One of the many reasons I really loved this trip was because we got to spend so much time in my favorite city. I bought tickets for everything beforehand and booked the tours I wanted, but still left lots of time to just wander and eat wherever.
Our first full day in the eternal city (Monday) I only booked a food tour at 6pm in the Jewish Quarter area (same one we did years ago, I loved it then so I wanted to do it again.) This left the whole day open. We slept in and got breakfast, took our time getting ready, and first stop was seeing the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
We bought tickets to go inside the day time for that Friday and also booked a night time underground tour that Saturday so I only wanted to feast my eyes on sites and then walk around.
But, as soon as we got there we were hounded by people asking if we bought tickets, if we wanted a tour, it was beyond annoying. I couldn’t believe they let them harass people like that! They look legitimate too with a lanyard and if you said you did have a ticket they would direct you to the gate, but if you didn’t they would be so sneaky about it and try to get you to buy it from them.
Dan wanted to go inside the Roman Forum and started to talking to one of the people (yes, I wanted to kill him) and they tried charging him 20 Euros to just get inside the Forum. That was crazy to me and I immediately said no and pulled Dan away but when the guy followed us, I snapped and said we would not be paying 20 Euros to go inside when it cost 18 Euros to go inside all three, the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill and there wasn’t even an option to just go inside the Forum so it was ridiculous and a rip off. I even checked the website and there were still tickets from 2pm to later so if Dan really wanted to go inside I could have easily bought tickets right then and there. The guy left shortly after and I was finally able to breathe.
I don’t mind the people trying to sell water for 1 Euro because honestly I sometimes need a water and too lazy to go into a convenience store and they also charge 1 Euro so this just saves me time, but the people hounding back to back asking if I have a ticket drove me nuts.
Anyways, I took some pictures and walked around the outside. I like scoping out the area and knowing where I have to go on the day of tours so I liked seeing where I had to enter and what to do. Everything is online now because of the pandemic so I was very happy I booked everything I wanted to see and do beforehand.
After visiting the Colosseum we walked over and went to see the Bocca della Verità. Logan loves this thing and gets a kick out of seeing the replica they made for a restaurant here in St Paul so of course we had to visit it and take pictures to send them to him. I also like seeing it because it reminds me of the movie Roman Holiday. We both stuck our hands in and neither one of us lost a hand so that’s good lolol.
After this we took an Uber to the Spanish Steps. It was in the high 80s/low 90s so as much I love walking it was too hot for all that.
I have loved the Romantic poet writers, Keats, Shelly, and others since high school. I can still remember not having a boyfriend but writing my best friends notes and postcards quoting their beautiful poems and sharing my love. Last time when we came to Rome I did not get to go into the museum that is located right next to the Spanish Steps but I made sure to go inside this time. I was so excited and in awe of seeing so many original manuscripts and paintings that I didn’t take any pictures. I am kicking myself now but this is exactly why I would make a terrible real blogger, I get way too excited and just read and flint from one room to the next in all my excitement. We were the only ones inside and I could not stop saying “omg, Dan look at this!” They not only had Byron and Keats, but they had stuff from other poets too and I even saw some stuff from another favorite Oscar Wilde! I was practically buzzing and could not believe how much stuff they had. When I was done, we visited the gift shop and I bought a tote and a couple of postcards to mail to my high school friends that all knew about my love of these poets. If you love poetry you definitely need to check this museum out, it was surprisingly really good and I still cannot believe I saw some original manuscripts!
We then walked by the Trevi fountain (yes, one of a million times we did one this trip) and then walked over to go inside the Pantheon. It is free to go inside but on Saturday and Sunday they do require you to make a reservation. You can scan their QR code by the front and pick a time. This was on Monday so we just stood in line. I thankfully had bought a scarf earlier that day and had to wrap my shoulders which was fine but don’t forget to get into the churches your shoulders must always be covered. They took our temperature and we went in. I loved going inside and this would be one of many times we went in. Again, I did not take pictures, but I did a different day so I will post those then, I was just so excited and enjoyed walking around in peace and just looking.
I wanted a little snack afterwards and went to Tazza D’Oro to get my favorite Grannita. It is like slushie coffee with yummy cream. I fell in love with this last time we came and it is conveniently located kiddie corner of the Pantheon. Dan who isn’t really a sweets person even loves this so we got this multiple times during our trip.
We still had energy so we walked over to Piazza Navona. I still remember as a teenager watching that Sophia Loren movie Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow and loving her apartment view of this amazing fountain!
We, of course, got hungry and ate right in front of the fountain and I must admit I didn’t mind these tourist traps. It was nice seeing all the people and vendors. I especially liked how they would run once they saw the saw police. I wonder if they had a signal or something because they always left right before the police came and wrapped all the goods up so fast.
Later that night we had our food tour at 6pm. I was sad that at 6:05pm they texted to cancel because not enough people signed up. I was really annoyed they cancelled so late because then we could have made other plans but we rescheduled for Sunday with a promise they wouldn’t cancel again.
We decided to again walk by the Big 3, but then it started to rain and I forgot my umbrella since I thought we would be inside various places so we chose a place on the path between the Trevi Fountain and Pantheon. It was actually really good and I loved that we got to see Rome in the rain. This reminded a lot of Paris, just sitting in a cafe and enjoying the city in my favorite weather.
It stopped raining so we again walked by the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. For as many times I walked this path it never got old lololol. I just couldn’t believe I was Rome and enjoyed every minute. We got gelato and sat in front of the fountain to people watch and then walked off our dinner back to the hotel. It was an amazing first full day in Rome!
Adventures of Janet 