is where the College of Cardinals meets to select a new pope. It is where the chimney is located that emits the famous white smoke. It is Jesus Christ HQ, and the locale of one of the most ritualistic processes in all of Catholicism. When we were in there, I forgot all of that. I didn't even remember to look for the chimney. The artwork comes crashing down on you with such intensity that everything else is lost, even the fact that there are about a million people packed into the tiny space with you. I can only imagine what it's like to sit there in silence without anyone else in the room.

Note from the Editors: We do not edit the content of guest bloggers, and therefore are not responsible for any offenses taken by their words. We had fun Fred, glad you joined our adventure!