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Published: October 5th 2022
Greetings from Rome!
Monday (Oct 3) was a pretty chill last day in Lecce. We had a leisurely morning, with a breakfast of scrambled eggs and mushrooms, cheese and tomatoes, and toast, made by Susan. Delicious! I found another tailor on google, in the continuing quest to get my pantsuit hemmed, and success! The little tailor shop was just a short walk away, and we were helped along the way by really nice locals, one of whom took us right to the shop. While I was in getting my pants pinned, Susan and Beth were chatting with her (I believe there was a recommendation of various restaurant for dinner). I tried out my new purse today and I was really happy with it.
We popped into several other shops (Susan got a purse and I got a blouse), and we had a cappuccino stop. Ross got several things at a “Sonny Bono” shop that has just menswear. We made our way back to the apartment, and started packing up for our onward journey to Rome. Susan and Beth went out to get us take out sandwiches for lunch (they had similar pucce sandwiches to what we had yesterday, but
with ham, and I had a tuna sandwich), which we had with Peronis.
We spent the rest of the afternoon packing up and relaxing in the sun on the patio, and then Ross and I went out to the tailor shop to pick up my pantsuit. We thought it would be ready at 5, but when we got there around 5:15ish the shop was closed. Hmmm. There were two signs on the door, one which said it would be open from 4:30 to 7 pm, and another which said it would be open from 6 pm to 9 pm. Most of the shops in Lecce are open in the morning, then close from around 1 or so to around 5 or so, then are open till maybe 8 or 9. Ross had thought she said my pantsuit would be ready after 5, but he wasn’t positive. It wasn’t really worth it to go back to the apartment and then come out again, so we wandered around for awhile, killing time until 6 pm. I said to Ross he could go back, I was fine on my own, and knew the way back, but he ended up staying with me.
We got back just before 6, and were relieved to find the shop open (I had visions of having to leave Lecce with my new outfit locked behind in the tailor shop!). My hemming was done, and all was good.
We walked back to the apartment (it was getting a bit windy and chilly at this point), and I got changed into my new outfit (I’ve never worn anything like this before but I quite like it), and we used up the rest of our Aperol to make a couple of spritzes, and finished our white wine and the last Peroni. Around 7:30 we walked into the old town, through the beautiful Piazza del Duomo looking lovely all lit up, and decided to have dinner at “Antica Corte Ristorante” which had a nice inside courtyard, protected from the wind. It was quite cosy there. We shared a carafe of house white, and started with bruschetta (very yummy, such fresh tomatoes and arugula and cheese). I had an orecchiette pasta (very common in this area in Italy) with turnip greens, cheese, and anchovies. It was different, and very good. Susan had what was described simply as “pasta with chickpeas”, and
it was excellent. Ross had a mixed seafood plate, and Beth had a shrimp carbonara pasta. We finished with limoncello (Ross and Susan) and Amaro (me). It was a lovely and delicious dinner for our last night in Lecce. On the way back we stopped for gelato (I had the pistachio and chocolate I wanted to try - yumm). I was super stuffed at that point! We waddled back to the apartment in the quite chilly wind.
We were up, breakfasted, and ready to leave at 9:30 yesterday morning for our trip to Rome. We drove about 1 hr 45 min to Bari, where we dropped off Fabio, and got the train to Rome. We had time for a cappuccinos before we boarded the train, and we bought sandwiches for lunch on the train. The train was comfortable but ended up being a bit of a milk run, making quite a few stops before we got to Rome. We walked from the big Rome train station, Termini, to our apartment where we are spending 3 nights, arriving about 6ish. It is a nice two bedroom (actually there are three bedrooms, one with two twin beds), two bathroom apartment.
