Rome – Day 3

The prettiest day yet began with our tour of Ancient Rome. We decided to take the Metro (subway) and save the cab fare. As we have heard countless times about the pick-pockets in Rome, and especially in crowded spaces, I was a little worried (shocking, I know). Mark picked up on this and said, “Don’t worry – just look inconspicuous and we’ll be fine.” This coming from a man with a camera around his neck, a daypack across his shoulder, and a Rick Steves guidebook in his hand! No problem! I’m happy to report we survived the subway (both ways) without incident!

The Colosseum was as incredible as we imagined. Our tour guide, Georgia, was from Sicily and was fantastic. She has a PhD in archeology, so she was well qualified and gave us an amazing amount of details on our tour. She was also quite funny, like mentioning that “how you say, tail gating?” comes from the Colosseum where, in ancient times, people would bring their meats and cook them over open flames directly in the seat areas while they watched the games throughout the day.

Did you know that today, April 21, is the day all of Rome celebrates as its birthday? Neither did we! How fitting that we were standing on Palatine Hill, the actual birthplace of Rome in 753 B.C., on this special day! This photo was taken atop Palatine Hill.

I'm proud to say my feet survived the walking, cobblestones, steep stairs and ancient basalt rock streets, but my best pair of shoes did not! A full crack down the center of the sole!

After returning to our hotel, we both collapsed on the bed for a minute of rest, only to awaken two and a half hours later. Siesta!

Our last evening in Rome included a stroll from the Piazza del Barbarini, past Trevi Fountain for another look, and an incredible dinner of antipasti and pasta (the best Rigatoni Carbonara we've ever tasted), washed down with a lovely Chianti.

The perfect way to end our stay in Rome was this awesome view of the Pantheon at night.

We leave this vibrant city tomorrow morning and head to Cinque Terre, via what we hope to be a beautiful train ride! Until then, Ciao!