Rome-in' Around Italy

Every year, in addition to the professional development that we do throughout the year, Shannon takes summer professional development courses. She takes them in part because the classes are challenging, engaging, and helpful, and in part because they are a big component of the international school principal qualification process. In previous years, they have been held at a swanky Miami hotel. In the Spring, when Shannon told me her options were to sign up for the same location later in the summer, or much more conveniently timed, right at the end of our school year at a different location, the choice was easy. Plus, the different location was Rome. This would afford her the opportunity to meet and network with people from different schools in different locations that she had met with previously. Also, it was in Rome.

The convenient timing of courses beginning as soon as our school year obligations were over meant that we had one day to pack, and prep our home for a summer of emptiness. On one hand, we felt a little rushed on our way out, on the other hand, it was time. We were ready to be off of a compound, exploring new cities, and making progress towards seeing our family and friends. We were finally on the way to celebrating Shannon's pregnancy with our families and friends; which were were forced to do from afar.

When we landed in Rome we were treated to the good old, "all bags from this flight have been delivered" sign, which of course meant that all of our possessions were lost. Well this wasn't really what happened, but it's what we thought. When we finally got to our stuff, hopped in a cab, and got to our hotel, we were struck by how much our hotel looked like a hospital. But either way, we were beginning our summers and set up to explore Rome. We spent the rest of the day stopping by a local grocery store to stock up on snacks and provisions for Shannon's daily lunch breaks. We walked around the neighborhood a bit and quickly came to the realization that pretty much everything shuts down on Saturdays in Rome. We grabbed some pizza and called it a night.

For our first full day, and the last day of free time Shannon would have before classes started, I arranged for a tour of the Colosseum. We narrowly missed the hotel shuttle to the center of town, but decided to walk to the city's historical center instead.

After an hour or so of walking and embracing the mid 80s temperatures (way better than 120 which
we left begin in Riyadh), we arrived. Editor's disclaimer: Shannon is five months pregnant. Just feel like I had to throw that out as a reminder. When we got there, we had some lunch and went along with our tour. We felt like total fanny pack wearing tourists as we put on our tour guide required headsets and proceeded into the security line at the Colosseum. As we walked, we watched as countless tourists fell out from the "heat" and the "strenuous walking." We proceeded through our tour while chuckling to ourselves as this one woman loudly complained about the level of audio in her headset, every 7 minutes or so. It was her headset. Then it was her headphones. Then it was the guide not being loud enough. The constant complaining provided some levity to Shannon and I as we enjoyed the tour.

The Colosseum has been on my traveling bucket list since my parents told me when I was a child that they went there for their honeymoon. As a person inclined to the narrative and stories told by history, I always had this fascination with the Colosseum, and it didn't disappoint. We saw the seating areas, the concourse, the rooms used to imprison the gladiators, the weapons storage rooms, and everything in between. We were told about the types of animals used to fight against the gladiators, conjugal visits by wealthy women to the gladiators, and everything in between. After the Colosseum, we toured the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. We looked at ancient palace ruins, temples, marble statues, columns, and even the site of chariot races. The tour took about three hours, and served as a really cool opportunity to share an afternoon together before her courses started. When the tour ended we wandered around the city looking for some food until we came upon what can only be described as an Irish Pub meets Italian family restaurant. That night, after we fell asleep after a long day of walking and touring, we were woken up at 1:00am to the piecing sound of a fire alarm. Apparently someone had been smoking in their hotel room. So that was a cool way to spend our first night resting up.

The next day started, and Shannon went to class. In previous years, during this training, when we were in Miami, I would wander around the neighborhood, go to the gym, go to coffee shops, go to the pool, or go to the local malls. None of these were bad options. But none of these were wandering around the streets of Rome either. I spent the day going from historical site to historical site. I went to cafes. I walked around and wandered the city. I saw the Pantheon. I saw the historic column of the Emperor Trajan. I got lost. I found my way. I got lost again. I found my way into a small ten foot by ten foot bar watching a World Cup game with a group of Colombians. I had a blast.

