Italy: When in Rome

Ahhhh, Rome: Romance. Ruins. Red Wine. Pizza. (Lots of Pizza.) We arrived in Italy’s epic and expensive capital on Friday, fresh off our love affair with Santorini. We spent three days in the distinctly European Rome, seeing the sites, wandering the narrow, winding streets and milling around the many piazzas marveling at the locals’ caffeine intake. The many sites in Rome, which the Italians called Roma, are all accessible by walking, which allowed us to take in the smells and sounds (mostly very loud talking) of the busy city.

Although exact years are debatable, as is everything in Italy, apparently, Rome was founded under the first king, Romulus, in 753 BC. Given that, we set out to see some old stuff, including the crowded Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palentine Hill. Our favorite site in Rome, though, was the beautiful Pantheon, a 2000-year old temple that now serves as a church. Appropriately, we ate some pizza near the fountain in front of the Pantheon and watched the animated Italians chat the afternoon hours away. Later in the day, we threw precious Euro coins in the famous Trevi Fountain. On average 3,000 Euros are tossed each day by tourists like us! We finished the day at the Piazza di Spagna and Spanish Steps.

On Sunday, we hiked along the Tiber River to the Vatican across town. The huge crowd walking in the other direction indicated that we missed the Pope’s weekly Sunday blessing by mere minutes, but we hung out in busy St. Peter’s Square anyway, which was a fantastic place, ate some pizza in a café nearby and then wandered through the awe-inspiring St. Peter’s Basilica.

After a busy few days in Rome, we boarded an early morning train to Naples, where transferred to a local train heading southward to the iconic Amalfi Coast.