Rome: The Heart of Europe
Our time in Rome started off very adventurous. Once we arrived, we changed for the evening because we were all going to attend the optional dinner and walking tour of Rome on Saturday evening. The people of Rome eat their dinner very late, so we were going to do the same and have dinner around 9PM. We left the hotel and headed to the city center to start our evening stroll. Alexandra was going to explain some of the sites we were walking past through our headsets and ear pieces, and technically, this is illegal. In order to give information about the city to a group, you need to be an official local guide. Alexandra is licensed only to be a coach guide, so she can say whatever she wants while we’re on the coach, but once we step off, she is no longer able to point out sites or give any tourist information. She had the microphone hidden in her coat and was telling us about some of things we were seeing. When the police would appear (which there were a ton of them in the city), she would quickly stop talking and proceed walking with the group.
She asked us to conceal the radios, which was easy for me with my hair, but for others it was painfully obvious they were listening to a walking tour guide. We made it to the first square which was busy with artists and vendors surrounding the fountain of Four Rivers. On our way to the Parliament building, two people dressed in street clothes and tourist gear stopped her… undercover cops. They asked for her documents, and she didn’t have any. We dispersed and then our bus driver led us to the parliament building. He was a temporary bus driver, filling in for our main driver for a day. We waited at the Parliament building, curious of what was happening to our guide. She warned us on the bus that it could be up to a 900 Euro fine to be giving tours without a city license, so we waited in suspense to hear her fate.
Busy square in Rome, full of artists, and those working for tips!
Finally after about 15-20 minutes, we heard her on the radio, “Well, we have lost a lot of time, hurry up, off we go!” From that point on she said she would strictly give us the meeting points and that was it. She was a little shook up! I guess the whole story was that she told the policemen that she didn’t speak any Italian, and she wasn’t going to sign a document (ticket) that was in a language she doesn’t speak. She said she would only sign it if it was written in English, because in the city center of Rome she would expect everything to be in English. The bus driver (Italian man) came back to see what was going on, and the policemen asked her about him. She quickly told them, “I don’t speak any Italian, he doesn’t speak any English. All we need to communicate is left, right, straight.” Haha, that was a bit of a stretch, but it seemed to work, because the policemen wanted our bus driver to translate it for her. Our guide also speaks a bit of Italian, so the stretch worked just long enough to let her off the hook. It was tense, but our adventure was only beginning for that night!
Rome Parliament building...
Rome Pantheon, such a massive structure, in its original restoration state!
We were running a bit late so we went by the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and then the Spanish steps. In the Trevi Fountain we threw in coins according to the legend: 1 coin to come back to Rome, 2 coins to get married in the future, and 3 coins to get divorced in the near future! I’ll let you guess how many Paul and I tossed in! After tossing, we left quickly because the vendors were crazy and the pickpockets were feasting on tourists we are sure! They were shoving roses in our faces and offering to take Polaroids, it was classic. We covered a lot of Rome that evening, however, maybe a little to fast. Once we were getting ready to get on the coach to go to our dinner, one of our tour members was missing. He loves taking pictures and is always jumping away to get the next best shot. His wife was stressing out calling for him, and trying to find Ron in the darkness of Rome. They SMS'ed his phone and we had to leave him, or risk canceling dinner for 40 people. Finally he called someone and got the name of the restaurant. When he entered the dining area, we all cheered and shouted!
Paul and I by the Trevi Fountain, tossing our coins!
Spanish Steps, we lost Ron at this point...
Dinner was wonderful, but we are sure that the enjoyment was supplemented by the free flowing wine included with our meal. It was a four-course dinner with pasta and lasagna. We sat at a table with the two English women (who I absolutely adore) and talked about traveling amongst other things. We had music from two men on a flute and guitar to enjoy over dinner. Some of the enjoyment overflowed into a dance party. One of the ladies on the tour, who I assumed to be very conservative, was dancing around with passion, and flare! She was twisting her hips and moving her feet swiftly like a trained ballroom dancer. She is from Russia I believe. The dinner finished in style with a delicious dessert of berries and gelato, however the fun wasn’t over yet…
After dessert was cleared, they brought in a gift for all the women. The ladies were handed a rose and given a smooch on the cheek. I was able to escape without any embarrassment, but the smooching did get a little crazy! We have video to sum up the evening. It ended with them putting a blonde wig on one of the groups many clowns and giving him a hot smooch! Hahah, too much...
That was only our first evening in Rome...
Latte the next morning, much needed energy to take on Rome!