When I got back from my daily adventures of walking 15 miles or so around the city, I joined Shannon for an afternoon and evening, just in time for the power to shut off. Yet again, another ear splitting alarm accompanied that; for about five or six hours. We were left as blind as moles wandering the dark hallways of the hotel with nothing more than the flashlights of our cell phones, and the increasing temperature, tempers and accompanying body odor of the guests and as the air conditioning turned off. Due to the elevators being shut down, we walked up and down dark staircases for four stories multiple times to get into our rooms, only to find that we couldn't access our rooms because...key cards. It was not pleasant. So Shannon and I did the only responsible thing, and took refuge in a local pizza spot until the inconvenience was through.

The next day as Shannon went to class, I wandered out again to search the streets of Rome for an appropriate birthday gift, which I won't detail here as her birthday hasn't passed yet. I came back in time to have lunch with Shannon and we were shooed away from the hotel and shushed along the way because they were filming a movie scene. Paying guests be damned! This place was about to become...a hospital for some major action movie. I knew it!

Minor inconveniences aside, the next few days went smoothly, and we capped off our stay with a nice dinner together in the gardens of St. Peter's Cathedral in Vatican City before a tour of the Vatican, and the famous Sistine Chapel. I can only describe the Sistine Chapel as remarkable, and indescribable. The level of detail, beauty, care, effort, and thought that went into each inch of an absolutely massive complex was breathtaking. We saw the collection of paintings, sculptures, and carvings throughout the facility. Unsurprisingly, the crown jewel of the entire visit was the Michelangelo painting of the Creation of Adam.

As I write this, I am enjoying my 60th espresso or so while sitting on a cobblestone street outside of a cafe. I am about to go in to prepare for Shannon's course graduation and dinner with her. After which, we will be moving on from Rome to take a train south to Naples where HER vacation can finally begin, then on to the states to see our families.  Our time in Rome was peppered by hotel disasters, historical beauty, creative scheduling around Shannon's conference schedule, and about as much pasta as you could possibly imagine.

Our final evening in Rome was the night of my ‘graduation ceremony.’ After taking four leadership courses over the last four summers I finally earned my certificate of international school leadership. Justin was able to join me for the evening so he met some of the participants from my course, and got to watch the famous closing night skits put on by all the breakout session groups. Unable to toast this accomplishment the usually way, after dinner and the ceremony, we went in for an early night. We had been gifted a nice bag of chocolates from the hotel (everyone else was given a bottle of champagne….sigh), and so we toasted with chocolates and sparkling water.

The next morning we boarded the ever-efficient European train system for our one-hour trip down to Naples. In true Euro fashion, the train left exactly at the scheduled time and we enjoyed quite a pleasant journey through the countryside. Naples had a totally different feel than Rome - obviously less crowded, small winding streets, and a lovely fresh sea breeze blowing off the bay. Our Airbnb apartment overlooked the bay of Naples, and afforded an unobstructed view of Mt. Vesuvio as well as stunning sunsets and moonrises over the water. Each morning we threw open all the windows and flooded the apartment with the songs of birds and gulls, and fresh sea air. We filled up our tiny refrigerator with fresh peaches, melon, and cheese for the week and readied ourselves to begin a most relaxing stay in the city of Naples.

It was as we began unpacking our clothes that I realized with great horror that I had left my passport in our hotel room back in Rome. Seeing as how I have never done something this boneheaded before, and because I have not really pulled the pregnancy card many times, I chalked up this oversight to pregnancy brain. Thankfully the hotel had found and was keeping safe my passport. And in true hero fashion, my darling husband boarded the morning train BACK to Rome that very next morning to retrieve my passport and bring it back. I felt horrible that we had to waste half a day and another 100 euros to fix the mistake, but Justin was gracious about it and we didn’t let it ruin our time.

Our first excursion planned for Naples was a day trip to Mt. Vesuvius, a hike around the top of the crater, and finally a visit to the city of Pompeii. We arranged for a private driver to pick us up at the apartment and rode about an hour up to Mt. Vesuvius. Our driver parked in a lot near the entrance and Justin and I hiked (more like an uphill walk than an actual hike) the final 1500 meters to the top. Vesuvius itself is only about 1300 meters tall, and the top of the mountain is an almost perfectly round circle-shaped crater where the top blew off some 2000 years ago. The terrain was rocky and ashy and on this day there were incredibly strong winds at the top. We had a gorgeous view of the bay of and the city from the top. It was an easy 20 minute walk down the bottom where we reunited with our driver and then headed down to Pompeii.

