Rome - 2002

Random Recollections

• Our train ride from Nice to Rome was memorable. We got on the train after dark. When we got to our cuccette (couchette or sleeper car), the floor and seats were wet. We couldn't figure it out at first. Once we got on our way we raised the windows. That's when we realized that the ventilation system was out. So we lowered the windows. But it was raining. So we raised them so that only a little water got in. We were pretty tired when we got on the train so before long we decided to get to bed. That's when we realized that the bunks on the bottom didn't have much room. In fact, Bonnie slept on the bottom bunk, and she couldn't even turn over comfortably. Worse than that, she discovered that her bunk was at an angle and she constantly slid down into the crevice all night long. There were three bunks on each side of the sleeper, one atop the other. We all slept with our heads away from the window, since rain kept coming down. Our feet, however, were wet the entire night, although the rain let up after a while. That's when the other problem surfaced; the trains would run for awhile, and then pull over on a siding to wait for an oncoming train. While it waited, they turned everything on the train off so that it was deathly silent. After it had been silent for 15 to 30 minutes, all of a sudden a huge roar would surge past our open window scaring us all to death. All, that is, except for Fred who was feeling the effects of a slight cold and had taken two Tylenol PM's just before going to bed. He slept like a baby the entire night. However, since the rest of us were not sleeping, we heard him snoring quite clearly. Bonnie kept poking him to try to get him to stop but he was oblivious to it all. The next morning, we arrived in Rome. Bonnie, Melissa, and I had slept about an hour or two. Laura had not slept at all. We were pretty tired out. Fred got up refreshed and ready to go. He said, "Are we all ready to go see Rome?" We almost killed him. Instead we left the train station, found a hotel, took a shower, sat down and rested for a few minutes, and took off to see the sights. We still had a great time.
• We were repeatedly warned to beware of pick-pockets in Rome. We never had any problems ourselves, but one of our students and his parents lost a lot of money to a smooth con artist.
• I had no idea that the Coliseum, the Forum, the Palatino (the Roman palaces), and Circus Maximus were so close together. They would fit on most US college campuses with room to spare. I couldn't believe that they filled such a small space with such grand buildings and arenas.
• Our biggest surprise in this area was the Palatino. We wouldn't have understood it nearly as well had Fred hot been with us. This area was a grand hilltop of multiple magnificent palaces. One of the Caesars was so concerned with assassination plots against him, that he had all of surfaces (which were made of marble) polished until they shone like mirrors so he could see an attack coming from any direction. They even had a separate sports arena constructed within the palace although they could watch Circus Maximus from their patio and walk to the Coliseum only several hundred yards away.