If you were to see me now, I would, again, be writing this blog from my bed, and, again, it would be an entirely new bed from before. However, this happens to be the bed where I will be writing countless other blogs, for it is the bed in the room that I plan to stay in for the next two months. I have finally settled in to a place.
My room is very nice indeed. It is near Piazza de Repubblica, not far from Termini train station, and very close a Metro line that will take me to work in fifteen minutes. Though it is a busy and lively area, it is conveniently tucked away to one its quieter streets. The room itself is spacious, complete with a single bed, sofa chair, a new dresser and wardrobe, a mini-fridge, satellite TV (in Italian), a table with two chairs and a window looking out into the street. Outside of my room, in a common area, I share a bathroom and kitchen with a guy who has a similar set-up. His name is Jose, and he is a Spanish translator, speaking great English, who is trying to learn Italian. Though I doubt we will see each other much, because of our mixed schedules, he seems like a genuinely nice guy, at least nice enough to share a few things with. All in all, I could not have asked for a better place, especially at the reasonable rate I am paying per month.
The transition of settlement was a surprisingly smooth one. I came to look at the place after finding it in the Porta Portese, and immediately told the son Danilo, who gave me the tour, that I wanted the room. Thursday I met my landlord Franco, who also seems like a genuinely nice guy, and Danilo helped translate the room’s features and requirements of the contract. Understanding that I could not read Italian, Franco told me to come back Friday after I had it translated. I did, and after paying my security deposit, we signed the contract. Franco handed over the keys, and I gave him the rent for October. This transaction was certainly more official than the last. Franco was very well organized and clear about prices from the beginning. He made sure to give me a photocopy of the signed contract and receipts for the payments before I even had to ask for them. He took me around the apartment thoroughly, explaining everything I could or could not do. Knock on wood, but I am very happy that he is my landlord.
Friday night at ten, after going to a quiz night at the Marines dorm, the two USUN hosts kindly took me and my luggage over to my new room at. They checked it out as I pushed my luggage in and agreed that it was a good deal. When they left, I got right to work, unpacking and organizing until about one in the morning. I slept in the next morning, for the first time in a while, and then went shopping for food. Now fully equipped with edibles for next weeks, I decided to go and explore. So for the past two days, I have traveled around Rome, not as a homeless vagabond, but as a camera-happy tourist, and I have enjoyed it thus far. I found that a curious and adventuresome mind can take you many places you never expected to be.
Saturday afternoon I went to the historic center of Rome with only one goal in mind, see this old library that I noticed two weeks earlier. But once I got down there, I found myself wonderfully distracted. I visited at least four different churches, each adorned in its own unique style of frescos and architecture. I also entered the Pantheon while it was raining, and sure enough, the rain splattered on the floor, falling through the hole in its ceiling known as the oculus. Though it was built in the 1st century, the free-standing dome was the largest of its kind until the Louisiana Superdome was built. It was packed with people, but still a magnificent sight to behold.
My room is very nice indeed. It is near Piazza de Repubblica, not far from Termini train station, and very close a Metro line that will take me to work in fifteen minutes. Though it is a busy and lively area, it is conveniently tucked away to one its quieter streets. The room itself is spacious, complete with a single bed, sofa chair, a new dresser and wardrobe, a mini-fridge, satellite TV (in Italian), a table with two chairs and a window looking out into the street. Outside of my room, in a common area, I share a bathroom and kitchen with a guy who has a similar set-up. His name is Jose, and he is a Spanish translator, speaking great English, who is trying to learn Italian. Though I doubt we will see each other much, because of our mixed schedules, he seems like a genuinely nice guy, at least nice enough to share a few things with. All in all, I could not have asked for a better place, especially at the reasonable rate I am paying per month.
The transition of settlement was a surprisingly smooth one. I came to look at the place after finding it in the Porta Portese, and immediately told the son Danilo, who gave me the tour, that I wanted the room. Thursday I met my landlord Franco, who also seems like a genuinely nice guy, and Danilo helped translate the room’s features and requirements of the contract. Understanding that I could not read Italian, Franco told me to come back Friday after I had it translated. I did, and after paying my security deposit, we signed the contract. Franco handed over the keys, and I gave him the rent for October. This transaction was certainly more official than the last. Franco was very well organized and clear about prices from the beginning. He made sure to give me a photocopy of the signed contract and receipts for the payments before I even had to ask for them. He took me around the apartment thoroughly, explaining everything I could or could not do. Knock on wood, but I am very happy that he is my landlord.
Friday night at ten, after going to a quiz night at the Marines dorm, the two USUN hosts kindly took me and my luggage over to my new room at. They checked it out as I pushed my luggage in and agreed that it was a good deal. When they left, I got right to work, unpacking and organizing until about one in the morning. I slept in the next morning, for the first time in a while, and then went shopping for food. Now fully equipped with edibles for next weeks, I decided to go and explore. So for the past two days, I have traveled around Rome, not as a homeless vagabond, but as a camera-happy tourist, and I have enjoyed it thus far. I found that a curious and adventuresome mind can take you many places you never expected to be.
