Rome - days 13-17

We arrived in Rome, via a hot and bumpy train ride, around 4. We walked for 15 minutes, came to the realization that we had no clue how to get to our apartment, and flagged down a cab. Giuseppe met us at the apartment and spent over an hour telling us about Rome, showing us around the apartment, and booking our train to Pompeii. He was excellent help so we showed our appreciation by sharing one of the bottles of wine we purchased in Tuscany. We absolutely loved the place we rented for the week...it has a kitchenette, laundry, and terrace!

We spent the evening eating dinner, doing laundry, and perusing one of the many liturgical shops in Rome. We started our first day in Rome with a tour of the Borghese Museum...how amazing! Our favorites included the David, Apollo & Daphne, and the Rape of Proserpina, all by Bernini. Such exquisite attention to detail! We then saw The Ecstasy of St. Theresa at Santa Maria Della Vittoria, visited Trevi Fountain and The Spanish Steps, and spent the remainder of the day at Palantine Hill, the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, and Circus Maximus. We were overwhelmed by the history at all of these sites, some of which date back to BC. We even took a guided tour to the bottom and top levels of the Colosseum...very sad history, but extremely interesting. We ended the day at a small trattoria, where we chatted with people from California, Florida, and Australia.

We woke up early the next day to catch our train to Naples, then another train to Pompeii. We met a cool couple from Australia who were spending a 7 week holiday in the UK, Europe, and Egypt...how awesome! We convinced them to get off at the "scavi" stop with us, not realizing that scavi means ruins and there are several "scavi" stops. We came to this realization once we paid the entrance fee to Herculean, a small city devastated by Mt. Vesuvius that is at the beginning stages of excavation. Long story short, two hours later, we finally arrived in Pompeii via a $40 cab ride. It was worth it!!! We spent the day touring the ruins with our new friends. We were able to see several crypts, homes, baths, and theaters...it was extremely fascinating! We got back to Rome in evening, wandered through Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiore, then grabbed dinner at Vecchio Locanda, and headed home. On a side note, our dinner was the best meal we had on our entire trip and we highly recommend this place to anyone visiting Rome!

We started the next day with a tour of the Vatican including St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. We picked up a few gifts and mailed a few postcards, then wandered until we found a cafe to eat lunch at. We spent 3 hours eating lunch and drinking wine with a few locals. Although they didn't speak English and we didn't speak Italian, we were able to communicate in Spanish...kind of! We walked around for a bit, then returned to the apartment for a much needed nap!

Our final day in Rome was spent at the Pantheon, San Callisto catacombs (the oldest and largest in Rome), St. Peter in Chains, the Baths, and Capuchin Crypts. We broke our rule of never eating at the same place twice to revisit Vecchio Locanda, which was just as good the second time around. We spent our final evening packing our bags and drinking our last bottle of Brunello wine.