Our First Full Day in Rome!
This morning we started the day by exploring the variety of transit options available in the city room. Since we knew that taxis or Uber could be expensive we decided to try an option called “Free Now.” Which according to locals is “similar to Uber but with taxis.” What we came to find out is that it is just a different form of calling a taxi where you can pay through the app like you do Uber, only the meter is running from the time you y’all them until they drop you off, not just the halfway point where they pick you up. On the free now app it said the cost would be between €15 and €16, but when we arrived, the meter had the cost at €30. We were very disappointed in that and decided to try other forms of transit for the next couple of days.
We arrived on the opposite side of Rome at La Fiorentina to have coffee and pastries for breakfast, as was the usual breakfast option in Italy. Eggs and bacon are not offered many places, unless they are serving an “American Breakfast” for a special.
While enjoying our breakfast, we got to experience what 0% chance of rain looks like on the weather forecast for the day, meaning there was a torrential downpour for about 10 minutes. After which the skies cleared up and we set off on our way.
We decided to start on the side of the city where the Vatican was and work our way toward the opposite end to San Giovanni which is where we are staying. We walked along the outer wall of the Vatican for him while until we came to a break between columns that what is inside the courtyard in front of Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano. After making our way through the throngs of people waiting in line to go to the Vatican Museum, we strolled through the square and down the road where we passed the Castel San Angela. It was here we stopped to sit on the wall by the river and attempt to take a few decent photos of and with each other. Mostly, we ended up laughing so hard I’m amazed that either Laura or I did not fall off the wall.
We wandered along from site to site, stopping at well known places such as the Piazza Novona, a few of the obelisks, the site that has now been confirmed where Julius Caesar was stabbed, La Fontana dells Tartarughe, the Jewish Ghetto, Torre Argentina cat sanctuary, and on. We had planned on saving the Colosseum and beyond for the next day, but we’d come so far and seen more than planned in a short time, so we decided to keep going before stopping for dinner.
The architecture of the Roman Empire, and what is left remaining still today over 2000 years later, is astounding to me. What and amazing undertaking buildings such as these must have been at those times. When you find yourself staring up at Palestinians Hill and The Colosseum, you cant help but feel small and insignificant, and a bit sad that we will most likely never be able to truly experience what life must’ve been like at the time.
We ate at Ba’Ghetto de Milky in the Jewish Ghetto for dinner, moving between caprese salad with buffalo mozzarella cheese and fresh basil, fennel and mandarin salad with smoked salmon, and local pasta in a pesto sauce (one of my fave pasta flavors in general, and on this trip). With just a bit of space saved, we made our way to Giolitti’s for gelato to finish off the very long but fulfilling day. Maybe tomorrow we will be lucky and do a little less walking.
~Kelly
Devine Perks 