Profile Archive Rome 2000: The Jubilee Year Traveling with Teens Tackles the Eternal City by Scott Chase Rome 2000: The Jubilee Year Traveling with Teens Tackles the Eternal City by Scott Chase There's only one way to tackle Rome, the Eternal City, when you've got just four short days and an agenda full of "must-see" sites, and that's head-on. So headlong into the early morning smog, the rush of traffic, the hordes of local pedestrians, and the thousands of tourists we threw ourselves on a late Spring visit. Compared to just a few years ago, Rome has a new sparkle. City fathers spent trillions of lire on an urban clean-up program designed to lure upwards of 30 million visitors to the city in 2000, dubbed the Jubilee Year. For first-timers, the effect probably wasn't nearly as profound as it was – and will be until air pollution and city grime inevitably kick in – for returnees. The Roman monuments and the Forum area, along with the Coliseum, the Arch of Constantine, and the ruins on the Palatine Hill, absolutely shine. The plazas and piazzas around town also are radiant. For the ultra-critical, occasional piles of windblown trash, untidy construction sites, and the Italian penchant for casual littering may be sources of minor irritation. Some might say there's still a long way to go in this current beautification project. From our ground-level perspective, Rome looked great. Day One consisted of our usual "city fam tour" on foot. Using the late 18th-century Palazzo del Popolo on the northern side of the city as a starting point, we headed down the central Via del Corso. First stop: The famous Victor Emmanuel II memorial, a modern wedding cake concoction of white marble and shining columns, offering a counterpoint to the ancient treasures radiating out from its south, east and west sides. Just behind the VE II edifice on the Capitoline Hill one finds the Piazza del Campidoglio, with three smallish buildings designed by Michelangelo facing onto a courtyard by the same artist. From there it's a brief trot past Trajan's Forum and markets to the base of the Coliseum, and then west a few hundred yards to one of the entrances to the Forum. As this entry is free (and the Coliseum is not), we plowed through the sights and sounds of the Forum on what was a very dry and windy day. The wildflowers were out in force, offering a photographer's fantasy of composition as we drew a Kodachrome bead on such historic frames as the Temple of Saturn, the arch of Septimius Severus, the Curia, the Temple of Mars Ultor, the Forum of Caesar, and other sites. Three rolls of film are not too many in this manageable yet exhausting enclosure. On the "annoying notes" side, a stop at a tourist information booth yielded no information whatsoever on a simple inquiry such as how to get a multi-entry ticket to Rome's ancient attractions. So we paid the going rates at the Coliseum only to discover a specially-priced "five key entries" ticket booth at the base of the Palatine hill. And for those of you who are put off by locals swarming your wallet or purse, beware of the brightly garbed, modern-day gladiators who throng the Coliseum and other strategic Roman street corners. While photos of the family posing with these theatrical centurions made for smiles on the post-trip home front, the cost seemed high. Each would-be actor wanted 5,000 lire, so crowding six or seven into a snapshot drew down nearly $20! All this walking and seeing and posing made for tired legs and a gnawing hunger. In Rome, one of the easy things is food. Prices are reasonable, the fare uniformly good, and even the city's ubiquitous (and apparently scrupulously clean) snack vans offer a quick repast that's soft on the bankroll. But abandon plans to eat this or that Italian specialty at any given moment – it's much easier to just go with the flow and get whatever strikes your fancy as you chose from the restaurants and bars that populate every street and alley. And abandon as well resistance to the omnipresent Italian ice cream, or gelati. Just go for it – at least three times a day! Moving on from the ancient quarter, we navigated the city streets toward the Trevi Fountain, made famous by time, beauty and at least in part by Hollywood and various starlets. Throngs of tourists crowd into a tiny square to face this massive waterfall, many tossing coins over their left shoulders to increases chances for their eventual return to the Eternal City. Sidewalk cafes and dozens of shoe and leather goods stores surround the fountain, adding a noisy yet festive air to the enclosure. Heading again to the north, we crossed the Spanish Steps and made our way up to the Church of Trinita di Monti. Pausing at the summit to look straight down to the Piazza di Spagna and the Barcaccia Fountain, we could see on out into the distance along the fashionable (and hugely expensive) Via Condotti, cornerstone of one of Rome's most photographed and beloved urban panoramas. Day Two was devoted to the Piazza Navona and its immediate environs, including the Pantheon, and a trek to the Church of St. Peter in Chains near the Coliseum. Called "the most famous square of Baroque Rome," the Piazza Navona inundates its visitors with a primer on one of the most famous Italian designers of fountains, with two awesome Bernini efforts from the mid-17th century. A third striking fountain by another artist and the oddly-shaped Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone complete the picture here. Minutes away is the Pantheon, first built about 27 B.C. by Marcus Agrippa and then reconstructed in its current form over a decade beginning in 118 A.D. by the emperor Hadrian. The stunning interior of the Pantheon is set with the tombs of two modern-era Italian monarchs, as well as those of other national luminaries. Its spherical dimensions reach their apogee