Jeana and I woke up early on Friday morning so that we could get our breakfast and figure out if we would be moving rooms or not, only to find out our reservation did not include breakfast after all. We were staying in the same room so waking up early ended up being completely pointless. I was sort of upset about the no breakfast thing since when we booked it said there would be, but there are just some things you have to let go. Luckily for Jeana and me we had brought plenty of snack food for the trip so we had food to eat for breakfast. After we ate we showered and I thought I died and went to heaven because there was water pressure! The shower was quite normal by most standards, but a luxury to me after using our shower in London for so long with no water pressure.
I really began to soak in the vacation feeling after my fantastic shower. I then got to use an Italian hair dryer which took me about fifteen minutes to dry my hair but it was an experience. Once Jeana and I were all ready to go we decided to just head out the door and start exploring. We know the Coliseum was only fifteen minutes away so we figured we would run into something eventually. Well we ended up just making a huge loop around where we were staying and saw nothing of particular significance. We then walked in the opposite direction and upon seeing a map realized how far away from things we really were. We decided it was time to get a metro pass and hop on the metro. We weren’t really sure what we wanted to do so we just got on and got off the metro at Barbani where Trevi fountain is supposed to be.
The whole time we had been solely relying on my Rick Steves book for maps which works for a while but is really impossible to use to actually find anything except for general areas. Our first mission was therefore to locate a detailed map of Rome. We looked for a little while and couldn’t find one so we decided to just start walking. We knew we’d make it eventually and we were in no rush. We stopped in a little cafe to each buy a sandwich on the way. As they didn’t speak English and couldn’t tell me what was on the sandwiches, I played it safe and got a tomato, basil, and mozzarella sandwich. It was quite tasty and did its job of subduing my grumbling tummy.
We continued to walk as we ate and ran into a tourist group. We thought about following them around for a bit but decided to go a different route as we noticed something was ahead of us. Through we had no idea at the time this something ended up being the Spanish Steps. We were at the top originally and didn’t even know there were so many steps below us. We took pictures of the fantastic view and decided to head down to see what was there. First we saw some painters with their paintings. Some drew caricatures while others did portraits. After we watched for a little while we headed down farther. We then realized we were somewhere important as there were loads of people everywhere. This is when we saw there was a vast amount of steps as well and began putting two and two together. We still weren’t certain it was the Spanish Steps though. We made our way all the way down and took our pictures in the fountain at the bottom. I love how many fountains there are all over Italy! Next we realized we had to be at the Spanish Steps so we took some pictures.
From there we decided to find Trevi fountain. We walked a ways and finally found a place to purchase a map. Jeana is quite good at reading the map and getting us to/from places so that became her official job. As we walked along we looked into a few shops. Finally we reached our destination we had looked so long for and it was well worth it. Trevi fountain was much more grand and beautiful than I imagined. It was neat because before we even got there you could hear the atmosphere of the fountain a block away so we knew when we were close. At the fountain Jeana and I took our pictures and absorbed the atmosphere a bit. Then we of course had to toss our coins in the fountain. Legend has it that if you do you are guaranteed a trip back to Rome and I’m not about to take my chances on missing out on that one! I’m already looking forward to my next visit and I’m not even done with this one yet! This is a little fountain off to the side where you can drink out of/use to splash your face. Jeana and I took time to refresh ourselves there and the water really tasted quite good.
From Trevi fountain we went in search of the Pantheon. It didn’t take us long to find it. Sadly half of it is covered in scaffolding but you could still see its incredible structure. We went inside and it was absolutely spectacular. The space was just so vast. The ceiling was by far the most incredible part. It was just so gigantic. There is absolutely nothing like it that I have seen that has been around for so long. We walked around and checked out everything around and it was all pretty interesting. It’s sad but I can’t remember half of it already…just been seeing to many things to keep track of it all! Once we saw the Pantheon we decided it was time we found ourselves some gelato. We’ve been using my Rick Steve’s book as a guide and he listed a couple places to try. He also recommended a few other little places to see so we check those out as well. We went to the first gelato place and it looked neat but we were not in awe so we decided to walk to the other one and we hit the jackpot!
This place was absolutely the best. There were about fifty different flavors to choose from. This of course proved to be difficult to pick something but since it was in Italian I had no clue what things were and just picked two that looked yummy. I don’t think I could have gone wrong honestly. We saw a lady ask for crème on hers so we got that too and it only made it all the more superb. I honestly haven’t had something that good ever. I had a dark chocolate and purple berry kind. I didn’t think I would ever get better gelato than that. We sat outside and ate it which only added to the great experience. After getting our gelato we decided to walk around, check out some places and head back to the hostel to meet Tyra and Jordan who were arriving around 4:00.
We hopped on the Metro and headed home. We got there a little before 4:00 and just sort of crashed. We were totally exhausted from all the walking and had a nice time just being able to sit and chat. We made ourselves some tea as we waited and got all unpacked and settled in. The time kept passing and still no Tyra and Jordan. We figured it would be at least 6:00 before they got here since the guy at the desk told us their flight landed at 3:50. It took us about two hours to get to the hostel so we factored the same amount of time for them. They ended up getting in right about 6:30. After they settled in a bit we all headed out to dinner together. They guy at the desk told Jordan about a few really good places in Traverse away from the tourist traps so that’s where we headed. It didn’t take us long to find it when we got off our bus. We stopped at a cute place that was tucked in a back little corner of a courtyard. Our view from our outdoor seats was a beautiful fountain and church. Doesn’t get much better than that.
I ordered a margarita pizza and Jeana and I split brushetta for our appetizer. The four of us ordered a bottle of wine to share to capture the full experience. The full experience includes eating over several hours. Nobody here eats and leaving within an hour. I fully enjoyed the meal and we had a grand time wining and dining for a few hours. After dinner we walked a little bit until the girls spotted gelato and they had to get some since they hadn’t gotten any yet! It was such a beautiful night so we walked some of the back less crowded cobble streets. We eventually made it back to our bus stop and were waiting when I noticed the bus stopped at 22:00. It was 22:20 by that point and no metro nearby. We decided we would just walk home. It was a beautiful night for a walk and it was nice getting acquainted with Rome better. It was one far walk. We didn’t end up getting home until a little bit after midnight aka 0:15, but overall, tired feet and all it was worth it. We passed the Coliseum on the way home and it was a great sight to see at night. We all collapsed when we got back and enjoyed one night of slid sleep! We couldn’t have started our time in Rome any better!
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