29 June - When in Rome...

June 29, 2019

At dinner tonight, Sherry Ann turned to me and started the popular saying that begins…”When in Rome…” and waited for me to finish the phrase. So I finished it my way…”walk a lot and take pictures.” Not what she expected, but you’ll see why in a bit. But first this morning. 

We woke up a bit later than we intended to (I see a pattern here). I looked at the weather and saw that it was supposed to get up to 100 deg. F! Okay, that’s not okay for Rome! So westalled going outside. We stalled until it was time to go and find food for lunch. When we got outside, we were greeted by the heat, but also a nice strong breeze. The first one since we got to Rome, and it continued pretty much all day! Yes!!! We found another pizzeria/kebab joint, and had kebab wraps for lunch. They were really good, as we anticipated. 

After getting some food in our bellies, we made our way to the Musei Capitolini. It’s a complex of 2 museums connected by an underground passageway. We saw art from way back before Christ until modern times. Pottery, sculptures in marble, busts(oh, so many busts), paintings big and small and enormous, figurines, and more. We spent a good 4 hours (or more) at the museums. We were even able to look out the back side of the museum and over the Foro Romano (Roman Forum). This, in my opinion is the best way to see the forum...in a building and not in the oppressive heat. From there,we walked around the buildings to the Mamertine Prison, where Peter and Paul, ancient Apostles of Jesus Christ, we imprisoned. Much of it was covered by scaffolding and machines, so we didn’t see a whole lot. But just being there, where those 2 prophets walked, and recently, 2 modern-day prophets walked, was amazing. 

After walking around the museum for more than 4 hours, we walked up the road to get a really good look at the Colosseo. We were too late to be able to go inside, so we just walked around the outside, which is still very impressive. We stopped at different spots and just looked up at the wonderful edifice before us. Although looking up gave me a stiff neck and I began to develop a headache. It was after 19:00 by the time we finished, so we knew it was time to eat. 

We wandered around, looking or a restaurant, and finally found one on a little piazza dominated by a cathedral. For a starter, they brought out bruschetta, 2 big cheesy tater tots (don’t remember what they’re called, but they were really good), and a big puffy thing of bread. It was all hollow inside and very crunchy. Sherry Ann ordered spinach ravioli and I had the lasagna. Sherry Ann was only served 2 ravioli, but they were huge...filled the plate. She really enjoyed them. My lasagna was amazing! We paid for our dinner, and we made our way back to Trastevere for our evening gelato. We were so glad to be back at the apartment after 9 hours of walking. I told Sherry Ann that I think my brain hurt from information overload today. She agreed. Veni, Vidi, Vinci...I came, I saw, I conquered! Now I’m ready for sleep.