in a circular opening to the sky, and it's said that one great sight (which we missed due to the perfect Spring weather) is that of rain falling into the building through this aperture. Massive bronze doors complete this imposing picture of imperial Rome and the durability through the ages of Roman architecture. Following a light lunch, we moved back down the Corso toward the Coliseum, angling eastward to the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains). Set in an undistinguished, tucked-away square, this comparatively modest structure houses one of Michelangelo's great sculptures, of Moses between Rachel and Leah, as well as the chains with which St. Peter once supposedly was bound. With all that behind us, we headed back up toward the Piazza del Popolo, detouring ever so slightly to walk again through the Trevi Fountain and up the Spanish Steps. From there it was a charming promenade through the public areas of the Villa Borghese, the largest park in Rome with a perimeter of more than six kilometers, to our private accommodations just north of the Piazza del Popolo. Day Three began with an hours-long visit the Vatican Museums, culminating in nearly as much time spent in the Sistine Chapel. The Renaissance treasures of the Chapel are once again on public view, following the most sophisticated of restorations. Michelangelo competes with – and in our minds defeats – other artistic notables such as Perugino, Pinturicchio and Botticelli on the walls of this sacred shrine built beginning in 1475. But regardless of your tastes, everywhere the eyes land in the Sistine Chapel, it's a sure bet that their gaze encompasses among the finest works of the greatest masters. From there we walked to St. Peter's (which deserves a separate story of its own) and the Piazza San Pietro, mostly to experience once again Michelangelo's magnificent Pieta, and then on to the Castel Sant'Angelo. From the top of this pre-medieval fortress built on the foundation of a mausoleum for Roman emperors, we enjoyed a light lunch at a table with an imposing and unforgettable view of St. Peter's. Day Four was reserved for a special treat. Our host in Rome, Anna-Maria L., decided that we couldn't see it all in such a short time without a little help. So we went by car to the Isola Tiberina, a little plot of land in the Tiber River anchored on one end by the lovely Church of St. Bartolomeo. Then she whisked us off to the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin to see its interior as well as the famous Bocca della Verita, a pagan facial sculpture which, legend has it, bites the hands off of liars brazen enough to stick their grimy paws into its cavernous mouth. Santa Maria is close by two ancient shrines, the temples of Fortuna Virile and Vesta, so this visit does double-duty. We next drove a short distance to the Baths of Caracalla, and spent more than an hour among the tranquil and nearly deserted reserves of this imposing ruin. Then we dashed over to the top of the Aventine Hill for dramatic city vistas from the western side of town. Concluding the "guided tour" part of our day, Anna-Maria dropped us down in front of the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, a gorgeous edifice that counts upwards of 18 centuries in its heritage. As we were chauffeured around the perimeter of city center, we realized that the sights and sounds we were seeing and hearing from Anna-Maria's car actually were within walking distance of our own self-guided tours. And that just served to reinforce our growing suspicion that the very best of Rome is a sequence of "just around the corner" encounters. You simply don't need a car to enjoy Rome. Santa Maria also made for a good departure point for our ambulatory exploration of the quiet yet trendy area of the Trastevere, which we found to be filled with fun little shops and other surprises. Unhappily, it was here, too, that we had our only unpleasant dining experience. We entered a small, inviting restaurant that prominently displayed an outdoor sign reading "Tourist Menu: 30,000 lire." Various choices were offered verbally by the waiter, and the fare was edible if not memorable. The unhappy surprise arrived with the check. Instead of 30,000 lire (about $14.25 at the time) per person, we got shelled with a bill for more than double that. Our protests were met with curt delivery of a printed menu, one bearing no resemblance to the posted invitation. The whole incident served to remind us that even self-styled seasoned travelers can stumble into trouble, and that it's always important to know not only what you're getting, but also what you're paying for it. During the "pay up" portion of our lunch, we realized after the fact that we weren't the only victims of this age-old ploy. (Another age-old ploy, the private car service at the airport, we managed to evade. The scam here is to ask bedraggled arrivals where they want to go. The driver then produces official-looking rate cards giving fares to locations in the general area of the response. Invariably, these fares are double the metered rate. Use licensed taxicabs when in Rome and, when in doubt, ask!). So, what was our view of Rome on four days? The good news is that it's all there, accessible on foot, affordable, and exciting. The even better news is that it will take dozens of these four-day excursions to truly explore, sample, and savor the hidden treasures and sublime beauty of this ancient, modern and Eternal City. Traveling with Teens/Family Travel Worldwide is based in Montgomery County, Maryland. We specialize in family travel adventures, and rate airlines, agencies, tour operators, hotels, restaurants, parks, museums, sites, attractions, and other travel items/accessories for kid-, young adult- and family-friendliness, value and fun. 1-301-529-9809; teentravel@hotmail.com.