Walking Tour of Rome

"Italian cities have long been held up as ideals, not least by New Yorkers and Londoners enthralled by the ways their architecture gives beauty and meaning to everyday acts."

Rebecca Solnit, "Wanderlust:  A History of Walking"

Up early for our full day exploring Rome, we drank some quick, small Italian coffees at the apartment and then headed to Campo dei Fiori for some delicious fresh clementines & raspberries to eat as Mary led us to the huge, white Victor Emmanuele Monument.  (You can only imagine how thrilled I am to discover Mary's innate sense of direction and love of map-reading!)


There we met Rahul, our brilliant, funny, amazing Europe Odyssey tour guide for the next three hours.  Up we climbed Michelangelo's steps to the Capitoline Hill for a spectacular view of the ancient Roman forum, past the statue of Romulus and Remus, Rahul all the while sharing fascinating facts and interesting stories about the Roman emperors and the city and empire they ruled.  Past Trajan's and Marcellus' amazing columns, down streets I'd never walked before, Rahul led us to the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and Piazza Navona, ending up suggesting a sandwich shop for our lunch. We had the BEST paninis on the freshest, crustiest bread ever!

After our amazing tour and lunch, we found a taxi station and headed to Vatican City for Paula & Mary's 1:30 pm "Scavi" tour of the excavations below St.  Peter's Church, led by a wonderful young seminarian.    (I had done that tour on a couple of St. Francis pilgrimages in the past, so spent the time wandering around St. Peter's Square and sending some postcards from the Vatican City Post Office.) As we three were leaving Vatican City, we stopped at the pretty Universal Bar for a glass of prosecco and some people watching ... something we've promised to do each day on this trip (the people watching, not necessarily the prosecco,) There was time to squeeze in a few more church visits before dinner so off we went to explore San Clemente and St. John Lateran on the other side of the city!

At dinner, back on the Campo dei Fiori, we instituted what has become an excellent ordering plan:  Two pastas, three plates.  This way, we all get to taste two delicious entrees and yet don't eat as much as we would if we just ordered one entree each. After all, we do need to save room for our coffee, wine and gelato breaks.  Out entries this evening were Bucatini al'Amatriciana and Penne Bolognese ... both excellent!  And, speaking of gelato, we had our FIRST this evening at a spot called "Blue Ice" where the gelato was delicious and the young server delightful. 

Walked about 9 miles today, every single one of them fun and interesting. Paula makes us laugh so hard our faces hurt.  She and Mary are becoming great pals which is a joy for me. How remarkable that we three women should have joined up for this marvelous adventure. I'm feeling VERY grateful for that and for their friendship.