Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Rome

Yesterday we arrived at last in the Eternal City. After a brief mishap with the bus system, we found our hotel and took the short walk to the Pantheon, where we had dinner right on the piazza (square). We also saw the Trevi Fountain before turning in after our long day of travel.

The rest of the night was less smooth. Our hotels so far have been modest but nice. This room, though, had paper-thin walls, a dysfunctional door, almost no space that wasn't bed, a funky (-er than usual) toilet, a loud running-water sound when the people upstairs flushed, faulty AC, and mold. We complained. Tonight we were moved to a much nicer room. Lesson learned! Tonight we even have a toilet seat! It's nice not to feel like you're perching on a windowsill or something.

Today was exhausting and tons of fun! We toured the Forum, Coloseum, and Palatine Hill.

My favorite conversation of the day:
Big long-haired guy dressed like gladiator to Mom: Hello, lovely. You want a photo with a nice boy?
At this point, I peeled off to the left. Filial loyalty only goes so far. :)
Mom: No thank you.
Gladiator, rubbing her shoulder: You have nice legs.
Now, this was the wrong thing to say because Mom had some heat rash on her legs. (At first we thought it was a gelato allergy. Thank goodness, that wasn't the case.) I didn't hear the legs comment, so the next thing I knew, Mom was walking fast and mumbling about legs. We'll be avoiding gladiators, I think. :)

We had a light lunch sitting near the Circus Maximus (old chariot track), then saw the inside of the Pantheon before taking a siesta. Post-siesta, we walked around the Vatican area, then walked from the Spanish Steps back "home" in the twilight. Pretty!

Tomorrow: St. Pete's. And photos, we hope!


Sent from my iPhone; please forgive typos.

1 comment: