Two Days in Rome

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Sunday and Monday in Romewent far better than the first day. After breakfast at the hotel, we got tickets to a 2-day hop-on-hop-off bus tour with Greenline and got to see and learn much more of the city than if we'd only walked around by ourselves. The tour came with earbuds we could use to hear all about the sites as we drove by and stopped at each one.

We got on the bus just a block from our hotel, Hotel Borromeo, at Stop 2 of the tour at The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore which I shared a picture of in my First Day in Rome blog. Stop 1 was just a bus 'resting place' near the train station, so there was really nothing to see there. Also nearby Stop 2 were the Piazza Vittorio, Basilica of St. John Lateran, Basilica of St. Peter in Chains, and Via Cavour Opium Hill, but we didn't go to any of those places. In fact, there was entirely too much to see and we didn't get to even half of them listed on the tour bus info packet.

At Stop 3, we drove around the Colosseum. The Roman Forum, Palatine, Arch of Constantine and Arch of Titus were also in the area. We had tickets to visit the Colosseum for Monday, so we passed by and listened as the recording informed us the famous statue depicting the abandoned twins Romulus and Remus suckling from the she-wolf who raised them was there at the bottom of Palatine Hill. I recalled hearing the story from my cousin who is a professor of Classical Civilizations at Gonzaga, but also learned that when the boys grew up they fought over where to create a city - Romulus killed Remus and founded the city of Rome. Pretty neat. (Professor Dave, if you're reading this, please add or correct any inaccuracies.)

Stop 4 of the tour offered Circus Maximum, the Mouth of Truth, which is a cool sculpture of a mask that will supposedly bite the hand of liars, Temple of Vesta, Trastevere, the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, and the Municipal Rose Garden. This rose garden has over 1,000 species of roses that come from all across the world. Prior to its life as a rose garden, this location was home to a Jewish cemetery. Paying homage to its origin, the paths take the shape of a menorah, and there are other symbols located on the grounds as well. We didn't get to visit, but supposedly one can walk around for hours and hours and still not see it all. That actually seems to be a common theme with many of the places in Rome, and Italy in general so far.

Stop 5 on the tour was Piazza Venezia, Altar of the Fatherland and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Campidoglio, Theatre of Marcellus, Trajan's Column, Mercati di Traiano, Largo Argentina, Campo de' Fiori, and the Pantheon. We'd seen the spectacular Altar of the Fatherland the previous night on our taxi ride home from the Vatican, so we made sure to get off at this stop. When I asked him "parla inglese?" and he said only a little, I asked what the building was and he told us in basic terms it was a memorial for the soldiers who fought in the wars - pretty excellent explanation given what we learned. While we didn't go inside, we were able to take in the grandiosity of the building and walked around the square to have some gelato before hopping on another bus and continuing the tour.

At Stop 6 was St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museums (which we'd visited the previous day), Castel Sant'Angelo, a castle-like fortress on the Tiber river, and Piazza Navona where three famous fountains are on display. One of the funniest moments on the trip was on the bus later in the day when Eric asked about one of the ballisticas. I replied with, "The what?" "The ballistica," he repeated. "Ooooohhhh, the Ba Sil I Ca!" We enjoyed a good laugh at that one for the next couple days each time we went by a basilica.

The sites at Stop 7 were Villa Borghese, Borghese Gallery, a museum, Bioparco, a zoo, Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps, and Trinità dei Monti, the church at the top of the Spanish Steps built in the 1500s.

The eighth stop on the hour and a half (without getting off) ride around town was at Piazza Barberini and nearby Trevi Fountain, Barberini Palace, Quirinale Palace and also overlapped with Stop 7's Villa Borghese and Borghese Gallery. We took a few selfies at the Fontana del Tritone in the Piazza before having lunch at the very classy Signorvino where Eric had the "best burger" of his life and I had some delicious tortellini. Sadly, because it was just too dang hot out (99-100°F once again), we just opted for several bottles of acqua non-frizzante instead of indulging in what would have likely been some amazing wine. Tap water really isn't a thing in any of the restaurants (if I remember correctly, this is the same in other European countries), and you have to be careful about choosing carbonated vs still water when using the vending machines and in the shops, but the servers at restaurants are always good about asking which you want.

After our enjoyable bus tour, we had dinner at the restaurant next to our hotel, the Gallo Matto, or the Crazy Rooster. It was pretty great; we dined al fresco (outside) since the weather had cooled down enough after sunset. Both of us enjoyed our food, even though I accidentally ordered something with meat sauce (yikes!) and the server was amazing and replaced my dish with meat free sauce. A prospective guest sat down at the table next to ours and made a huge fuss about something and argued with the server then ended up storming off in a huff; the server felt bad about the shenanigans and even gave me a free shot of limoncello afterwards as an apology.

Our final day in Rome was mostly spent at the Colosseum, which was where Eric was most excited to visit of all the spots in Italy. After another delicious hotel breakfast, this time outdoors at the rooftop terrace, we hopped back on our Greenline bus straight to the Stop 3. We were surprisingly able to see the entire Colosseum in less than two hours on our own. After our too-long guided tour at the Vatican Museums on Saturday, we both decided not to get any more guided tours on the trip so we could choose our own pace at our destinations. Because we were able to get through everything so quickly, I would recommend to anyone else who visits in the future to pay for the audio guide along with the general admission ticket. We didn't do this and I definitely feel like we missed out on learning the history. While there were several displays indoors with captions explaining some historical significance, we really missed out on basic details that I think would've made the visit that much more amazing.

We also got up close and personal with the Arch of Constantine, which is right outside the Colosseum, and is a monument of the triumph at the battle of Milvian Bridge against the tyrant Maxentius in the year 312. The Latin inscription reads (in English):

To the emperor Flavius Constantine the Great
pious and fortunate, the Senate and People of Rome
because by divine inspiration and his own greatness of spirit
with his army
on both the tyrant and all his
faction at once in rightful
battle he avenged the State
dedicated this arch as a mark of triumph.

Source here.

We had an action packed, busy, hot and sweaty, but wonderful two days in Rome.

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Photos

First Glimpse
Roman Colosseum from the bus

Arch of Constantine
View from up in the Colosseum

Eric's Favorite
He was most excited to visit the Colosseum

Up Close and Personal
View from the stage

Fontana del Tritone
Piazza Barberini

St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City
Taken from the bus on the bridge over Tiber River. It's an unwritten rule that no buildings in Rome should be taller than the golden orb that tops the basilica.

Circus Maximum
This was an old chariot racetrack

Pano-Colosseo
Inside the Colosseum

Fiat
This cute car was parked in front of our hotel for the duration of our visit. Based on the amount of dirt and bird poo on it, I expect it had been there quite some time before we arrived.

Tante Fontane
So many fountains