It's Off to Rome We Go

Today was the day we go to Rome. The final leg of our journey. The last stretch.

To be honest, the day wasn't looking so good. We got up, finished packing, went to the train station, ate some breakfast, caught our train and headed to Rome. Pretty standard. We were worried our train was going to be late because another train coming out of Rome hit a "large animal " and it was causing major delays. But our train was coming from the Milan direction and so it was only a few minutes behind schedule.

We had made arrangements with the apartment people that we would be at the place between 1:30 and 2 to check in. We were supposed to arrive in Rome at 12:30 so I thought I had factored in enough buffer time to account for any delays. In the end, we arrived just after 1 and with the time it took to figure out transport, then take the transport, and the walk the 10 minutes to our place, we got there just before 2.

The apartment is huge. It is located in the Trastevere neighborhood which is a cool little neighborhood but not super accessible via public transport. And once again it was hot. After we got checked in and unpacked, everyone was already tired. We still had to run out to a grocery store to get some supplies so Jen, Caden and I made the trek in the heat to get the necessities.

It was so hot I started to wonder.... is that it for today? What a waste.

We stayed in the apartment for awhile and when the sun had started to go down, we decided to head into the heart of the city. Jen planned a route and we just stared walking. And can I say this turned out to be the most fun we have had. We would walk and then pop out at some super famous landmark. Then walk some more and poof, there is another one. We stopped at McDonald's to get drinks and use the bathroom and then more walking. The heat was fine when you are in the shade of all the buildings. In the end we saw the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain the Spanish steps, Piazza Navona, and lots more. Really good street musicians, saw cool street artists, had great Gelato, and it was wonderful just to take in the energy of the city at night.

So in the end it was one of our best days. And just for fun, I turned on the GPS of my watch to see our path. I wish I would have done it more. It was cool to see.

So now it's off to bed with our coliseum tour tomorrow. Chow for now.Read more