I ended up with an extra day in Rome due to the train strikes in France, so I choose a few things I hadn't done before. But that's getting ahead. I arrived mid afternoon, navigated easily to the Westin Excelsior where I'd gotten a great last minute reservation, and then crashed in the room for a few hours. As evening descended, I set out explore. Down the street to Piazza Barbarini, then over to the Trevi fountain. I tossed in my coin, then wandered. Past the ancient battle column (Hadrian's? Not Trajan. I forget who.). I found a gelato place M had recommended while I was in Barcelona, Giolotto, so I braved the crowd and tried the hazelnut and fig flavors. Then I kept wander. I accidentally found the Pantheon, took a few photos, then kept going. I navigated to Piazza Navonna, circled the 4 Rivers Fountain, then ended up at the river. I took pictures of the sunset, then headed back. Trying to avoid the crowd and the hill at the Spanish Steps, I headed south and then back around to Via Venetian. I stopped at Ristorante Rosselli for dinner, a delicious glass of wine and plate of cacio e pepe. I got the waiter's nod of approval! And managed to order in broken Italian as well. It was just one of the best evenings I've had in a very long time.
I had to switch hotels the next day, so after that I walked through the city (accidentally found the Pantheon again!). I had a "pay by weight" pizza slices for lunch which were actually pretty good, and then spent the afternoon at the Capitoline museums. I loved the collection of ancient statues that they had there. The only drawback was that there was no hint of polychromy in the museum. I guess, though, that these statues aren't really new discoveries but long known statues, so no one could tell their original colors. My favorite part was the view from the Tabularium, looking down into the Forum.
On day 2 in Rome, I walked down the river to the Trastavere neighborhood. I did the Rick Steves audio tour there. I've never explored that neighborhood before, and it was nice to get away from the big tour groups. I had pizza for lunch sitting at a sidewalk cafe before heading back to the hotel. My parents were arriving that night! They made it without incident, checked in, and then we went to a funky little place for dinner. It was called Obladi Oblada, and the owner was this crazy old hippie. I didn't love my food but I loved the experience.
Next day we did basically the same walk I followed on the first night, but headed down to the ancient core of the city after lunch on Piazza Navonna. Stupidly we decided to walk down to the Colosseum, which was dumb because it was far and crowded and just made everyone too tired. We ended the day at the Valentino house tour, which I'd accidentally booked in Spanish. Taught me to look at more than just times and availabilities on websites. I felt so bad for my parents- I at least could understand some of it. So much for Juli the tour guide. It was a long day, capped off with a great dinner.
We had made Vatican reservations ahead of time, and it was pretty crowded when we got there. We were shoved along through the crowds to the Raphael rooms, which dad really wanted to see. They were great, but so crowded. Two tips for the Vatican Museums, if anyone in charge ever reads this: 1- limit entry tickets per hour, and 2- don't allow groups tours. Give everyone an audio guide and let them go individually. The groups clog things up, they stick up stupid antenaeas to block the view of others, they tend to 'freeze' in place while listening which often traps others from moving through rooms- you get the idea. I had groups in museums. Bleh. Anyway, we saw the rooms and the Sistene Chapel and then collapsed in the cafeteria for lunch. After lunch, we did go into the Pinacotek, which I'd never had the energy for in the past. It definitely wasn't a huge collection but I enjoyed the Raphaels. We walked over to St. Peter's Sq after but the line to go into the church was crazy long and in the sun, so we skipped it.
Next day was Florence, my favorite place in the world! My dad wanted to see frescoes, so I started the visit at Santa Maria Novella and the Ghirlandaio frescoes behind the altar there, along with Masaccio's Trinity and the remains of the Uccello Deluge frescoes in the cloisters. Then e went to the Medici Palace to see the Adoration of the Magi, which has fascinated my father for years. I'm so glad I finally got to tour them through the sites. Then we walked down past the dome and Orsanmichele to the river, and crossed to 4 Leone for lunch. I had made a reservation so that we were guaranteed a table and plates of delicious fiochetti. My favorite food in the world. Heaven.
After lunch we had gelato at St. Trinita and then walked up through the Uffizi courtyard and Piazza Della Signoria to see the statues in the Loggia. We kept with the statue theme at the Bargello, where I gave dad a little whirlwind tour of my favorite ninja turtle artists, then we got in line to go into the Duomo. I got to run downstairs to see Brunelleschi's tomb in the basement (In. The. Gift shop!). Our last stop of the day was the leathermarkets, where I did some souvenir shopping. We had dinner with my friend who lives int he city and then took the train back down to Rome. It was a LONG day and my parents were pretty exhausted after three days of intensive walking.
Luckily, the next day was a dream. We took the train to Orvieto, then road the funicular up to the old town. The cathedral there was just gorgeous, one of the most beautiful buildings Ive ever seen. I loved the exterior carving and mosaics, but also the interior frescoes. Some were by Fra Angelico, others were buy lesser known artists. We spent quite a while just walking around taking photos of the scenery. For lunch, dad found a great place down an alley. I had a delicious chingalle pasta, which is wild boar.d I really liked it! It's a speciality of the region. The day was just lovely, with good Umbrian views, pleasant weather, and minimal walking. A good end to our time in Central Rome.
