Day One: Welcome to Italy!
What a great day today was, and a perfect day to start this trip off on. The flight from Philadelphia arrived at 10:45am -- Italy time! (add six hours) I won't say much about the plane except: first class rocks?
Ok, so here's the scoop. I'm traveling with my boss the first few days of this week. On the way out of the Rome airport, on our way to Naples, he takes a surprise turn into the center of Rome, and I got a sneak peek of what is to come. Take a look!
The Coliseum. You'll get more shots next week, but this is it from the car window. Its amazingly close to the road, I am only feet away from it. If you thought it was out in the middle of a plaza surrounded by a fence and a parking lot, think again! Besides, what would the Romans have parked, chariots? :) I'm staying near the Coliseum next week; so expect to hear more about this tourist's gem.
We stopped at San Clement church. The church was originally built as a Roman temple in the first century. Then, Christians came and built a church dedicated to Saint Clement on top of the temple's ruins in the fourth century. In the 17th century, after years of neglect, the same site was chosen for a more modern Saint Clement church to be built on top of both of them! That's right, you have a three layer cake here: Current (seen in photo), Old Church (under it) and Roman temple (under that). The entire site has been excavated, but no photographs were allowed of the bottom two layers. To describe them in one word -- spooky.
Ok, off to Naples finally. We get here at about 7 pm, or as they say it 19 o'clock (Novedieche). The hotel is beautiful, marble everything. Even the window ledges in my room are marble. We're on the waterfront, so I took this photo of a castile that happens to be on a small island about 50 yards off of the bay. There's people all around, mostly locals. It could be likened to the South Street part of Philadelphia. Mopeds are everywhere (miniature motorcycles), lovers are kissing, food is everywhere, and festivals are happening in the town square. A lively place, no? This place is awesome.
Finally, dinner. Pizze. Its like S'barro's pizza except its 10 times better than anything you can find in the states. The Neopolitans know how to make their pizza, and let me tell you-- they have the freshest cherry tomatoes you could ever eat. I know Jersey prides herself on tomatoes, but its just unbelievable that the tomatoes here can taste like this. It is unworldly! And for the capstone of the evening, serenading bands come by the restaurant and start playing on the sidewalks with accordians, oboes, and cellos. So romantic, so.. Italia!
Feel free to post comments and e-mail me. I miss you all already! :)
Ok, so here's the scoop. I'm traveling with my boss the first few days of this week. On the way out of the Rome airport, on our way to Naples, he takes a surprise turn into the center of Rome, and I got a sneak peek of what is to come. Take a look!
The Coliseum. You'll get more shots next week, but this is it from the car window. Its amazingly close to the road, I am only feet away from it. If you thought it was out in the middle of a plaza surrounded by a fence and a parking lot, think again! Besides, what would the Romans have parked, chariots? :) I'm staying near the Coliseum next week; so expect to hear more about this tourist's gem.We stopped at San Clement church. The church was originally built as a Roman temple in the first century. Then, Christians came and built a church dedicated to Saint Clement on top of the temple's ruins in the fourth century. In the 17th century, after years of neglect, the same site was chosen for a more modern Saint Clement church to be built on top of both of them! That's right, you have a three layer cake here: Current (seen in photo), Old Church (under it) and Roman temple (under that). The entire site has been excavated, but no photographs were allowed of the bottom two layers. To describe them in one word -- spooky.Ok, off to Naples finally. We get here at about 7 pm, or as they say it 19 o'clock (Novedieche). The hotel is beautiful, marble everything. Even the window ledges in my room are marble. We're on the waterfront, so I took this photo of a castile that happens to be on a small island about 50 yards off of the bay. There's people all around, mostly locals. It could be likened to the South Street part of Philadelphia. Mopeds are everywhere (miniature motorcycles), lovers are kissing, food is everywhere, and festivals are happening in the town square. A lively place, no? This place is awesome.Finally, dinner. Pizze. Its like S'barro's pizza except its 10 times better than anything you can find in the states. The Neopolitans know how to make their pizza, and let me tell you-- they have the freshest cherry tomatoes you could ever eat. I know Jersey prides herself on tomatoes, but its just unbelievable that the tomatoes here can taste like this. It is unworldly! And for the capstone of the evening, serenading bands come by the restaurant and start playing on the sidewalks with accordians, oboes, and cellos. So romantic, so.. Italia!Feel free to post comments and e-mail me. I miss you all already! :)
posted by Michael Czajkowski @ 12:54 PM
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