My Roman Holiday - The Spanish Steps
The Sequel to Rome: City of Love

by Prof. Ikaika Kaleo

The travel alarm clock sounds and I awake in my pitch-black hotel room. The air conditioning had been running all night, and though weak, it cooled the room nicely enough so that it was now pleasantly cool. The windows were blocked out with brass covers that lock. I stumble, stubbing my toe on my suitcase on the way to the window as I grope along the wall. I begin to fall down and hit the lock on the shutters and they fall open. As they open the air conditioner trips off, a power saving measure, which I wouldn't appreciate until Sorrento.

The sunlight streams through my window into the room. I squint going from absolute darkness to full morning sunlight. It's already warm and humid. The temperature begins to seep through the cracks in the window. I go for my shower and dress in time to grab a quick breakfast downstairs at the buffet and out to the warm, though air-conditioned, bus.

I lay back in the seat and absorb my second day in Europe and close my eyes as it all sinks in. The bus begins to move after everyone has mounted it and we're off. Today we're going to the Spanish Steps which, if you've seen some American movies, was in the movie Roman Holiday.

Before we go to that, however, the bus stops in a small square with a fountain in the middle. It's of Neptune in a boat with dolphins around it. My tour group and I stand in front of it, and some take water from its many jets to fill up their water bottles. Midday is approaching, and we look up the hill to see many trees. It's now near 100-105 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity is near 80% with the sun shining; it's hot.

We finally climb the hill and go up to this church which is very quaint looking. It's made of stone with concrete steps. We walk into the church and it is very plain. Then, we are taken to the catacombs where the crypt is. We give a suggested donation and wonder inside the small graveyard.

Lining the walls are bones in many different patterns and shapes. Scenes are portrayed in each alcove. A scene that I become fixated on is three monks praying over a graveyard and death, as represented in bones nailed the to ceiling, sweeping over it. On the walls are candelabras made of bone with lights in them. It is completely beautiful and horrifying. My eyes are drawn to the artistry of it and to the realization that these are human bones strewn about in these patterns and scenes.

After an hour of walking back and forth along the grisly display, we leave the church and walk to the Spanish Steps. Down a small hill and up another, we pass along tight roads trying not to be hit by oncoming cars. We come upon a fence, a chain-link fence. I, like I do at home, run my hand along it as we walk by and it cuts my arm. A nice long scratch on my forearm, about 4inches long and it bleeds a little.

We come to another church. "We're here." I look down out and the hill gives way to a large set of stairs, tiered into groups of 5 steps. We walk down the stairs and down into the market place. There is a fountain in front of us and streets to the right left and front (behind the fountain). I choose to walk along the forward path. I wander in and out of designer stores, and I wander myself back to the steps.

My group leader had mentioned that the Hard Rock Cafe was near to the Spanish Steps, on the same road as the American Embassy. So, a few friends and I go to try to find it. We walk up the steps and walk along the road with the fence. We keep following this road until it become a wider street. The American Embassy comes up in front of us and we stop and talk with the guard out front.

"Can we enter?"
"No."
"Why can't we? We're American citizens. Would you like to see our passports?"
"It's reserved for those citizens who are in trouble only. You'll need to make an appointment otherwise."
"Why is the flag at half mast?"
"Senator Thurman died."
"Really? Well, he was really old. Like 99 I think."
"Yeah, I don't think he died yesterday so much as they just noticed yesterday"
"All right, well, have a nice day"

We kept walking, pondering why we couldn't enter our own nation unless under threat. We nearly pass the Hard Rock Cafe on the right. We pull the door, and it opens. We turn to each other and make comments about it finally being an "American door" because all the doors in Italy open and close reverse. We wander around and look at all the merchandise in the air conditioning. I find a t-shirt I like and buy, and then we head back to the Spanish Steps, still talking about the Embassy and the doors.

We walk down the steps and come to the larger group. We sit down and talk about our discoveries at the Embassy and the Hard Rock Cafe. A few of the girls in the group were wearing lots of cheap silver jewelry. Then, I get a tap on my knee:
"Friend."

I turn quickly at this unfamiliar voice and see out of the corner of my eye a dark skinned man armed with a log of the same bracelets.

"Friend."

I look at one of the members of my group as he continues.

"Friend," he taps me on the leg.

"I need to go to the bathroom. I hear there's a McDonald's near here."

"Friend, would you like to buy a bracelet for one of these wonderful ladies?"

"Yes, let's go," one of the girls responded, and we were joined by another one of the guys as we left the steps and went left at the fountain.

We kept walking. Talking about the never-ending amount of gypsies who kept finding our group and the girls' excessive amount of pewter jewelry. We find the McDonald's on our left. It's beautiful with marble and plants and multiple seating areas. After navigating through the first McDonald's in Italy, we finally came to the bathrooms. We used them and then decided it was not fair to use the bathroom and leave, so we ordered food.

We had made a pact that we wouldn't eat any American food while over in Italy because it would defeat the purpose of going. So, we ordered sodas and food not available in an American McDonald's and headed out. We got back to the Steps and the gypsies were still there.

After battling with the annoyance for a few more minutes, we headed back to the bus and sat down into our comfy chairs. We headed back to the hotel for free time until bed and then, in the morning, we were to go to the Vatican and a walking tour of the city.