Rome Round Dui

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Rome was a blur, a walking blur. In just over 7 hours we walked 11.5 miles and were able to see everything we had previously missed. Our hotel was located right next to Termini Station, which was convenient because we arrived last night at around 21:00. We had a wonderful night sleep and woke up refreshed and ready to go. Our first mission was to visit Trevi Fountain as it was under construction on our previous trip, so we took off walking with a basic idea of the direction. Thirty minutes later we ended up at the Colosseum, which wasn’t a bad thing. We took in the impressive might of the Roman Empire, still standing strong on the skyline and observed the forum from the cobbled streets. I think what strikes me the most every time I visit Rome is the antiquity that oozes out of every single millimeter of the city. The cobbled streets, the Roman ruins protruding from all areas, the crumbling and yet magnificent architecture, it all adds up to a feeling that time has simply stopped and we are alive, present even in twenty different generations. Now the most important thing we learned is that you can’t walk through Rome without having an espresso break, so we found this very cute cafe and ordered an espresso with a fresh, still hot from the oven croissant. Muito Buono!! Que Rica! Freaking amazing. Whatever language you prefer, it bloody well tasted like gold. Refreshed, we continued our journey to the Trevi Fountain which we arrived to at around 10 in the morning, perfect time as the sun was out, yet the crowds were thin. With plenty of space we took some photos, selfies actually which are Laura’s favorites, and threw coins in asking for all of our friends and family to find love and happiness pronto! Since it was so early, we decided to walk, in no particular direction and to just enjoy this moment for what it is and always will be, perfect. There is nothing better than enjoying a perfect moment with the person you love, and walking through beautiful Rome, simply wandering and talking carried so much joy. We saw the Vatican again, enjoyed an all you can eat buffet at Cantiera in a truly lovely district across the bridge from Piazza Popolo. With our bellies completely full there was nothing better than enjoying a lovely siesta listening to a one man salsa band in the Villa Borghese. We navigated the upscale shops of Via Veneto until we reached our hotel near Roma Termini. We are now relaxing on our train, a truly comfortable ride up to Chiavari where we will spend a week with Ugo from AirBnB. We don’t have much of a plan other than to visit the Cinque Terra, Sestrie Levante, Portofino, Santa Margherita, and perhaps most importantly, find my cousin Antonella so we can visit our family home in Campegli! Stay tuned for updates!

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