We both love Rome to the maximus. It's the only place in our whole trip that we've been to before. We hate to make a short trip there but as always timing is a factor. Boo. Anyway no trouble flying from Santorini into Rome. We got the train to Trastevere ("Across-Tiber"), caught a cab to our apartment, met the owner and checked in, all with no problem. We stayed in Trastevere last time we were there, and loved all the ancient streets lined with cafes.
Since we missed these two items on our last visit we wanted to be sure to see The Capitoline Museum and the inside of The Pantheon. We arrived in Rome about noon so we walked down to the Tiber (Il Tevere) and picked up some picnic foods and wine on the way. We got our phones sorted at Vodaphone and walked a good long way down the banks of the Tiber before settling in a little park for our lunch. Sadly there was quite a bit of trash around which we made some small effort to pick up.
After lunch we walked around a bit more, went in some of the churches we passed, and then headed back to Trastevere. We ate at a great little Osteria which turned out to be one of the top places in Trastevere, unbeknownst to us, across from Sloppy Sam's.
Next day we caught the tram where a nice Italian man gave us the clue about how to deal with the trams and busses, which got us to Termini where we got our tickets in spite of unwelcome "help" from an attempted scammer. Fortunately a cop came by and shooed him away. We got the bus back to the Altare Della Patria (AKA Il Vittorio) and got in for free due, in part at least, to an inattentive staff. The free part was the only thing we didn't see LOL. That seems to happen a lot in Italy.
Next door we checked out the Capitoline, which featured among other things a large ancient gem and jewelry collection, plus tons of amazing sculpture. Walking around this city it's just shocking how much antiquity is just floating around. At any given moment you could stumble upon a 5000 year old archeological dig. That doesn't happen in NYC.
From there we walked down to The Pantheon, had some pizza for lunch outside, then went inside. We didn't realize it was still and active church. Kind of overrun with tour groups but still pretty interesting. From there we walked up the street to the church of Santa Maria Magdelena; really beautiful.
That night we had a not-so-great meal at a place called Enzo, but had fun anyway since we met some nice Germans, Carsten & his lovely wife Uta. The next day we went to the piazza del popolo to see the basilica de Santa Maria because it was closed last time we were there. On the way we saw a humongous film production going on. Turns out it was Zoolander II. Didn't see Ben Stiller or Will Ferrel though. The church had the craziest crucifix I ever saw.
From there we climbed the hill to the Villa Borghese park there and rode around the gardens in this funny little electric pedal cart. Fun times kids.
We walked about 15 miles in three days. Yow. So much food and fun and crazy history and walking and art and history we can't even recall it all. Next up: The train to Milan!
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