Saturday afternoon I went to the historic center of Rome with only one goal in mind, see this old library that I noticed two weeks earlier. But once I got down there, I found myself wonderfully distracted. I visited at least four different churches, each adorned in its own unique style of frescos and architecture. I also entered the Pantheon while it was raining, and sure enough, the rain splattered on the floor, falling through the hole in its ceiling known as the oculus. Though it was built in the 1st century, the free-standing dome was the largest of its kind until the Louisiana Superdome was built. It was packed with people, but still a magnificent sight to behold.
So after all of this, when I finally reached the library, it was already closed. In fact, it had been closed only ten minutes after I had arrived downtown. I went into its nearby church to study it, and when I came out an hour later, I noticed people standing at the library entrance. Hoping it was a tourist group I could sneak in with, I went over, but soon felt that it was not a tour. I asked an Italian named Massimo, who told me that it was a four-hands piano concert in the library, featuring some classical music, followed by Scott Joplin rags and Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Piano + early jazz + old library = where I can sign-up. I got in for only five Euros and took a seat in the middle of a high-roofed haven of books. I found out later that the library was built in the 17th century and contains over 100,000 encyclopedic volumes from the 16th century, including books written about the Renaissance and the Reformation, as well as the literature, astronomy, mathematics and art of that time. And in the center of all of it was a piano, which for the next hour, provided me splendid entertainment. As I left, I asked Massimo for a good place to eat, and he told me of a Mozzarella Bar nearby. Interested, I checked it out and had a delightful block of cheese with sides for dinner. And then I walked home, observing a host of famous fountains on my route.
This morning I slept in again, and made my way south toward the catacombs on the Appian Way. There was one in particular, the Catacombe di San Domitilla, that I wanted to see. It was highly recommended and not in the main line of tourists. However, all of the catacombs have weird hours, taking off between noon and 2:30pm. I arrived later than I hoped at 11:30pm, and after walking briskly, only managed to reach the most popular Catacombe di San Callisto. Figuring I would do the other after the extended lunch break, I bought a ticket and went down right away. It was quite possibly the coolest thing ever. And in the middle of the tour, as I stayed back for a half second to copy an ancient fresco into my book, my dream came true as I got separated and lost in the catacombs. Now do not freak out, the exit was well-labeled and everything well-lit, but still, to be alone in massive crypt that is two millennia old is an energizing feeling. I met up with a German group soon afterward and resumed on with them as if I understood every word of it. In the end, I was glad that I got separated, as it allowed me an extra fifteen minutes in the catacombs at least.
For lunch, I ate a homemade sandwich near some “open-aired” ruins that I spotted from the Via Appia Antica. Afterward, I figured I had more time to kill, so I decided to explore some more. Long story short, I never made it my prized catacombs, but instead at Villa dei Quintila. Incidentally, I had already purchased a multi-visit ticket for it when visiting a mausoleum that lay on the ancient Appian Way. Determined to get my money’s worth, I took two buses a good five miles from the catacombs area. On my way there, I cursed myself for being so stubborn, since it seemed unlikely that I would make it back. However, after getting to the Villa, I no longer regretted my decision. Unlike the mausoleum, which was sort of a rip-off, the Villa was an expansive and rich piece of history that I thoroughly enjoyed. Built by brothers in the early 2nd century, it had been used since by emperors of the 3rd century and various landowners up through the Renaissance. The architecture and design was marvelous, especially for its time, and the excavation work, which began in 2002, allows the Villa’s visitors to literally explore the ruins from on top of them. But best of all, because it was so far out of the way, there were very few tourists. Unlike the catacomb group of at least fifty people, I saw a maximum of ten people during my entire two-hour visit at the site.
It seems odd how wonderful things turn up at unexpected times. Perhaps they are so wonderful because they are unexpected: catching a piano concert in a 17th century library, getting lost in a vast necropolis, eating lunch by some ignored ruins, finding your way to a 2nd century Villa or finally renting the perfect two-month room after two and a half weeks of mishaps. But despite this evidence, now that I am settled, I have already begun to create expectations for what I plan to accomplish here. I can only hope that when I leave I will say to myself that I did not accomplish what I wanted, but a whole lot more, experiencing that little bit of wonderful that finds me when I least expect it.
Again, sorry for the longest blog posts in the world. I really need to write more frequently. However, since my new room does not have internet yet, I find it a hassle to have to go post these at a nearby internet café. Rest assured though, the internet will come. Jose and I both have it in our contracts and Jose needs it for his translating job. When I do have it, I expect to write more… but we’ll see.
Thank you for reading. God bless.
Note: The villa also had a theatre in it, once used by an emperor for gladiators. I could feel it.
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