Rome Travel Notes | Part 2

6 Days in Rome – Part 2 - 3-30-23

One thing my husband and have learned and are still in the process of learning is to not over-do the sites, fun and intake when it comes to vacation. I know that sounds a bit off, I mean how can you over-do fun?  Trust me on this- you can. We try and put days in between the days to just let our bodies and minds have a break. Especially if there are kids involved which there wasn’t’ on this trip. I don’t mean break days in excess, more like every 3 or 4th day.

I brought along a little palette of watercolor and a small postcard size paper pad, plus a very small, lightweight bag with a cross-stitch project. The cross-stitch went on the planes with me because I am never sure when I will have immense amounts of time to mess with. I love to people watch and observe, so I never did get to the stitching. But it didn’t matter because it’s so tiny and lightweight that I brought it and didn’t work on it. I like my options open!

So, we had a day when I stayed at the apartment the entire day and because Chris doesn’t like to sit still as much as I do, I suggested he head out for a walk on his own in the city streets. He was given instructions to bring me back a small token of his affection. He picked out a hand towel with Rome stuff printed on it and also brought back dinner. I love their pastries. So many of them are filled with creamy goodness and all I can say, it’s a good thing we walked and walked so much! And so, I spent some time and did a watercolor of London. No extra sound, just silence and painting. I need time alone to re-charge my emotional batteries and after putting myself through many days of people packed situations, I was overdue.

I would like to make sure the reader knows that Mondays are an awful day to try and tour or visit attractions or even specific stores. Please remember this when booking a stay- at least in Italy. We bought a ticket to the Hop on Hop off Bus. We made the conclusion that the tour wasn’t that exceptional and didn’t make as many stops as it could have. The bus was quite packed, often people who had been waiting for quite some time didn’t get to board because no one got off the bus at the stop! I hope they have more drivers in their busy season. We did observe a full-grown man whining and complain to the lady driver that he couldn’t get a seat on the top! He held up the bus for a good 5 min. Really sir?

Chris and I wanted to see the Roman Baths which was near the Coliseum. We made the trek to it which was no small feat and found a paper sign taped to the gate that they were closed that Monday… It didn’t say on the website they were closed. Be aware, the website is often not updated with the reality of the attraction. So, we walked forever to a bus stop and waited some forever more to get on the bus. We decided to go to a special garden and took the bus to do so. Once we had a gander of the public gardens from the bus, we decided to not get off there. The winter season was not the time to visit the place and I am not certain if they were lovely in a warm season! So, another disappointment. We got off and ate some lunch and strolled to the top of the Spanish steps. Chris got us a free walking tour guide that we shared through his phone. We walked through the streets and listened to the guide.

We found ourselves near the Trevi Fountain again. It was jammed with people, (for sure, a pick pockets delight.) We walked to the Pantheon cause Chris wanted to go and see it. The end of the line was out of sight, and we decided to come back a different day. We walked on, to a vintage shop I had requested to visit. The shop was closed when we got there. So now, we were a bit discouraged. The day seemed to be roadblock central. We began to plod home on our tired feet (just a few miles away). Knowing that each day is different we hoped for a better tourist day in the next.

The next day did prove to be hit with more success! We began by renting scooters (not mopeds) They have a whole system here for renting these scooters. You download an app, and you can find these scooters parked all over the city. The scooter tells you on a gauge how much battery life it has. When you get to your destination, you use the app to close out your session. Then it becomes free for another person to use the scooter. We needed to get to the museum of Rome across the old part of the city. We bought tickets for a specific time. I had never ridden one of these beefy scooters before and my adventure loving husband told me I would do just fine. Just follow him… So, I ignored the part of myself that likes to be safe and secure and not take risk and got on the thing. And away we went about 15mph. We zoomed along buses and cars, other scooters, motorbikes and bicycles. That must be how it feels to be a fish in the sea.

I thought to myself a few times; how am I here in this ancient place, on a scooter?

