(light blue = on foot / dark blue = bus, metro, train etc)
We started the day with a visit to the Stadio dei Marmi and the Foro Italiaco, a sports complex north of the city that is a throw back to Musolini’s time. We toured the stadium and admired the clearly fascist architecture of the statues.
Next, because the weather was so nice, we decide to walk back to St Peter’s on the off chance that the lineup would be reasonable. The walk was about an hour, but we didn’t make it all the way because when we got close, we leaned it was closed in the morning. I remember from our visit in 2003 that the Pope has an audience on Wednesday mornings so that would explain it... ugh! what a waste of time! Sure it was a nice walk, but we could have been doing something more “tourist productive” instead.
It was almost 11 by then, so we thought we’d stop for a drink and an early lunch since we were meeting friends for supper and knew we would need time to rebuild our appetites. We walked around and couldn’t find anything decent (meaning: outside, in the shade, with table service) so we took the metro close to our next planned sightseeing stop and explored that neighbourhood instead.
We had drinks next to the bar where I had my G.M. yesterday, so even though the 2 places share the area under the porticos for tables, it was technically not a resto-repeat.
Lunch was an ordeal! We must have been looking right when passing restos on the left and vice versa… it made no sense! Were we in a black hole??? After a half an hour of nothing, we FIIIINALY found a pizza place that was just ok, not bad, not great, and of course as you can imagine once we left to continue our itinerary we passed a dozen nice places. GRRRR
Next was The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Eye candy.
The kind of interior that makes you happy for SD cards instead of film.
After the Basilica, we visited the art gallery in the Palazzo Barberini.
The heat was getting to us by then (26 - 27 degrees), and Frank feels the start of a cold coming on. I blame the lousy nights at the hotel with it's paper thin walls that is keeping us from getting enough regenerative sleep after our long days. This morning at 3AM we were awoken by the phone of the guest in the next room. Tweets or text notices, it was buzzing and whistling non-stop! Last night, we endured him skyping to what we assumed were his kids. I am SO over this hotel!!
After the gallery, we stopped in a café to relax and where Frank could close his eyes for a while. Here, I also pondering the question: do fancy decorations make up for the fact that my Aperol Spritz is in the wrong type of glass again?
Once we felt rested, it was off to the Pantheon to meet up with friends who just happened to be in Rome at the same time as us!
We had drinks looking over the Pantheon and then dinner nearby. It was a really enjoyable evening.
I hope I get some decent sleep tonight!
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