Welcome to Roma

The train was a few minutes early arriving into Firenze … but also a few minutes late departing. From that point on, we traveled backwards all the way to Roma. So much for checking in advance the direction the seats face!

Our ride was uneventful. Following a route that went through Pisa, we turned south to travel along cities we’re familiar with … Livorno, Tarquinia, Civitaveccia, and a few others. Glimpses of the Tyrrhenian Sea had Mui remembering visiting the beaches on the coast when he was a child.

Although there were no stops for passengers to detrain once we left Firenze, we did come to a halt at several points to let trains traveling from the other direction pass us. We made up most of the delays caused by these stops along the way. Nonetheless, we were six minutes late arriving into Roma Termini. No biggie.

Once we detrained, we made our way underground to the metro station at Piazza dei Cinquecento, directly beneath Termini. Mui had read that you can use ApplePay to purchase your fare, so we did not mess with getting tickets. A quick tap with our phones and the gate to the platform opened like magic.

We arrived at the platform for Line B just as the metro train in the direction of Laurentina pulled alongside. Excellent. Two stops — Cavour and Colosseo — and we got off at the third one … Circo Massimo. Making our way above ground, Mui was now in familiar territory … right in front of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), the United Nations agency where his father worked for several years back when Mui was a bambino.

A short walk across the road and we were at the apartment we rented for our short stay. Turns out that a second exit from the metro station would have avoided the road crossing since it is right in front of the building. Convenient for sure.

The apartment is well situated for our opera night … just a short walk away. We have a nice view of the ruins of Terme di Massenzio on Palatine Hill — baths for the rich, or so I read … situated so that they could watch the chariot races at Circo Massimo while they bathed. Of course, there are pinettas as well … the umbrella trees we associate with Roma.

The apartment itself is in need of a good dose of TLC … tender loving care. Overall, it looks worn and dated … though the en suite has obviously been renovated in recent years. While I would not say the place is dirty, more attention to detail by the cleaning crew would not have gone amiss. Will it do for three nights? Yes. But I am glad Mui picked up some paper towels and a multipurpose cleaner so I can give things a quick swipe where necessary.

We stepped out for a quick wander before calling it done for the day. It was rather hot, and there wasn’t much shade. Our outing was a short one. We circled around Circo Massimo and returned to the apartment.

Next on Mui’s agenda was a quick shopping trip while I got us settled in. But first, he had to wait for a rep from the management company to show up and check out the A/C … which didn’t seem to be cooling things down as it should. Not sure what all the guy did, but we are comfy now … cool without being cold.

Except for a tour, the opera, and lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, we have no other planned activities on the calendar for the few days we’ll be here. We’ve been to Roma before … spent 3 weeks here, in fact, in 2015 … and a week in 2019. So, this time around, we’ll let the temperatures dictate what we do … or not.Læs mere