12:53 AM 10/9/02
Celeste, Lucille and Carlo took a ten-day vacation to Italy at the end of October 2001. This description is mainly for our other children, nephews, nieces and grandchildren. It has a lot of detail that might be of interest "when" (not if) they visit Italy.
We slept three nights in Rome, two nights in Sezze and five nights in Florence. Lucille and I flew to Chicago to meet Celeste who came in from Dallas and then we flew to Rome on the same flight.
Rome
When we arrived at the Fumicino airport in the morning and we took the train to Rome which was a 30-minute ride. We went to the Hotel Sidney, where they put us in a room at the Hotel Sport. The Sport is on the Via Marsalla which is next to and parallel to the Termini and north of it.
After settling in we went for a walk. On the way to the Piazza Venezia we stopped at a park which used to house the Villa Aldobrandini. You climb up to the park and you look down on the neighborhood. We visited the Monument to Vittorio Emanule II which the Italians call the typewriter because it looks like and old-fashioned typewriter and the Campidoglio which is the Capital designed by Michelangelo. It has long steps to a piazza with three buildings surrounding it. Then we walked along the Roman Forum to the Coliseum. We had dinner at Angelino dei Foro restorante. The waiters enjoyed putting on a show for us. One of them claimed he was "pazzo" and his doctor told him he should "act out". After dinner he confessed he had been kidding. Next morning we headed to Sezze on a train from the Termini.
Sezze
The train to Sezze takes about 45 minutes. There are different types of trains that leave from the termini. The locals are in white on the termini displays. The Euro star trains are expresses between major cities. The train we took was the Napoli DIR. The DIR is an old name but now indicates a local train. There are several stops before Sezze. I remember Cisterna and Campoleone. When you reach Latina Scalo you know the next stop is Sezze Scalo.
When we took the train in 1970, by mistake we took an express to Naples. When I joked with the conductor by asking "What happens if I pull that emergency stop cord". He said: "do nit do that." Later I looked back and there was a Carabinieri standing with folded arms looking at me. He stayed there until we got off at the first stop at Fondi. I learned that my Italian was not good enough to make jokes. We took a cab back to Sezze.
On this trip we were met by my first cousin Vittorio at the station at Sezze Scalo on Saturday afternoon. He took us to his apartment and Bruna his wife had a lunch ready for us. Alessandro, a second cousin to Celeste who speaks excellent English, and his mother arrived later that afternoon and we visited. Then we went to the Leone de Oro pizzeria and had antipasto, pizza and desert with about ten cousins including Maria Pia who is the same age as Celeste.
When we visited Italy in 1970 Celeste was three months old and Maria Pia was six weeks old. Maria Pia was swaddled with a fascia. Celeste was in a jumper suit. Mom thought Maria Pia did not have the freedom to move. Anna, her mother, thought that Celeste should be in a fascia so she would feel warm and secure.
On this trip Celeste who is now in her thirties stayed with the same Maria Pia who is now a teacher in her thirties. They stayed at the home of Quintilio and Anna Fratarcangeli -- Anna is Vittorio's sister.
Sunday morning we had breakfast at Vittorio's. Alessandro took us to the Ninfa Garden near Sermoneta which is near and northeast of Latina Scalo in the northeast direction. Ninfa is 5000 acres of a natural environment with ruins and gardens. We met his friend Guido who works for the foundation which runs the garden. Guido arranged for us to be admitted as guests. The foundation was set up by the Gaetani family, which owned the garden in the past. Ninfa has the clearest stream that I ever saw running through it. The stream has the ruins of both a Roman and a medieval bridge over it. There are also the ruins of a church built by a Pope Urban to celebrate the truce between Size and Sermoneta which is near by. These two towns often warred in medieval times.
Afterwards we had a meal at the Tropiano (spelling?) Restorante near Sermontea. Its specialty is grilled meat. We had several kinds of antipasto and three kinds of pasta, a variety of grilled meats, vegetables, salad, and desert.
Then Alessandro took us to the town on Sermoneta, which has the Gaetani Castle, which is run by the same foundation. Alessandro's friend Guido again arranged for us to be admitted as guests. Sermoneta is a hilly town with cobblestone streets. The castle is above the town and we were told that it was stormed only once in its history. As we passed over the moat and through the main gate, I looked up and saw a rectangular slit in the ceiling above us. It was obviously for the boiling oil that kept the castle from being stormed.
Later we visited with Alessandro's father Luigi at his home in Latino Scalo. Luigi is Vittorio's brother. I was glad that we had a chance to visit him. Then we went to the home of Maria Pia where her mother Anna had a late snack waiting for us. There was delicious proscuto and Sezzese bread.
Sunday evening I talked to Augusto Carlesimo (Celeste's second cousin on the Tassi side ) and told him which train we were taking back to Rome. He said he might be able to make that train on his way to work at the Santa Lucia Clinic in Rome (as a neurologist) and that we could then visit with him. After the call we were surprised visit by Gabriella Bernabei and her daughter Sonia. We had a delightful conversation. Gabriella was married to Luigi Bernabei who was the son of my father's sister Crocefisa. So Sonia is another second cousion of Celeste.
We had a great time on the trip that Alessandro planned for us. Vittorio, I think, had planned a day of visiting around Sezze. But he graciously let Alessandro show us Ninfa and Sermoneta. Celeste has a tour of Sezze to look forward to when she goes back.