We made it to our destination- The Museum of Rome. It was not packed. We saw a lot of old books, pieces of stone, paintings and my favorite were the busts of people. Being able to see what people once looked like up close in 3d form is neat!

We went to the Pantheon next; this is a place about 2,000 years old and is a temple for many gods, I felt a bit like a heathen walking into it. This is our 2nd time visiting this. Leonardo DaVinci was buried here as well. We ate lunch- Pizza and Lasagna! We diddled around a bit in shops, and I went to Vintage Humana which was open the 2nd time we tried to go finally! An amazing array of vintage clothing, in great shape and great prices! I recommend the shop if you like vintage clothing.  They also had one in Florence. We made a pit stop at McDonalds, to grab a little pick me up coffee quickly and a macaroon. McDonalds seems to be the only fast-food place around. They have quite a different selection of food choices then we do here. It feels like a full-on coffee café and bakery along with the hamburgers and fries. It is a very popular place. They also didn’t do well with installing restrooms. One stall per bathroom for men’s and women, always a line for the women. Do people not ever have to use the restroom there?

We took our bus and got off near the Vatican City. Chris and I had been to this place before as well, and really didn’t feel like standing in line for hours to go into St. Peter’s again. We sat on the steps of the square and talked about Catholicism and what was happening here. We took communion, thought about home and the things Chris and I are helping to build at Eagle Mountain Apostolic Resource Center.

We found some scooters finally and zoomed the rest of the way home at dusk.

The next day was our scheduled tour of the Coliseum. (Yes, we had been here before as well.) Since we had been here 5 years ago, they have done a lot of updates in the way of funneling people through and setting up museum type exhibits to view. There were still too many people crammed in there for my taste, but as a store owner told me, “This is nothing compared to summer months!” Such a sobering place to go really. I just can’t bring myself to buy the tee shirt that shows I was there. In the first 100 days of opening games, approximately 2,000 people and 5,000 animals lost their lives to the enjoyment of others. The reason the structure is in pieces is because the Romans were in the process of deconstructing it and using the materials for another building when the government decided to mark it as a historical site. Romans were fond of recycling their buildings. The Vatican apparently owns the landmark today. My friend who travels a lot abroad, told me that a few years ago the management had a statue built of the demon god Molech complete with red glowing eyes! Yes, this is nasty god mentioned in the Bible. Yuck. What is the Vatican thinking?

Another thing we noticed was that on our tour bus they made it a point to say that historians do not have concrete evidence that Christians were martyred at the Coliseum… They also had that in writing in the exhibit. Never mind the Roman museum that had a large stone carved picture of Christians being eaten by a lion. Nice effort to bury history- I am still not buying your t-shirt.

I would suggest; if you want to visit both the Coliseum and the Forum in the same day to make sure you do not get a late hour ticket. Our tickets were for 2:30 and started at the Coliseum. We only had a short amount of time in the Forum, they kicked us out of the Forum at 4 pm. Why? I don’t know. It wasn’t dark yet. It was a pretty stroll and decent weather.

We had a nice dinner; I bought a ring from a local shop, a gold disc with a pink sparkly rough stone in the middle. We headed back to the apartment to pack up for our next leg of our trip! Remembering to keep the souvenirs you buy small and lightweight is important, its easy to go shopping and much harder to cram it in your bags.

Rome has a different flavor to it than our next destination, Florence. Rome seems to be focused on the ancient structural pieces and of course the Vatican City is a big attraction. We aren’t Catholic, so we do not embrace most of the religious culture Rome presents. There is a lot of boutique shopping, no malls like we are use too here in the states or excessive expensive stores as we saw in London and even Florence. It isn’t polished, it is more of a rough stone that is valuable because of its historical culture. People here don’t like to rush things and they also seem to be spontaneous while also valuing their tradition. Nowhere else will you see several empty bottles of olive oil in a pile on the alley streets. I have read that Italy itself is so much in debt as a country, that there is no recovery in sight. They count on tourism to feed their families. Perhaps we will be back, and maybe we will visit a different city next time!