We left for Rome on Wednesday, May 4, getting up at 4:30 am in order to drive to Copenhagen and make our 7:30 flight…nowadays the airport recommends 2 hours early for all flights, not just international ones. We didn’t have to wear facemasks on the plane but they were required in the Rome airport after we arrived. Living in a country that has basically ignored mask mandates completely, it was a bit of an adjustment for us (for me, anyway). EVERYONE in Italy wears masks…if they’re not wearing them, they have them quickly available. If they’re not wearing them at all, or carrying them, they’re a tourist. Even though Italy dropped its own mask requirements at the beginning of May, they were still ubiquitous. We had them on when we were using public transportation, in stores, and in the indoor attractions. They are required in the entire Vatican as well, which makes its own rules.
Everything went very smoothly…we had a smooth flight, no delays, picked up our luggage, and found our shuttle driver immediately. Off to the parking lot to the shuttle bus and away we went on the 45-minute drive into the city center…until Anders got a phone call 10 minutes in, from some guy whose suitcase we had mistakenly taken, thinking it was one of ours… DRRRR. We had to turn around on the highway, and head back to the airport, where a very disgruntled couple waited with my suitcase (which has two huge Axis camera luggage tags on it). They were quite rude, even though it was obviously not done on purpose. Bummer start, but that was the only bummer thing that happened the whole trip.
Over the last couple of months we had been prebooking tickets and tours for all the things we wanted to do. We didn’t have anything planned the first day after we arrived, and got checked into our hotel and crashed for a an hour an a half, but after our nap we headed out and walked down to the Trevi Fountain. The sun was shining and apparently half the population of Rome had the same idea, but it wasn’t that bad, even though it was crowded, since everyone was happy to be out in the nice weather. We threw coins into the fountain, which means we’ll come back to Rome some day. Don’t laugh, it worked for me! I was there when I was sixteen or so, and did the same thing, so you never know.
Trevi Fountain (not pictured: half the population of Rome in front of it)
Afterwards, we headed over to the Spanish Steps, and on the way there, we ran into some of Karin’s friends. Her good friend Cathaysa lives and works in Rome, and 2 other good friends of theirs were in town for a few days (backpacking around Europe). The Spanish steps were not that impressive, but they were covered with huge pots of blooming pink azaleas, so very pretty. We were quite hungry by that time, so we found a restaurant at the top of the steps and had dinner. Caprese salad and delicious focaccia, then I had fettuccine with bacon, cheese, and artichokes. Yum! A long, tiring, but good day!
On Thursday morning we got up early and had breakfast, which by Italian standards, was quite a spread. We left the hotel at 9:30 am and took the Metro to the meeting place for our guided tour of the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill at 11…my fault that we were so early. It drizzled on us a bit but was done by the time our guide showed up and we set off. First stop: Colosseum in all its ruined majesty. Our guide Richard was quite fast and kept us moving, which was a bit of a shame, as we had no time to read the signs on the exhibitions inside the monument or go to the gift shop, but he was very thorough and gave us lots of interesting information.
After the Colosseum and a short stop at Constantine’s Arch, we headed up the Palatine Hill, which is where Rome was founded, and the kings had their palaces. It’s basically a huge ruin (just the foundations mostly) of a huge palace, and gardens, and a terrace overlooking the Roman Forum. Our guide showed us pictures of artist’s recreations of what it probably looked like, though. Very impressive. Then we descended the hill into the Forum, which is literally PACKED with ruins, fragments, statues, pillars, and relics everywhere. He stood in one place and talked for over 30 minutes, pointing out all the things around us.
Anders on the Palatine Terrace overlooking the Roman Forum
Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
The tour was supposed to be 3 hours, but ended up being about 2.5, which was fine by me. It was a LOT of walking and a lot of hill climbing! We found a hole-in-the-wall gelateria after we ate lunch, our first real gelato: DELICIOUS. I had dark chocolate and salty caramel and I am drooling just thinking about how good it was.
We went back to the hotel for a break…and ended up napping again. There isn’t much that says “vacation mode” than having late afternoon naps every day in a hotel. After that, we had dinner at a very fancy restaurant a block away, called MEAT UP. So much good food. Already we could see our mealtimes sliding later and later to follow the southern European style. 🙂
Next up: a day trip to Pompeii (one i for the modern town, two for the ancient Roman ruins of the town that was buried in molten ash for hundreds of years)