Day 18, May 12th: Roma Take 2
Location
Roma, Italy
Summary
Hit more ancient Roman sights, ate like an Italian in an authentic Italian restaurant in an authentic Italian neighborhood, tossed coins into the most beautiful fountain in the world
Highlight
Tossing coins into Trevi Fountain; same fountain illuminated at night
Lowlight
-
Accommodations
Bunk bed in 6-bed room at Alessandro Downtown hostel; party of 4 in same room was unbelievably loud before bedtime and in early morning
Word du jour
aperto ~ open
Porter Ass**** Meter (PAM)
0
culled from my journal:
Today we were three: Porter, Ariel, and I. We spent the day doing several things: did a guided tour at the Coliseum, searched endlessly for lunch, ate on Circus Maximus where Ben-Hur had his famous chariot race, saw Rome's pyramid, sat and hid on the Spanish steps, drank wine & played gin rummy, and followed the Let's Go to a ristorante in Tesdevere, an Italian residential neighborhood. We waited in line for a while until they seated us with a Kiwi named Calam. We ate well and chatted with him about his travels. The people there were really loud, especially this one guy. I also kind-of chatted with a mother & daughter who spoke little English. The mother let me try some tiramisu, an Italian dessert delicacy.
For the bill, the waitress calculated the total value on the sheet we ate on. She miscalculated and we paid 40 euros for 4 people. Score!
After that, we hit the Trevi Fountain which was lit up. I threw two coins into the fountain. One coin tossed in over your shoulder means that you'll return to Roma someday. A second coin tossed in means you'll fall in love while in Roma. We'll see about that.
Aside: I was excited about eating at an authentic Italian restaurant, away from the tourists, but I realize how absurd that notion is. We found out about the restaurant through the guidebook. So, others, including Calam, found out about the restaurant the same way. So, in the end, the "local" restaurant ended up being frequented by tourists like us! It was still great though.
culled from my journal:
Today we were three: Porter, Ariel, and I. We spent the day doing several things: did a guided tour at the Coliseum, searched endlessly for lunch, ate on Circus Maximus where Ben-Hur had his famous chariot race, saw Rome's pyramid, sat and hid on the Spanish steps, drank wine & played gin rummy, and followed the Let's Go to a ristorante in Tesdevere, an Italian residential neighborhood. We waited in line for a while until they seated us with a Kiwi named Calam. We ate well and chatted with him about his travels. The people there were really loud, especially this one guy. I also kind-of chatted with a mother & daughter who spoke little English. The mother let me try some tiramisu, an Italian dessert delicacy.
For the bill, the waitress calculated the total value on the sheet we ate on. She miscalculated and we paid 40 euros for 4 people. Score!
After that, we hit the Trevi Fountain which was lit up. I threw two coins into the fountain. One coin tossed in over your shoulder means that you'll return to Roma someday. A second coin tossed in means you'll fall in love while in Roma. We'll see about that.
Aside: I was excited about eating at an authentic Italian restaurant, away from the tourists, but I realize how absurd that notion is. We found out about the restaurant through the guidebook. So, others, including Calam, found out about the restaurant the same way. So, in the end, the "local" restaurant ended up being frequented by tourists like us! It was still great though.