Pompeii, about a 30-minute drive from Vesuvio, was an ancient Roman city that was covered in ash in 79 A.D. after Vesuvio erupted. The city itself was sprawling and you could easily spend an entire 8-hour day walking amongst the streets and aqueducts, private homes, gardens, stables, and amphitheatre. Pompeii is laid out like a modern-day suburban neighborhood, which makes navigating the place quite easy with a walking map. We were amazed to see how well preserved some of the interior frescoes were in the homes and I can only imagine how stunning they must have been to see in their day. We also visited the Garden of the Fugitives where were discovered several victims of the volcano; their final moments forever preserved in plaster casts of their death poses. There was a surreal contrast between the plaster casts and the beautiful garden that surrounded them, filled with flowers and singing birds that gave the impression of a very peaceful final resting place.

We concluded this evening with a homemade Italian dinner, prepared by our host and served on the

terrace overlooking the water and setting sun. This may have been the most delicious and special meal that Justin and I had during our entire stay. Everything was homemade with fresh, privately grown ingredients. The menu included an aperitif of homemade limoncello served with snacks of salted peanuts and organic olives, an appetizer of fresh mozzarella cheese, ripe tomatoes and crisp basil leaves and thinly sliced baby zucchini lightly fried in olive oil, a first course of spaghetti with with olive and tomatoes, a second course of eggplant lasagna, white wine served with fresh sliced peaches, and a dessert of hot chocolate lava cake - an appropriate ending for our volcano-themed day.

After a slow morning of espresso and fresh peaches on the terrace, we grabbed a taxi up to Castel Sant’Elmo, situated on the highest peak of Naples. While the castle itself wasn’t exceptionally beautiful, it did afford us a 360 degree view of the entire city of Naples and surrounding bay. It was a warm, sunny day and we enjoyed gazing out over the ocean and enjoying the nice sea breezes blowing around the castle walls. Upon leaving the castle, we visited the famous Cameo Factory di Paola right outside. This company has been handcrafting cameos for over 100 years. We met the welcoming shop owner who even gave us a demonstration, showing us the tools and techniques he uses to carve a bust, rose, or other decorative scene out of the back of a seashell. His shop was full of beautifully carved cameos set into rings, earrings, pendants and brooches. For my birthday present, I picked out a lovely cameo set in sterling silver of the three graces from Greek mythology, Beauty, Happiness, and Abundance. I chose it because it was unique and commemorative of our visit, but also because it reminded me of my sisters.

On our last full day we once again hired a private driver to take us down the Amalfi coast. We stopped first in Positano, pulling off on the side of the road to admire the famous Mediterranean blue waters gleaming around the cliff sides. The landscape was beautifully covered with lush flowers and charming little villas built right into the cliffside. We also refreshed ourselves with a freshly squeezed lemon ice on the side of the road before continuing on our drive down to Positano. Our driver dropped us off near the center of town and Justin and I walked down a tiny curving, cobblestoned road that was canopied along the way with fushia and white bougainvillea until we reached the beachside. Here, we were able to rent an umbrella and two chairs on the water for a whopping 35 euros. Instead of sand, the shore and bottom were made of rounded black and gray rocks that made for quite a different beach experience. We spent a couple of hours here swimming, sunning and reading until it was time to head back up the hill and meet our driver again. Positano, and in fact most of the Amalfi coast is known for its lemons and handmade limoncello. So we stopped in a little lemon-themed gift shop and purchased some gift bottles for friends, and a small bottle of “Eau di Positano” perfume for me. The drive into Amalfi took about another 20 minutes, on account of the traffic and many coach buses choking up the small, one-way winding road. Amalfi is much larger and more commericalized than Positano and was a definite tourist attraction. We stopped here for a nice lunch of smoked flounder and breaded cod, and of course a scoop of gelato before piling back into the car for our journey home.