March 9, 10. Rome.

March 9. Rome Day 1.

We got off the ship bright and early and had a little delay waiting for our transfer to Rome. Before long we were on our way. It took about an hour and a half to get to Rome and we were checked into our hotel by 11:30am.

We had a 2:30pm Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel tour booked. Our hotel was about 15 minutes away, so we walked over in the light sporadic rain. There was just an overwhelming number of people. When Kory and I did the tour in 2018, we did the first one of the day. I don’t particularly like getting up to be on a 7am tour, but I would do it for that experience. Our tour guide was quiet and mumbled, so it wasn’t the greatest tour. But I was happy Penny could get the experience and see the vast size of the Vatican museums and the obligatory Rome experience of standing in the Sistine chapel.

 

By the time we were done with the tour, we hightailed it back to the hotel for a few minutes to freshen up and then a 15-minute walk in the other direction to get to our Street Food and History walking tour. It ended up being the highlight of our time in Rome.

Our tour guide was Daniele… he was quite the personality, a Rome native, and the self-described “best tour guide in the world”. He kept the group of 12 moving along and told the history of each of the five items we tried, as well as relevant information of the neighborhoods we walked through.

We were all filled up on food and exhausted by the end of what ended up being a two hour 45 minute tour and the half hour walk back to the hotel. We had no problem getting to sleep!

"Before we eat pizza, we eat Suppli"

 

Then we eat Pizza... 

 

 

 Not pictured but was delicious... Porchetta Romana... a classic Italian street food. Slow roasted pork bellu with garlic, rosemary, and fennel.

The only true "Roman desert" that they usually eat with their coffee in the morning. Maritozzi are brioche buns scented with orange zest, vanilla and honey, then filled with whipped cream. It was like a cream puff.

 And then we ended with gelato.

 

March 10. Rome Day 2.

We started the day walking to Campo de Fiori, the flower market square. We were hungry so we just sat on the patio of a place on the square and had basic breakfast and people watched. Then, we spent about three hours doing the Rick Steves Audio Tour through the heart of Rome. We saw many Rome highlights… Many statues, ancient obelisks (more than any other city in the World), fountains (including the Trevi fountain), piazzas, the Pantheon, aqueduct ruins, Spanish Steps and more. 

 

 

 Penny in front of a window full of Aperol! We've had a lot of Spritz's on this trip!

Then, just to say Penny saw it, we trekked to the Colosseum and took a look around the ruins in that area. It was a beautiful 65 degree afternoon, so we stopped and had an Aperol Spritz break and basked in the glorious sun… and they also brought us finger food snacks.

 

 

 

By the time we returned to the hotel we had walked over 9.5 miles on our adventures. We went to the rooftop bar for a cocktail. It overlooked St. Peter’s basilica and the rooftops of the neighborhood. Then we sat outside for our last meal in Rome. All in all, a great trip and two weeks of fun and adventures!