After waiting in the train station for a few hours, we boarded our overnight train to Rome. I think Ryan was thinking we were going on some luxurious hotel/train so he was a little disappointed at the size but I was just happy not to deal with the snooty hotel clerk in Paris. She was just awful.
We are now here in Rome and our room is fantastic. It is a bed and breakfast with a balcony and a view of the Vatican. The owner gave us his cell number and a ton of maps to help us, he was so nice! Way different than Paris. Today we don't have anything planned until our ghost walk tour at 9pm so we will see some sights and have a nice hot lunch (finally).
12am: we're back from the most perfect day in Rome! We started our journey with gnocchi for Ryan and some fresh minestrone soup for me, so good! We had lunch right outside looking to the Vatican. We took the 64 bus straight to the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II which is this large, white building signifying the union of Italy, or at least from what I can remember. It is covered in statues and Italian flags. A short walk to the right and we found ourselves right outside the Foro Traiano and the Foro di Cesare. There must have been some kind of festival because the roads were clear and people were performing everywhere. We even got to sit and watch some tug of war. Once we made our way to the Colosseum, we noticed the line was pretty much wrapped around the entire thing. I guess on Thursday it rained so bad the whole Roman Forum was flooded and closed for three days which explains the line. So tomorrow it looks like we are going to pay for the tour which is three hours and takes us through the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palestine Hill. The Colosseum is to Ryan what the Eiffel Tower is to me.
About a twenty minute walk down the Via del Corso, you can find Trevi Fountain once you turn down Via Della Muratte. And those eggplant mozzarella paninis I once raved about? I sure did point out that cafe on the corner of villa c. Battisi and Via Della Corso. After making our wishes into the Trevi fountain, we walked to the Pantheon and making a pit stop at Tazza D'oro for a "cafe creme." A few blocks down we found the Piazza Navona which is so full of life and beautiful it's hard not to love it. The center has the beautiful and giant fountains of the four rivers which depicts the four large rivers of the world known at that time. Right behind it, tucked away is the best gelato ever. Coconut was the best but honorable mention was defiantly for the pistachio. So worth it. We kept walking down the Via di Ripetta to find the Piazza del Popolo and continued down to the Spanish steps and saw my favorite fountain which is said to have the sweetest water in Rome. It's a large boat with water overflowing, which of course I can't remember the name for at the moment.
I took Ryan to this old crypt that I discovered on contiki, completely weirded him out and then had my first cappuccino for the trip while we rested our feet. I read once that Campo de Fioro comes alive at night and is a great place for dinner or drinks. We went and had the most romantic meal of the trip so far. This mixed with perfect sunny but not too hot weather made the perfect day. We ordered a smoked Gouda and honey bruschetta and a veggie pizza. Dinner was over with just enough time to meet our ghost walking tour group at the sant'Andrea Della Valle Church. The tour was put on by "the dark heart of Rome" and took us around all of these dark corners and random spots to tell stories of Rome that we have never heard before. Tales of popes, witches, and pointed out "little madonnas" all over. "Little Madonnas" are small paintings on certain corners which shows The Virgin Mary watching over the street. Legend says that because they are there, no one will try to harm you (back in the days before street lamps). The night ended with a super easy bus ride back and now we're back to relax and rest our feet! Tomorrow is the Vatican and our Gladiator tour. I just hope I can get Ryan not to yell "THIS IS SPARTA" every three seconds!
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