19 gennaio 2018
We landed in the Rome at 10 am and we were able to get into the city quickly by taking the train. It’s a pretty anticlimactic way to arrive in Rome. The train is super humid, old, and nasty; and the scenery along the way is mostly cement walls covered in graffiti. I was looking forward to getting out of that humid train but I had no idea what was waiting for me at the end...
We took the train to the train station in the center of the city. We really wanted to brush our teeth- it had been about 18 hours since we had last brushed them and we felt disgusting. We managed to scrounge up some change finally to enter the bathroom, and we went in together.
This bathroom was the most hellish place I have ever been in. It was a tiny, tepid room with a sopping wet floor, and I think the walls were even wet. There was a small toilet with brown clumpy water and no seat. A mirror so stained you could barely make out your reflection. And the STENCH. It was awful! We brushed our teeth and got out of there as fast as we could. YUCK.
Though the worst was over, this plebeian Roman experience continued on as we went upstairs and outside the station in search of something to eat. We were starving and just wanted to find something super cheap so we could splurge on a nicer dinner that evening. We found a Kebab restaurant a block away from the train station. We actually really like Middle Eastern food, and to be honest, I actually frequented a Kebab restaurant in Grenoble last summer.
There were actually two Kebab restaurants that looked almost identical right next to each other, with pretty much the same menu. Giuseppe asked a worker standing outside of one of them which one was better. “This one, of course!” We went inside.
We ordered a something with pork and unfortunately it wasn’t good. The meat was so fatty and bland, and the bread was dry. As I was eating my yucky food pondering about our "off" morning I started thinking about what it would be like to travel luxuriously... Man that sounds awesome. But no complaints, we are just excited to be here!
After the Kebab shop we got gelato to drown out the taste.
When checking in with our host Pilar, we also met some of the other guests staying in her home this weekend, three American guys who are studying at a school in Paris. Fellow French learners!
Pilar’s apartment is very old but well taken care of and clean. It has a classic European design with it’s funky tile, tall white walls, french doors in every room, and long windows with shutters. My favorite part is the elevator, it’s one of those super old fashioned wooden ones inside the metal gate. Just like in the Lizzy McGuire movie!
We planned on just dropping off our stuff and jumping right into sight seeing but we got so tired because having a good night's sleep (or any sleep at all) is pretty impossible on a plane. So we took a couple hours and rested.
Once we left the apartment, it was dark and we headed towards the Trevi Fountain to start a progressive dinner. We really enjoyed the walk there, discovering lively neighborhoods and ancient ruins. Rome is incredible! We found a pretty fountain on the way there and I stopped to take a picture of it. “So this is the Trevi Fountain?” Giuseppe asked…
We stopped in a mall for a bit because Giuseppe was interested. For some reason he loves to go into really expensive stores and ask the sales reps a lot of questions about products even though he has no intention to buy anything. For most people that’s a nightmare, but to him, it’s a thrill. He really enjoys doing this here because it's great language practice. He kept striking up conversations with people in Italian. It was cool to hear him speaking Italian, but it always created an awkward situation for me. I think people assumed I also spoke Italian too, or at least understood it so they would include me in the conversation. All I could do was smile and try and nod at the right parts and say, “si”. Haha it was pretty hilarious.
Anyway, once we reached the fountain I was annoyed to see it was packed with tourists, even thought it was dark and it’s supposed to be the off season! We couldn’t even get a good picture or just enjoy the beauty of it because it was so crowded. We kept getting shoved around and solicited to. It really is gorgeous though with it's bright blue water, glowing white statues, and the loud sound of the rushing water. We were able to throw in a coin and make a wish!
After that we meandered about trying to find a restaurant to get some antipasti. We found one quickly because it front of every restaurant is someone trying to convince you to come in. We got suckered in pretty fast.
We entered a small, pretty restaurant with white linens and candles on the table. We ordered an “appetizer” plate of meats, cheeses, and vegetables but it was HUGE! Giuseppe was in heaven, he loves prosciutto and other dried meats that are so popular in Italian cuisine. I really liked the artichokes but everything else was "meh" for me. We drank carafe after carafe of sparking water, it’s our FAVORITE. The restaurant was so lovely EXCEPT for the most annoying playlist! It was soooo bad. DJ Got Us Falling In Love Tonight, Low, and basically any other annoying song you can think of that came out between 2006 and 2010. I felt like I was back in middle school PE. To me there is nothing worse than overly loud and stupid music in a restaurant. Eventually I decided to just sing along with it rather than be so annoyed! Haha and I knew every word to every song.
After the antipasti we explored little shops that lined the cobblestone streets. Rome is so pretty in the evening with its soft orange glow! We rounded a corner and I gasped as I saw the Pantheon for the first time. It is magnificent! I couldn’t believe how massive it is. It’s so regal with its huge greek columns and bold latin inscriptions.
We couldn’t seem to get hungry again even hours after our antipasti, so we found a cute restaurant facing the pantheon and ordered dessert out front underneath the heat lamps. I don’t remember the names of what we ordered, but one in particular was so delicious. It was a plate of crumbly pastry flakes drizzled with cream and nutella.
Afterwards we kept waking through the city and eventually came upon Rome’s capitol building. It is AMAZING. There are statues everywhere and lit torches. The actual building is pretty high up on the hill, and it was gated with soldiers walking around.
We kept walking down the street and passed so many ruins, huge greek-styled columns, some still standing but most with only a stump left or even lying on the ground. The best part of the evening though was seeing the colosseum, lit up at night! It gave us the chills, we were so excited to go inside the next day.
Today started out pretty wacky with our bathroom/kabab horrors and jet lag, but the evening was so perfect. We love Roma!
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