Our first full, very full day in Roma

Wednesday, September 10

Tuesday night, arrival night was a blur. Met the owner of our apartment, gave him some euros, and in return got keys, the instructions for the washer (no dryer), the air conditioner, and the gas stove.  Fair trade.  Oh, and he told us to put out the trash every night, in plastic bags, on the street, right in front of the building.

Dinner at a corner restaurant, a few blocks away, hit the spot. Twenty-four euros got us a great funghi pizza, two insalata mistas, carbonated water, pane (gotta stop accepting the bread since they charge 2 euros for it, and we don’t need it), and a sauteed lemon chicken dish that had Shelly pretty much sucking the meat off the bones. That never happens at home.

We slept with earplugs because of the street and people noise and got about nine hours of sleep. Not bad.

Wednesday was one of those days where you set out to do a couple of things, but end up walking a million miles in the heat, lose track of the time, and end up back where you started about eight hours later.

Highlights:

  • Got our Roma Pass (good prices for museums and transportation).
  • Campo de’ Fiori – overpriced tourist market, outdone by the farmer’s markets at home. Nonetheless, we picked up too much cheese, olives, and a peach.
  • Shelly bought two face cloths. A shower without cloths? Please.
  • Got a hunk of wheat bread and a breadstick at Il Fornio. I swear this was the same place that gave me incorrect change 24 years ago.
  • Had lunch sitting outside of the Colosseum, spent about an hour inside. An inspiring sight no matter how many times you see it.
  • An abbreviated hike through the Roman Forum. Shelly had sunstroke written all over her pink face, so we got out of there pretty quickly.
  • Ran into Trevi Fountain, which was overrun by literally hundreds of people.
  • Had our first gelato – I had yoghurt and pistachio.
  • Hung out inside the Pantheon. Very cool.
  • Did a prerequisite stop at a stationery store, got a name of potential vendor.
  • Checked email at an internet café.
  • Got instructions for and got lost twice going to a Despar market two blocks from the internet café.
  • Walked across the Ponte Garibaldi Bridge, carrying our supermarket goods.
  • Had a mediocre dinner at Lagane e Ceci. Got the pane again, asked for tap water, got bottled, had an okay pasta, and Shelly had very tough mystery meat. Oh well.

Walked around a bit. Fell into bed. Exhausted. Just like it should be. Thursday is our Vatican tour, which means we’ll have to be on our best behavior.

The colosseum in all its glory.

The colosseum in all its glory.

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  1. #1 by Jill on September 14, 2008 - 3:43 am

    So glad you’re blogging from Italy! I’m living vicariously through you and Shelly and very much enjoying reading your posts. (Wish I could give you tips, but other than some fabulous gelato, a sexy artist, and the occasional great pasta meal, my Italian experience was less than stellar!)

  2. #2 by kathybad on September 14, 2008 - 3:42 pm

    Funny, but we haven’t run into any sexy artists yet. I’ll keep you posted when/if we do.

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