I left right after my first big exam and met my mother in London. We ate and slept there. Day one actually starts the next day, when we flew to Rome.
We landed and took the first bus to the center of the city. After that we walked to our hotel. I’ve already told mom, and I’d like to extend the invitation to all of you: if I ever say, “We can find it, let’s walk!” after no sleep and with large suitcases, hit me.
After we (finally) checked in, we decided to walk the city. Our first stop was at a back-alley pizzeria. The back alley places where no one spoke English were actually our best places to eat for the whole trip. My first grease and real pasta in five weeks. I felt a lot better after it.
So then we decided to try to walk to the Trevi Fountain. Somehow we walked past it and kept going until we hit the Colosseum, which is in the other direction. I got my first gelato there. The souvenir sellers are everywhere, and fantastic, and mostly avoiding the police. The crowds everywhere were horrendous.
Down the block from the Colosseum--monument to Vittorio Emanuel, and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and museum.
After the Colosseum we went back north and actually found the Trevi, which is cleverly hidden down a back alleyway. It was also pretty and also quite crowded. We kept walking and accidentally found the Pantheon, too.
Trevi. I threw my two coins in!
Roof of the Pantheon. I hear it sound awesome in there when it rains (that is an actual hole in the ceiling). A church as well as burial place for some of the most important kings and also Raphael.
Back alleyway to Pantheon
Marcus Aurelius AKA Dead guy on a stick. There are several of this type of statue throguhout town, as well as 13 Egyptian obelisks, of which I saw... 3?
I think at that point we gave up and ate something for dinner before heading back to the hotel. Our day had started at 3:30 AM, so I think we earned it.
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