|
Rome, Italy: August 31, 2013
|
Our last day in Florence came all too soon. Alyssa and I got up early to pack, order a taxi cab, and eat a very quick breakfast. I checked us out of Villa Tolomei and said farewell to the beautiful hotel. The concierge told us to stay for a month next time…ok!
We got dropped off of at Santa Maria Novella train station with a half an hour to spare. Alyssa got some cash out of the ATM machine and we went to try to figure out which platform the train would be arriving at. I thought that the platform number wouldn’t be on the screen so early, but to my shock, it was. Ok, next question was, where on the train do we board? On our ticket it said “coaches:2.” Walking up and down the platform, we realized that there was a section for each ‘coach.’ Very easy!
The 
train arrived and we easily boarded the nearly empty car. I’m so thankful that I spent the extra money for first class. You can’t beat a nearly empty train car! The ride was very peaceful and so fast. Alyssa took a little nap and I enjoyed the scenery that zoomed by. In about an hour and a half, we arrived in Rome!
Our hotel was located in the middle of a plaza, so we had to walk about 100 meters until we reached it. After checking in, the concierge told us to come back down to the front desk so that she could show us everything around us. It was so sweet! Our hotel room overlooked the piazza and it was very big, for European standards. Not bad! 
We napped for a little bit and then freshened up to explore Rome. Near our hotel was a farmacia, so we stopped in so that I could get some band-aids. One of the many bug bites I got in Florence turned into a huge blister the size of a dime! After making my purchase, off we went in search of the Trevi!
The map that the concierge gave us really came in handy. In Rome, there are endless amounts of alleys and streets. One street name turns into a different one. In our attempt to find the Trevi fountain, we realized we had gone in the opposite direction and stumbled upon Piazza Navona. Piazza Navona is one of my favorite piazzas because it holds sentimental value. In each of our prior visits to Rome, we had spent our last night here enjoying dinner and wine. We agreed to come back for our tradition for our final night and headed back in the direction of our hotel to retrace our steps.
Before reaching our hotel, I desperately needed gelato. Luckily, we rounded the corner and there was a gelateria. After ordering and diving into the deliciousness, we rounded another corner and there was the Pantheon. We took a few pictures outside before continuing on our trek to retracing our steps back to the hotel.
Our hotel was located right next to Via del Corso (actually where our taxi dropped us off), a street known for its shopping. Two Zara stores were located right near us, so stopped there to check things out. Since time was short this day, we opted to come back the following day and do some shopping.
I can’t even describe how many times we had to check the map. Looking around, I didn’t feel so alone in being lost. In fact, I overheard more conversations in English than in Italian, it was kind of surreal. Everyone appeared just as confused as us. Many twists and turns later, we reached the Trevi. 
The Trevi fountain was packed with the usual tourists. We pushed our way to the front and avoided the men trying to sell us pictures. We each threw in a coin, took a few pictures, then left to go find the Spanish steps. I was kind of over the large crowd and smelly horses with carriages.
Whipping out our map and walking a few blocks, we reached the Spanish steps. I decided that we needed to take advantage of being able to drink on the streets in Italy, so a Moretti beer was in order. It was also very refreshing, since it was extremely hot! Sitting on the Spanish steps and drinking our beers, a local Italian started a conversation with us. We had asked him where a restaurant was located (a recommendation from a friend), but he had no clue what we were talking about. Instead, he told us of another restaurant to try. He also told us that we had to toss two coins into the Trevi, with our right hand over the left shoulder. Oops! We talked for awhile before trying to find our restaurant. Unfortunately, we were unable to do so, but made an agreement to come back for lunch the following day.
At this point, we were starving for dinner, so we stopped at the first place we saw that looked decent, a restaurant called Numbs. We each ordered Prosecco, and I ordered bruschetta. Since I had yet to have spaghetti carbonara in Italy, I knew I definitely needed to eat it. It was very tasty!
After dinner, we made our way back to the hotel, stopping at the Trevi again to toss more coins in the ‘correct’ way. I also realized that I needed one more gelato for the day, so I stopped into a gelateria right next to the Trevi. It was a little less confusing getting back to the hotel, but we finally made it. Our first day in Rome was complete and we settled in for the night to plan the next day’s adventures!
The next day, we got a late start and headed off to find a restaurant that a friend had recommended by the Spanish Steps. We finally found it and we could tell that it would be a hit by how many local Italians we saw. We were not disappointed! We each ordered wine and I ordered a gnocchi dish. So good!
We then set off to take the metro to the Colliseum. Nine years prior, we had visited the Colliseum but had never gone inside. On this day, that would change! After waiting in a long line, we got our chance to explore, followed by some pre-dinner gelato.
Dinner that night would take us back to the Piazza Navona, as part of our Rome tradition. The plaza was packed and we were definitely 
sad to be leaving Italy the following day. We closed out our last night by getting gelato at a place that had over 150 flavors. What a send-off!
