The other night was my first Polish New Year, and it was quite an experience. 

We weren’t out in the midst of the action, but we easily got the idea.  We were at a friends house, watching a movie.  At midnight we looked outside and watched as many of the people in the city were setting off fireworks that Jess had seen people selling along side of the street.

We commented that we could imagine this was a similar sound to the many wars that have been fought in Warsaw.  It was impressive and intimidating all at the same time.  I could imagine it would be an amazing sight from a tall building, or an airplane.

Since Jess and I are now living in Warszawa, and wouldn’t be going home for the Christmas holiday, we decided instead to spend the week in Roma. 

We got some cheap flights on Wizz Air, and an apartment in the heart of the city.

We were a bit worried about the flight, because we had heard some bad things about Wizz Air, but it was really a great flight.  The only noticeable difference from the bigger carriers was that there was no assigned seating.  But even though we expected a frantic shove-fest to get seats, it was really calm and everyone easily found seats.  I think part of that was due to the general observation that most Poles are very polite and respectful. 

We arrived at Fiumicino on-time, and easily took the Leonardo Express straight to Termini station.  From there we went around the building to the bus terminal, where we bought 7-day bus passes and hopped on the 40 Express.  This bus ran around to a lot of the major monuments and sites.  We got off at Chiesa Nuova, which was just about a block or so away from our apartment.  Our only delay in the whole process was waiting for the baggage claim.

We took only a moment to marvel at the outside of the Chiesa Nuova before heading to the apartment.  The apartment (Via Giulia, 105) was an attraction itself.  The owner had discovered some old relics below the apartment when doing some repairs and remodeling.  Rather than covering them up, he had a light and a glass door installed, so his guests could see the Roman relics.  The owner, Alessandro, helped us by pointing out some places on our map, and giving us pointers on where we could find some Gluten-Free food.

We were both tired the first night and Jess wasn’t feeling well, so we went out for dinner, then went to bed.  We ate at a local place and Jess just got a salad to be safe.  Though she did share my gelato (white truffle with coffee in the center – YUM).

The next day we went exploring around our apartment to see what was within walking distance.  The weather was so much warmer than what we had been used to that, by noon we had stripped off our jackets.  For most of the week we walked pretty much everywhere, and only took the bus a few times.  It was a great way to work up an appetite!

One of our main goals, aside from visiting all of the famous and historical sites, was to search out gluten-free restaurants!  We had a few on a list, which turned out to be pretty much the only ones.  We went to all of them that were nearby and open.  Our favorite, and the most geared towards GF food was Tulipano Nero (Via Roma Libera, 15), where Jess and I shared a meal of GF Pizza and Ravioli!  Finishing with a dessert that might not have been GF, but we’re not sure since Jess hadn’t been feeling well since before we arrived.  The other two restaurants we went to were Ripa 12 (Via di San Francesco a Ripa, 12), which was mostly seafood based, and La Fiorentina (Via Andrea Doria, 22) which could replace GF pasta for most of their pasta dishes.

Finding Gluten-Free food was not as easy as we had been led to believe.  However, only 2 or 3 people (of the many we asked) did not know what we meant by Gluten-Free, which is the exact opposite of our experiences in the US and Poland).  So at least we knew we could ask and get a response other than "What’s Gluten?".  But despite that, most places only had salad, meat or seafood to offer.  Which is not bad, except that Jess doesn’t eat much meat, and was sick of salads, and doesn’t want to eat seafood all the time.  We were able to find a good selection of foods at the pharmacies, which we used as supplements and snacks (protein bars and cookies), and also we were able to get some very good GF pasta, which we cooked up at our apartment for a few meals.

Our first stop was to walk over to the Piazza San Pietro, where we happened upon the Pope’s Sunday address.  The Piazza and Basilica ended up being our two favorite places, and we would return to them a few times during the trip.  We were blown away and humbled by the immense size of both places, as well as the magnificient artwork covering every inch of the place.  There is so much history and reverence there, that it’s impossible to ignore.  We made sure to return on Christmas morning both to walk through the Basilica (and I stopped at a quiet chapel to say a prayer) and to be present for the Pope’s Christmas address.

One of the first places we visited was the Pantheon.  Alessandro told us that, on Easter, firemen throw flowers through the hole in the domed ceiling for 15 minutes straight, and that it’s quite the site.  I could imagine that would be fairly impressive.  Especially with the right lighting, sending a sunbeam through the hole as well.  The structure was another very impressive, though somewhat smaller, religious site.

Everywhere we went there were magnificient nativity scenes being constructed.  Some were small and some where life-sized, but all were very impressive.  The largest, of course, was located in the center of the Piazza San Pietro.  It was unveiled on the night before Christmas and had life-sized figures and a stone (or something made to look like stone) building.  There was also another inside the Basilica that was very impressive, with a moving water wheel and a background that faded from day to night.  Each one was different and unique.

Another of the most impressive sites we visited was the Vatican Museum, which was actually inside of an old palace, which reminded us of the palace at Wilanów, but much more elaborate.  The museum tour ended in the Sistine Chapel.  We saw many priceless and amazing works of art, and got a good rundown of the history and other interesting facts from our tourguide.  This was the only tour we signed up for on the entire trip, as it was a bit expensive.  Though the tours are usually really good, because you can bypass a lot of the lines, we are earlybirds and there were no lines.  We were also the first to sign up for the tour, so we had to wait about 2 hours for more people to show up before the tour began.  But it was good, because even though we rushed through everything, we learned and saw a lot.  And even then, we would have to spend over a week in there if we wanted to view everything they had on exibit, and only if we spent a minimal amount of time at each piece.  I reccommend everyone see the museum, as some of the artwork is simply breathtaking, and the Sistine Chapel is beautiful, especially now that it has been restored to it’s original splendor (previously it had been darkened with soot from ages of burning candles for lighting).  Unfortunately as a result of the restoration, you are not allowed to take photographs because the Japanese company that funded the restoration now owns the rights to all photography in return.

We also spent a day exploring the Palatine Hill, one of the ancient sites, right next to the Colosseum, which we visited that same morning.  It was an amazing site walking up on the Colosseum with the morning sun streaming through the arches.  We spent 4€ a piece on audioguides instead of tours (whereas our tour of the Vatican Museum cost 50€ each).  The audioguides were good, but long winded, and since it was very cold that morning, it was difficult to stand in one place long enough to get all the way through to the end.  But there was a lot of very interesting information, and it was amazing to walk through the Colosseum and see where it was restored to how it would have been originally right next to how it looks today, which allowed you to see beneath where the arena floor was to the cavernous innards.

We visited several other sites, including the Piazza del Spagnolo (Spanish Plaza, where the Spanish Steps are), Piazza del Popolo, Piazza Navona (a great spot), Trevi Fountain (Beautiful!), Campo d’ Fiori and various churches we found along our walks.  I have to say that I was very happy to stroll through the city, even though at some points we walked steadily for several kilometers on empty stomachs.  I didn’t want to ride the buses and have it all pass by me quickly.  I wanted to live in Rome for a week, and that’s exactly what we did.  I wouldn’t call it a visit, or a vacation (even though it was), because we definitely lived there, and can’t wait to go back!