This morning we did opt to sleep in instead of accidentally doing so. By the time we had breakfast and packed at a non-rushed pace, it was time to walk to the train to Rome. We are taking the slow train to Rome so a leisurely 2 hour ride. We brought along left over pizza since we traveled during lunch time! <3
The train ride went by so quickly. Some of the time it was just a train ride. Some of the time the landscape was beautiful! Low mountains on one side with farms, vineyards and hillside communities. Additional farms and coastline on the other. Arriving in Rome on-time, we continued what is now becoming standard for us, taking the metro train. The Termini where we arrived is the main station; from there, we just had to find our way to a local line which would deliver us near the Hotel Lodi. Once off the train, the walk was about 15 minutes. The kids are becoming pros at packing their gear and carrying it around. They are also learning a lot about navigating the trains! Carter has been opting to take the lead most of the time we are walking the cities. Sometimes we have to call him back with those newly long legs leaving us all behind!
We are in Rome!
The hotel room is nice and a tiny bit more spacious than Naples. What I was not expecting was no air conditioning so we are most grateful for a rainy afternoon! It seemed as soon as we settled into the room the skies opened up, thunder rolled and we witnessed the biggest rain drops falling outside! It was a nice welcome to Rome! The rain lasted about 15 minutes. Once the rain was gone, we started walking. We are staying in a residential area where the person at the desk suggested we go to the nearby Piazza del Pignato. The walk from here took us through the arches of one aqueduct. The fact that they still stand after all these years is fascinating! There are also still some old aqueduct still in use. At the piazza, there was restaurant after restaurant which all seemed to have very a very similar menu. It seemed reasonable to just pick one. It was a good choice but I couldn’t tell you where we ate.
After sufficient fueling, we considered getting a 48 hour transportation pass which would offer us buses and tram as well as the metro. This would allow us to arrive a little closer to our desired destination. Ultimately it seemed too complicated so we opted to walk to the train stations. Since we had a few hours available this afternoon, we were able to see the Piazza del Spagna (Spanish Steps) as seen in The Man from Uncle. Talk about crowds! In London, there were some busy tube rides but it seems that almost every train in Rome is packed! The Spanish Steps revealed a little taste of the travel crowd here. We had to wait our turn for photo ops around the steps. From the steps we walked to the Trevi Fountain. The fountain is closely surrounded by buildings with wide steps from the street down to a small plaza. The entire area was completely packed as well as the streets along the sides. We were just able to view over the wall from the higher street level. Considering how little we love crowds, we viewed the sites, had gelato in between and started to wander back to our room. The open windows are an interesting change for us. Once the sounds of the streets and fireworks ended, it seemed the sea gulls began to make the most horrible noises! The birds seem to live along the top of the aqueduct arches.
Carter was pretty amused at himself for taking this selfie instead of photographing John and me! <3
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