Roma, IT

Our arrival in Rome marked the end of our roadtripping through Italy, and admittedly, I was relieved to have parked the car and put the crazy Italian drivers in the past. We dropped off the car at the airport and took the train in to Roma Termini, which was smart planning on Mom K’s part, because driving in Rome probably would’ve added more stress to the four of us than necessary. From there, we took the folks down into the bowels of the Metro and found our way to Spagna station. We walked for about 15 minutes through the main shopping district, until we came upon Hotel Regno, our home for the next two days. It was beautifully located along Via del Corso and within walking distance to the top historic sites of the city. After getting checked in and unpacked we celebrated our arrival by finishing the bottle of Glenlivet to toast our success, then headed out to follow Rick Steves on his Night Tour of Rome.

We first came upon an Ancient Roman Column, which was cool, until we realized that there’s one at pretty much every piazza. Next we meandered through the tight streets, emerging into Piazza della Rotonda dominated by the Pantheon. A girl was playing guitar by the fountain, and the Pantheon was illuminated by artistic uplighting. The scene was breath-taking, but mom felt the history there most strongly, and was quite moved. Dan and I returned later during the daytime, and found it to be less enchanting, so I would recommend to anyone to visit the Pantheon at night.

After taking in the atmosphere there for some time we moved on to Campo di Fiore, suggested by the guide as a dining location, however the ambiance was a little more hectic so we decided to have dinner elsewhere. We stayed long enough to spectate some live action art and dancing (by two different performers, though a dancing artist might have gotten a Euro from me). Mom requested that we dine with the Pantheon in view, so we did just that, setting up right in Piazza della Rotonda and taking in subtle electricity amongst the crowd. Rome is noticeably lighter and carefree in comparison to other places in Italy – surprising for a big city.

For Mom and Dad’s only (and last) full day in Rome, we woke up early (by Dan & my standards) to eat breakfast and see all we could see. We first walked back towards the Trevi Fountain, and found ourselves in a pretty non-descript church, but what stood out was the beautiful 5 person choir that was practicing in one of the alcoves.

We then walked south along via del Corso and took the elevator to the top of the “Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II” where we got a panoramic view of the city and afterward, we took advantage of the free admission into the museum held inside the monument.

Dan and I happened to fall upon an uncanny bronze bust, so we called Dad over and asked him to pose for us. The resemblance was crazy! Even funnier was that someone else had seen us and took a similar photo, proving that our interpretation was spot on.

We then walked further in a south easterly direction towards the Colliseum and ruins.

In a more residential area, we happened upon what looked like a true Roman army campsite, with pitched tents, war equipment strewn across the park and a large group of soldiers, maidens, drummers and trumpets. It was a pretty cool sight to see as they started to march towards the colisseum. So, we were lucky enough to see them before the other tourists did.

We then took the metro from the Colliseum to St. Peter’s Basilica, which we were informed was closed on Sundays. But, when we arrived, not only were there people in the square, but there were also people going into the basilica. We managed to get in without any lineups (since it was about 45 minutes until closing time) and quietly admired the mosiac and sculptures as a mass went on. Unfortunately the “closed” part applied to the Museum and to the Sistine Chapel, so while we didn’t have to pay any admissions, we also didn’t get a full tour. We walked back in the direction of ‘home’, passing Castel Sant’Angelo, and stopped for dinner in one of the hundreds of restaurants for our last meal together.

After dinner, we walked over to the Spanish steps to people watch, relax and enjoy the last hours of our evening togehter. We said our goodbyes before we stepped into our rooms for the night, since Mom & Dad K were planning on leaving around 3am to catch their early morning flight. And before we knew it, the chapter of our time spent with the folks concluded.

The following couple of days spent in Rome mainly consisted of sleep, since the parents ran us into the ground, but we did manage to have a nice evening with Phil Louie, a former co-worker from iStockphoto, eating dinner and wandering around the beautiful streets of Rome.

Our last day, we had a casual walk along the river and for the evening, we ate dinner at a restaurant near the colliseum, away from the touristy areas and it was hands down our best meal in Rome. We wished we were able to share that spot with Mom & Dad, since it seemed like one of our most “genuinely Italian” restaurant experiences so far.

We’ve decided to move on to Sorrento for the next three days, mainly to recharge and recalibrate. Onwards to Sorrento.