A "Tourist" Experience!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Today we had to get up early to be able to see all of/ or most of Rome. We headed on the town by 9 and bought a hop on, hop off sightseeing bus ticket. We hopped on and went to the colosseum first. It was huge and again, we joined a guided tour. The guide was absolutely terrible and pretty much made our experience very disappointing and negative. We were really happy to have some free time to explore a bit on our own and to join the second tour guide for the Palatine and the Forum. We had a Canadian guide name Eileen who was amazing! She was a great guide and storyteller and we really enjoyed that part of the tour. We then set off back on the bus to see the rest of Rome. We ended back at St. Peter`s to go up the dome but I was wearing my jean skirt which does not cover my knees. Good thing I was wearing a long t-shirt because I pulled down my skirt, really low, and entered like that. Homely looking creature I was! It worked and we had to climb up to the dome. I took the elevator for the first portion while Heather braved the stairs and then from there we still had to climb 320 steps to the top. They were narrow, steep, slippery stairs that winded and you had to lean and duck to get through the narrow hallways. It was super hot but we trekked on up. The view from the top was incredible and we could now get a great view of the Vatican key shape that we were told about the previous day. We saw the Pope`s private gardens and a view of all of Rome. There is a Roman law that no building can be taller than St. Peter’s basilica so it was a pure view of Rome. It was really amazing!!! We then grabbed a quick Gelato (so yummy) and hopped back onto the tourist bus. We took it a few stops to Trevi fountain where again, we did our tourist deed and through a coin into the fountain to ensure our safe return to Rome someday. It was really busy here, with a lot of people hanging out and throwing their coins in. It was funny to learn that 3000 Euro is thrown into that fountain daily...next time we are bringing snorkelling gear. We then walked a few blocks to the Pantheon and it was quite grand. Not a whole lot to see there but we had a quick look before moving onward. We then headed to the Spanish steps to again, snap a photograph and take a look around. We walked through the high end shopping district and window shopped at Cartier, Dolce and Gabbana, La Perla, Jimmy Choo, etc. It was fun! We found our bus stop and for the last time today, hopped back on to head back to our hostel. We were quite sweaty and tired from the last two days adventuring but we had to head to this area on the river where the locals and tourists both meet at night. It is quite an experience we are told. So we took the bus to the square and started wandering through. Heather had met this Italian Massimo when we were in Greece, who is from Brindisi (apparently his mom is quite the cook and had we made it there would have had a nice traditional meal) and his sister lives in Rome. So he had given us his contact and said to let him know when we had made it to Rome and he would email us some suggestions of place to eat/drink. His sister suggested a local spot that we had google mapped and tried to navigate. We walked through a bunch of streets that were lined with restaurants and bars and when it came to an end we continued on. We wound through these empty streets until we finally came to a few tables on the side of the street. The tables were full except for one, there was no sign and the “restaurant” was just a kitchen. We looked at the address and this was it so we were seated and ready to try our traditional Roman dinner. The cute little Italian server came over and we ordered wine (the selection was between red or white) and we were served a homemade bottle of wine. Then came a plate with what looked like mashed squash but tasted like Sauerkraut (according to Heather) and a bowl of baked beans and bread. It was really, really yummy! So we enjoyed that and then the server came back with a one worded question “pasta?” of which I replied “sure!” not knowing or really caring what my other options were. So we ordered the carbonara and the amatriciano to share. The thing about Italian pasta is that it is so amazing that all that is required is the sauce and pasta...none of this veggies and copious amounts of meat. It is perfect just simply made. We couldn’t finish all of our pasta, even though we tried and rolled on out of there. It was the most amazing meal and we couldn’t be more grateful of Massimo and his sister because it was really a great meal/night. We headed home after and went to sleep.