We sped to Rome this morning, following our short trip to Florence on a regional train with a roughly 90 minute direct run from Florence to Rome on a fast train affords up to 250 km per hour.
Because we had a private tour booked for the next day, today we stayed with our tour leader just long enough to try several flavours of pizza Romana (potato; zucchini flower and cheese, eggplant, ricotta and balsamic; mushroom and pork sausage; and margherita), take the metro to the Spanish steps, and make sure that we knew how to get back to our hotel in time to meet for our group dinner. Then we headed off to explore on our own.
Unlike the perfect pictures people post on social media, our real experience of the Spanish steps was crowds – although not as crowded as it would be in the summer months.
Ted got better photos on our previous visits (Episode 259 & Episode 528). The sane goes for the Trevi fountain, where tourists now have to pay €2 per person up front for the privilege of standing in line to toss a coin in the fountain.
We took our photos from across the street at the church housing the Rectory of Saints Vincent and Anastasius.
Of course, we also went into the church. it was the first of several, because there is a church or a fountain or a palazzo on every corner, and neither of us can resist an open door.
There’s something quite special about walking on Roman roads, even when shared with cars, motorcycles, and crowds of people.
The parking lot of cars didn’t deter us from exploring San Bernardo alle Terme church.
While the Trevi fountain gets all the attention, there are many other beautiful fountains in the centre of the city.
There were ornate chapels on both sides of the church, with notes about the artists who had created the sculptures and paintings within them. A common theme was colourful paintings offsetting pure white sculptures.
Typical of the chapels:
We eventually made it back to our hotel in time to freshen up for our final group dinner, a home-cooked plant-based meal.
It was a bit odd that Intrepud had asked for a vegan meal, given that it is not typical in Italy, and no one in our group was vegan. Our host, Laura, explained that she does not generally prepare vegan dishes.
We began with panzanella, a classic Tuscan dish made from stale bread, ripe tomatoes, and a tangy olive oil dressing. Laura added pieces of zucchini as well. The fact that Rome is in Lazio, not Tuscany, made the dish all the more odd. DIL and I agreed it would have been better with couscous or rice.
Our primi piatti was gnocchi in tomato sauce. There was no cheese, because the dinner was vegan.
Our main dish was a roasted tomato filled with rice, accompanied by cubes of eggplant and potato.
Dessert was ciambelle al vino, a traditional cookie made with wine, and served with chopped plum.
The food was tasty, although none of it was served hot.
We’ve had a great group of people on this tour; unfortunately it did not live up to its billing as an “Italy Real Food Adventure”, since the food elements were generally disappointing. The one person in our group who had toured with Intrepid before commented that this tour had not lived up to their prior experiences.
I’m especially disappointed because this trip was supposed to be a special treat for my DIL.
Despite the tour’s shortcomings, we enjoyed having the time together.
Tomorrow, our last day in Italy, and on our own, promises a bit of adventure.
SIDE NOTE: Out hotel today was originally scheduled to be the San Marco on Via Villafranca, which is where we also booked our extra night tomorrow. Unfortunately, while we were in Venice we were informed that Intrepid had changed our group’s hotel to the nearby Hotel Noto, which meant that for our extension we would have to change hotels. Not ideal, but our tour leader assured us that our luggage transfer would be managed.
Instead, part way through the afternoon we got a message that Intrepid, Hotel Noto, and Hotel San Marco had made arrangements to allow us to stay here both nights, so we won’t have to repack. We’ll still be meeting our morning Vespa tour at the San Marco, but it’s only about a block away.
