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Our villa in Rome
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Our trip to Italy was to be our 40th anniversary trip, but it almost didn't happen. I procrastinated about renewing my passport, and when I finally sent the forms in, they went to the New Orleans office -- just before Katrina hit! When I inquired about my application I was told the papers were on the second floor of a building in downtown New Orleans. Unfortunately, the first floor was under water. That was only the beginning of troubles.
After many phone calls and much
pulling of strings, my new passport arrived -- just before our departure date.
Our airline reservations took us first to Frankfurt,
Germany, where we were to transfer
to Alitalia for the final leg of our trip to Rome. Perhaps it's just the relaxed Italian
way of doing things, but our flight was many hours late. In fact, it was the
middle of the night when we arrived. Taking a taxi to the villa where we had
reservations, we found it locked up tight, with no one opening the gate or
answering the phone.
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What did we most enjoy about Rome?
Gelato, hands down!
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Fortunately, our taxi driver knew
of a villa that might be able to take us, even so late at night. It appeared
our luck was finally changing, because we ended up in a lovely suite in a villa
even nicer than the one we had booked.
After sleeping in a bit, we found
that the villa also had a great dining room and breakfast was available! The
only drawback was that we were on the outskirts of Rome and a 45-minute bus ride from the city
center. But after querying the helpful staff about bus routes, etc., we were
bravely off to see the city.
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Which bus? That bus?
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On the bus
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As a photographer in Rome I was like a
mosquito in a nudist colony -- I knew what to do, but didn't know where to
begin!
Actually, I found it a bit overwhelming. There isn't anything in Rome that hasn't been
photographed countless times, and my chances of making significant pictures in
a few days visit were slim and none. Better photographers than I have devoted
years to recording the city in all its moods and seasons. So I concentrated on
photographing the people, while otherwise we made like tourists.
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Doing the tourist thing:
Tossing Coins in the Trevi
Fountain
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Pretty college girls having fun at
the Spanish Steps
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We had thought our bad luck was
behind us, but not quite yet, as it turned out. Our second evening in Rome I either had my
pocket picked when we were surrounded by a large group of rowdy young people as
we crowded into a bus, or I absent-mindedly left my wallet on the table at our
restaurant near the Coliseum. In any case, I lost my credit cards and driver's
license and we had to spend a good part of the next day on the phone with
American Express. Louise was not happy about that, but I know she's forgiven
me, because she occasionally reminds me that she has.
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The Roman Soldier guarding the
Coliseum
was very impressive . . .
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Until you took a closer look at his
sandals.
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Rome was interesting, but I was not
sorry when we boarded the train to the Cinque Terra. We will probably never
have the opportunity to go back to Rome,
but if we do, and with all due regard for the lovely villa where we stayed, the bus rides into town took up a lot of time. We
will stay in the city center if there should be a next time.
(Photographs copyright David B. Jenkins and Louise
D. Jenkins, 2020)
Soli Deo Gloria
For the glory of God alone