The next morning we picked up Celeste at Anna's house and she had a packed lunch for the train of sandwiches made of that great bread and ham. Then we took the train back to Rome but Augusto must have taken a later train. He has been caring for his mother Ada, my mother's niece who has been in ill health.
The best part of our trip was that Celeste made contact with four second cousins: Alessandro, Maria Pia, Augusto and Sofia. The link with second cousins in Sezze was begun by my nephew David Evangelisti who visted there a few years age and has been strengthened by Celeste. Celeste's brother Stephen plans to visit Sezze in 2002 and his brother Paul has a trip on his list of "things to do".
Florence
We took the train back to Rome and transferred to a train to Florence. The trip from the Termini to Florence takes about one and a half hours if you take a Euro star, an express train. In Florence we stayed at Hotel Nella located a couple blocks from the Statzione San Maria Novelle.
The man who owns the Hotel Nella is a Somalian by the name of Mohammed. He recommended we eat at the ZaZa and at Il Latini, for authentic Florentine food. It turns out that Giacomo Bucci (a friend I know from the IBM Watson Labs who is now head of Computer Science at the University of Firenze) took us to ZaZa two years ago. We recognized it as soon as we went in. The first time we went to Il Latini it had a long line out front but later we went there at lunchtime and got right in. While we were eating a line quickly formed outside. The owner treated us to a wine called Santo in which you dip a hard biscotto.
On the first day we walked to the Duomo, the Piazza Signoria which has a copy of David, and to the Ponte Vecchio where I bought Celeste jewelry in 1985 and to the neighborhood of the Pitti Palace and returned. On subsequent days we visited the following locations:
Museo degli Argenti in the Pitti Palace for Celeste to see some very impressive jewelry,
San Maria Novelle, which has a Cross painted by the young Giotto and the Trinity by Masoccio,
Galleria Academia to see the "real" David by Michelangelo and four other statues by him, and
Medici Chapel in the church of San Lorenzo, with more of Michelangelo's work.
We spent an evening with Giacomo Bucci who took us to another "authentic" Florentine restaurant on the other side of the Arno: Osteria Antica Mescita on via S. Niccolò 60/R. Dinner was in a basement where we had four different meat dishes. He then took us to vialle Michelangelo at night were we could see Florence at night. On the terrace there is a third David; this one was a bronze.
On the last day in Florence we got in line for the Uffizi and entered in a couple hours. When we were admitted, we went to see the DaVinci's "Annunciation". We then went to the room with the Modonnas by Giotto and Cimbue followed by the Botticelli Room with the "Birth of Venus" and the "Primavera". Finally we saw a couple Rembrandts and a couple Caravaggios.
At the end of five days in Florence we returned for two more days in Rome.
Rome
In Rome we began by heading to the Pantheon but part way there we decided to go to the Fontana de Trevi and the Spanish Steps instead. When we got back to the hotel, Celeste and I decided to see an American film in English. We were told there were two theaters in Rome that featured American films in English. One was in Travestere and the other was near the Trevi. We chose the one near the Trevi and saw the "Diary of Bridget Jones". Earlier in Florence, Celeste and I went to another American film: "AI".
The next day while Lucille rested, Celeste and I went to the Vatican. We decided to go by the Metro. We found there was a linea A and linea B and found the one that goes the Vatican. It was a fast ride but when we got there we found the Vatican Museum was closed. It is opened weekdays, Saturday and the last Sunday of the Month. So we went to Saint Peters, saw the Pieta by Michelangelo and visited the crypt of St. Peter.
We decide to walk back to the hotel. We stopped at the Piazza Navona, Compo di Fiore, Torre di Argentio which has a cat shelter (Celeste's separation from her two cats was relieved - somewhat) , and finally took in the the Pantheon. Then we grabbed a bus back to the Termini (Busses 40 and 64 travel between the Vatican and the Termini.)
The next day we were ready to go to the airport. To get there three hours early we were told the train form the Termini was not early enough. We got up very early to take a taxi to the Tiburtino station to get an earlier train to the airport. But instead we took the cab straight to the airport which took thirty minutes. We got there just after 4 am to be there in time for our three hours before our flights. We found the check-in desks did not open till 6 am. So we just hung out till after 7 am when Celeste got her plane to London and we took a later flight to the other airport in London.
Appendix
Some Costs
The train from the airport to Rome costs about 9 dollars.
The train to Sezze costs about 50 dollars if you buy a Carte Argento for seniors. The Carta Argento gets you a discount on train tickets other than to the airport. It is only worthwhile if you do a lot of traveling by train. For example the train from Rome to Florence is about 30 dollars or 15 dollars with a Carta Argento.
The Hotel Sidney triple room was about 70 dollars per night for a triple room and the Hotel Nella was 65 dollars per night. Both were one star hotels.
Hotel Information
Hotel Sidney
Via Magenta 39 ,
00185 Roma
Tel. + 39 06 495 82 32
Fax + 39 06 445 42 51
info@hotelsidney.it
www.hotelsidney.it
Hotel Nella
Via Faenza, 69
50123 Firenze
Tel : +39 055 265 43 46
Fax : +39 055 272 83 62
hotel.nella@agora.it
www.florence.net/hotelnella
In 1998 we used a another hotel also near the railroad station in Florence:
Hotel Kursaal/Pensione Ausonia
Via Nazionale, 24
50123 Firenze
Tel 055 496547; 496324
Fax 055 4626615
kursonia@kursonia.com
www.kursonia.com