Heating It Up in Rome

It gets almost unbearably hot in Rome, despite the fact that the temperature is probably only in the 80s. The level of humidity is what really gets to Bill and me. As we walk around the city, we carry our bottles of water and refill them frequently at the many water fountains available around Rome. These fountains, often beautiful pieces of art in and of themselves, spit out ice cold water that tastes surprisingly good and is very refreshing. It’s the only way to survive.

The other necessity is to walk on the shady side of the street whenever possible. Of course, everyone else has also figured this out, so often that side of the street is usually packed with fellow city explorers.

Despite all of our best efforts, by time we get home from our sightseeing, we are invariably drenched and extremely dehydrated. We walk into the apartment, immediately turn on the air conditioning (which we are extremely grateful, and lucky, to have), drink large glasses of water, and take another shower.

This morning we left the apartment at about 7:30 and walked to the bus stop that would take us to the underground. The sign indicated the bus would arrive in 11 minutes. Because we are becoming more and more Italian, we knew that would be plenty of time to grab a cup of espresso at the bar across the street. We crossed the street, ordered two caffe, drank the espresso in one or two gulps standing up at the bar with the rest of the Romans, paid our 1,60 and walked back to the bus stop, with three minutes to spare. Italians will do that several times a day.

The subway took us to Santa Susanna Church, where we enjoyed a Mass said in English. The inside of the Church, like all of the churches in Rome, is ornate and beautiful. Following Mass, we stopped at a bar around the corner from church and had a cappuccino, then telephoned Father David and arranged to meet across town in Trestevere for lunch.

Since we had some time before lunch, we stopped at St. Peter’s and visited the crypts that are beneath St. Peter’s. While there were an enormous number of people, there were far fewer people than we had seen on previous days. We visited the tomb of Pope John Paul II, which is, probably not surprisingly, a very simple tomb. We also saw the tomb of St. Peter, and several other popes, as our time allowed. As we were leaving, we snapped a photo of the Swiss Guards that are the security at St. Peter’s. It is reputed that Michalangelo designed their uniforms.

Soon we caught the bus that took us to Trestevere where we met David and found another in our series of yummy restaurants. This particular one was blessedly air-conditioned.

Following lunch, we walked to the bus stop, where we had to wait quite a while for our bus. That’s why I began today’s blog the way I did. By time we got home, we both needed to throw our clothes in a sink of sudsy water and wash them out. I think when we get home, we will have a ceremonial burning of all of the clothes that we wore on this trip. You’re all invited.