Italy 2023 – Part I

Day 1 – Headed to Rome

It took us about 14 hours in travel time with just a slight delay leaving London for Rome!  All in all was a smooth trip.  We were picked up at the airport by a driver and we’re instantly in awe of Roman city walls and remnants of a city thousands of years old.   Our AirBnB is maybe 100 yards from the beautiful Trevi fountain but amazingly quiet.   Our hostess let us know the food right around us was very touristy and more expensive so we walked the 15 minutes to the recommended Pizzaria Buffetto (mustache) for dinner and we’re blown away…Roman style pizza is very thin and light, full of flavor.  They do not cut the pizza, you do and then fold over and chow down, we both finished ours…guess we were hungry!  It is amazing what you see as you walk down the streets but gelato shops are every where…we stopped at the one our driver had recommended and it did not disappoint…we may be in trouble here with that stuff.   We were in bed by 10 and got a good and much needed 10 hours of sleep.  Now off for Day 2!

Day 2 – Rome

What a first day! We started off our first full day in Italy with doing a tour archeological site: first was at Pilazzo Navona and where the original stadium stood, they did Greek games there every 4 years that looked a like our track and field Olympics. Male citizens had tickets and even section and seat assignments for these games. Second was below the Trevi fountain where after trying to do a new construction building found remnant off and old building along with an aqueduct that fed into the main city water and also several of the fountains. We sat and had breakfast at the Piazza Navona then moved on to the Monument Victor Emanuel which was built for the King that unified Italy…the views were amazing! We also past the Palazzo Bonaparte where Napoleons Mother lived and the covered balcony in the pics was hers but she had to stay hidden. Next we were off to the Pantheon which is my absolute fave, so we ate in the square and then headed into this building built in 126 AD and is still the largest unsupported dome with the open oculus spanning 43 meters!! Wow! Spanish steps was our last site seeing for today and by then we had walked almost 15k steps. We went in for a nap before dinner and we’re woken/startled awake by the church bells a little too close going off. We walked to another recommended dinner spot for homemade pasta and man oh man was it good, walking home after we stopped at Mr Tiramisu which has over 100 options…Phil went for classic but I got one with caramel and chocolate..holy cow it was amazing. Now back at our room with a glass of wine and winding down, big private tour guide day tomorrow. Ciao!

Day 3 – Rome

Today we went to a professional tour guide and man did we pick well, Valerio is a certified architect and spent years studying in Rome for school and then did 3 different dig campaigns actually in the Colosseum. we started by learning about the opulence that existed in the colosseum and the class system in which people we seated. It was very hard to hear about the events that included people and animals being slaughtered and the ways in which they died, but what was even crazier to us was that these were family events…young children witnessed these authorities regularly. After the coliseum which by the way was named for a GIANT statue of Apollo that they called Colossus and there the stadium was named for it. Next we went to the Roman Forum and we’re blown away that we walked on stones that Cesar may have walked on…temples and government buildings still partially standing from BC times. Fascinating to learn about triumph arches which included the Titus Arch that was erected after he collapsed Jerusalem and brought back Jewish slaves. Lunch was at Dino and Tony’s and to say it was everything you expect from a small Italian restaurant was an understatement…there was no menu and they just kept bringing food while yelling at each other as a family running a business. Next stop was to the Vatican Museum and to say it was crowded was an understatement. The wealth that the Catholic Church has is obscene and they profit about a million a day in ticket sales to this place. We got to see the Sistine Chapel but by the time we were ushered through with throngs of other people pushing and shoving we were over it and did not get to really take time to sit and take in the mastery of that ceiling..our final stop was St.Peters Basilica and once again while beautiful the opulence of it all was a turn off for us. Our guide said that it is said that if you scraped all the gold off the ceiling you could solve not just national debt and poverty in Italy but all of Europe. We were exhausted when done and a little over loaded from a sensory perspective so some quiet time at our place before dinner was just what the Dr ordered. Pizza and gelato again for the evening along with a nice glass or two of wine. Off to Florence tomorrow… Ciao!!

Day 4 – off to Florence

We finally got to the Trevi Fountain last night around midnight when it wasn’t packed with so many people, a perfect close to our time in Rome. We boarded a train to Florence this am after navigating our way through the Rome Subway (Pat ourselves on the back!). When we got to Florence we had some time to kill before we got into our Airbnb which by the way is up 6 flights of stairs..God bless Phil with our luggage! It is beautiful and we have our own little private terrace. We went to an Irish pub to watch this huge Ireland vs England Rugby game then stopped at a steak house because they had the Formula 1 qualifying on and were so pleasantly pleased to have some unbelievable Chianina Florentine steak.. I have included a picture of the size of said cow – wow! We finished our night sitting on our balcony with a drink grateful for all we have been blessed with! Ciao!!!

Day 5 – Florence

Well consider us cultured! We did Florence in a day which included the Academia Gallery to see the David and we were some of the first 10 people in so we got to really spend some in peace appreciating it. Medici Chapel blew us away with the stone work and inlays, the Pallazo Vecchio, Uffizi and Pitti palace full of more artwork than we could consume, the Boboli Gardens as well as Ponte Vecchio where Phil hid his wallet! We walked 10 miles and climbed 38 flights of steps…we are tired and a little sore but we found a great restaurant to eat a great meal with a bottle of wine all while watching the F1 race. We are getting packed this evening, hitting the Duomo, bell tower and Baptistry tomorrow am first thing and then we are off to Tuscany for a week…we can’t wait!