Day 14 – Our last day in Rome and Italy – Last minute sites and shopping

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Day 14 - Our last day in Rome and Italy - Last minute sites and shopping

While most of our tour mates were getting up before sunrise to get to the airport, we were fortunate enough to get to sleep in and enter our last day with calm and rest. Ok, it could have been tour fatigue. We all had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel, but it was quite odd not to see all our tour mates to reminisce about yesterday's events and to discuss the new day.

After breakfast we jumped on the underground which took us to the Ancient Rome city center. We wanted to see the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, the first leader of unified Italy during the late 1800's. The monument is huge and consists of a rich history of controversy, intrigue, and symbolism. The tomb of the unknown soldier is located here as well. And there is a huge bronze statue of Emanuele sitting on a horse as if looking over the city skyline. If you climb to the top of the monument, you can get wonder views of the Roman skyline. And for and additional seven EURO, you can take an elevator to the very top of the monument.

There was a small church next door we entered that was conducting a wedding. So, here is the couple all decked out in wedding gear surrounded by the “pomp and circumstance” of a formal catholic wedding. And then you have dozens of tourists with cameras meandering around the party snapping pictures. Very surreal.

At this time, the group split up. One group headed back toward the shopping districts to finish the gift-buying, while Josh and I went over to the Forum and Palentine ruins. In walking through these ruins, you really have to work hard to imagine what the stuff looked like during the time of the Roman Empire. There really isn't much left there but ruins. I'm thinking the Imagineers from Disney need to come here and rebuild this place. (just kidding)

On the way back from the ruins, Josh and I had a leisurely lunch on some side street off Via Nazionale. We must have been there for two hours eating one piatti after another. Lunch is the most important meal of the day for the Italians. We were stuffed.

Back at the hotel, while others were packing and resting, I walked over the one of the four major Cathedrals in Rome. Santa Maria Maggiore was only two blocks from our hotel, and I had heard it was as spectacular as St. Peter's but on a much smaller scale. Well it may not have been as ornate as St. Peter's but it was very, very beautiful in its own right. I highly recommend a visit and it's free.

Well, the day is coming to an end and it's time to pack; prepare for our early rise the next day and our long flight back.

I left my credit card where we ate dinner, so I had to cancel it, and Dawn's suitcase didn't make on the same flight as us. Other than that, the tour was trouble-free.

Thanks for listening in to our blog.

EPI Notes:
I highly recommend either arriving day(s) early or staying day(s) later when your tour. I have noticed all the tour veterans do this to reduce the wear and tear of travel.
Arriving early in Milan has issues if you fly into the Malpensa airport as the airport is not close to either Lake Magiorre or Milan. And I found the cost of transfers and the extra night in the hotel to be prohibitive. Adding days to Rome is very easy, and you will have more options with a transfer to Da Vinci airport. I read on the Insight Vacations forum that someone took the train from Rome to the airport and since our hotel is one block from the train station this makes a lot of sense. And consider booking the hotel outside of Insight as they charge by the person as opposed to the room.

I also recommend becoming part of the Insight Vacations forums. There is a lot of info in the forum that will make your trip more enjoyable and help set a level of expectation.

I hope to see you on the next trip...

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Photos

Tomb of the unknown soldier
Guarded 24/7

A view from the monument
Notice the construction on the third line of the underground. It has been going on for years as they keep running into roman ruins.

Emanuele II
This statue is so big, a group of about 12 officials had dinner inside the horse before it was erected here.

Nice example of reusing infrastructure
Building housing on top of roman architecture

Scourge of America
They are all over Italy. No blog is complete without a picture of this. I didn't find any McRaviolis but there is McPizza.

The home of the Vestal Virgins
No one was home.

The Robert's balcony
They had the only room in the hotel with a balcony.