We settled in, then headed out to check out the location of the closest metro station (Repubblica - It’s less than a 10 walk away), bought some metro tickets at a little shop, and then went for dinner to a place just down the street. We started with a round of Aperol Spritzes to toast our arrival in Rome. I had a very good spinach and ricotta ravioli, and everyone else had lasagne (with they all said was excellent). We enjoyed the pastas with a carafe of red house wine, and after dinner there were also limoncellos. I went a bit overboard with the alcohol consumption and paid the price later. Shortly after getting back I crashed (literally) and wasn’t feeling too well, let me tell you.🤮
This morning Susan and I had to get up early to be at the meeting place near the Vatican for our ”Rome in a Day” tour by 7:45 am. I was feeling really rough, and Susan said a few times that we didn’t have to go, but there was no way I was missing it, so off I went. We walked to the nearby Repubblica metro station, and took the train to
Basilica di Santa Croce
So pretty lit up at nightthe stop closest to the Vatican, and walked for 10 minutes or so. We found our guide and the rest of the group on our day tour, and after a bit we headed out to the Vatican Museums. Our guide gave us lots of information about the museums and the Sistine Chapel before we entered.
We were both wowed by the Vatican Museums. We were there quite early and it wasn’t very busy yet. We started outside in the garden area, with a view of St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Pigna Courtyard. We walked through the various museum rooms and galleries (including the Gallery of Candelabra; Gallery of Maps, which was very cool; and the Gallery of Tapestries). It was all just incredible. We then went into the Sistine Chapel (the only place we couldn’t take pictures). Our guide had given us a picture of the Chapel, with all the various individual paintings labelled, so we knew what we were seeing. It was pretty amazing to see it in person. People are supposed to be quiet here, and the guards occasionally called for “silenzio“ when the crowd got too loud. It wasn’t packed with people or anything, there was
lots of room to move around the Chapel and see all of the magnificent paintings.
I had thought we would then go to St. Peter’s Basilica, which was supposed to be part of the tour, but it is closed on Wednesdays because there is a papal audience that day. (It’s on our list for tomorrow).
We then were picked up in two mini vans, and taken to the city centre, where we had a walking tour which included various Piazzas and their beautiful fountains (most notably Piazza Navona and its fountains, and the Trevi Fountain), and the Pantheon. The Pantheon, built by the emperor Hadrian in 125 CE, was first a Roman temple, and then later a church. Its transformation into a church saved it from destruction. It has the largest unreinforced concrete dome ever built. It is spectacular inside, with the oculus (the round opening in the ceiling) letting in light. When it rains, it rains inside the Pantheon! There are drainage holes built into the beautiful marble floors.
We walked around the nearby area with Roman ruins and very old churches, then, after a quick lunch break, we headed to the Roman Forum. It had
been a bit of a cool morning, and it was cool in the Vatican, but by this time it had warmed up a lot, and was quite hot in the sun. We wandered around the Roman Forum with our guide giving detailed explanations, and then it was time for the Colosseum. The Colosseum is one of those iconic sites that you can’t quite believe you are seeing in person. It was constructed between 72 and 80 CE by the Roman emperors Vespasian and Titus. It is amazingly well preserved, considering its considerable age. It was a place for spectacles, to entertain the people and keep their minds off politics. Besides gladiatorial combat, it also was a place countless animals were slaughtered, in the name of entertainment, which is a pretty horrible history.
Our tour ended at the Colosseum shortly after 2:30, and we arranged to meet Ross and Beth at the nearby metro station (they were out exploring the Jewish quarter). We waited for them, then took the metro back to the apartment, for a bit of relaxation, stopping first at a pizza place for a slice (this pizza was on a thicker type of crust, and was sold
by weight). I worked on the blog, and enjoyed a shower (there is not enough water pressure to have a shower before 7 am, so we couldn’t shower this morning as we left shortly after 7). We headed out again about 7 pm, walking to Repubblica metro station to get the train to the Spanish Steps. They were really pretty all lit up. We climbed up the steps, and admired the view, and then we went to a nearby restaurant (recommended by Rick Steves, Ross said). Susan felt like a salad, and the rest of us had pasta. I had spaghetti with Romano cheese and crispy artichokes. It was really good. We skipped the spritzes and I limited myself to one glass of white wine, but then the waitress brought us complementary limoncellos (oh god no, not a limoncello!), which I skipped. We walked to the Trevi Fountain to admire it all lit up, I got a Rome t-shirt at a little shop, we stopped for gelatos, and then grabbed a taxi back to the apartment.
It’s been a full day, that’s for sure! It is crazy late so I have to get to sleep …
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Faye Walker
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Ciao Roma!
!Wow! what an incredible day in Rome. Love your pantsuit! Was Ross sorry to leave Fabio behind?