EuroTrip: Day 32-Last Day in Rome


It’s our last full day in Rome! I’ve really loved it here. I love it more when we get to sleep in, like today. And when we did finally get up, mom made me egg and cheese sandwiches. Talk about a happy girl! This is probably my favorite breakfast on this whole trip! Haha


We moseyed about the apartment, packing up things to send home. I decided all of my jeans and coats and the majority of my shirts are all going back. I’ve been wearing loose dresses everyday, and don’t plan on changing that. Mostly because it’s hot as can be, but also because I don’t want to know if my jeans won’t button right now.. yikes.

We walked to ship our stuff and it ended up weighing less than our stuff in Florence, but costing more. I explained to the man that we didn’t need to do express shipping, we’ll still be here two more weeks-but the cost wasn’t any cheaper, which makes no damn sense. I think they knew we needed to ship it and so they took advantage. I quickly pondered the idea of getting another suitcase to pack our stuff into and check, but that would have to be toted on at least 2 more trains and on 4 more flights.. those checked bag fees add up, and it would end up costing us more than it would to just ship it, plus less of a hassle for us, too. How annoying.


We decided to eat lunch at a place mentioned a lot in one of the Italy travel groups I’m in, Mimi e Coco.. it was a decent walk away from where we were, and we weren’t hungry yet-so we took our time, minding the crowd, taking pictures. We went almost the exact route from yesterday.. which was starting to feel familiar. When we passed the Trevi Fountain, one corner was slightly less populated, so I darted in to get my close up picture, and to toss my coin in.


The legend goes that if you toss in one coin, you’re guaranteed to return to Rome some day, if you toss in 2-you’re guaranteed to return and fall in love, 3 coins and you’ll return, fall in love, and get married. Since Nana wasn’t with me, I didn’t want to jinx us and toss in a second one-what if that would mean I wouldn’t fall in love until I return? Seems a little sketchy, especially since I’m already pretty smitten. Lol


We passed the Pantheon again, and the piazza it’s in, plus strolled through to some other huge piazza with multiple fountains everywhere. It was less crowded, but just as beautiful. Win win for us! Then, within 5 minutes, we were at our lunch spot. We had to wait in a line to get seated for about 20 ish minutes, maybe a little more, but it was in the shade and the people in line all raved about how great the food is here. While I kept our place, mom popped in and out of all the little shops nearby.


When we got our table, it was in the back corner and the service was quick! They needed people in and out to help with moving that line along! It was actually refreshing to get our drink order in and delivered within 5 minutes of sitting down. So far in Italy, that’s not really the case. I ordered the caccio e pepe and mom got ravioli. We both raved about how fantastic it was! I think this ravioli may actually be mom’s favorite meal! It’s definitely up there on my list too!


The walls of this place are decorated with wine crate lids that people have written their names on. Mom said I should write Nana and my name on there and one day I could show it to him in person when we return together. I thought it was sweet, and then she handed me a pen so I felt compelled. Ha, if we don’t work out I’m going to have to have an awkward trip to return to some of these places and scratch our names out and cut our locks off! Hahahaha


After lunch, completely stuffed, we walked to the Tiber River and saw the Castle of Saint Angelo. We crossed over and headed back towards Prati to look for the man with the cheap dresses. He wasn’t there! We were so sad! They’ve all fit well and will probably shrink up to fit a toddler when they get washed, but still! Ah, slightly disappointed we walked to the metro and took the subway back to the apartment.


In our cold sanctuary, we changed and put on a movie. We had planned to get dressed again and go out for dinner once we cooled off, but then decided to just Uber Eats some pizza to us instead. When the text came in, I just went down the elevator and met the lady at the door. See, it’s really starting to feel like home! We ate and watched the TV, comfortable and happy. Once it was over, mom got ready for bed while I got a crazy idea to run 4 miles. Almost at 2 miles in, I changed my mind, sort of. Remembering that it was Memorial Day back home, I did a modified Murph workout..


Every year on Memorial Day, tons of people throughout the country participate in “the murph” challenge. It’s a CrossFit workout in honor of LT. Michael Murphy, a Navy Seal, who died in Afghanistan fighting for our country. The workout is a 1 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, and finally, another 1 mile run.. with a 20 pound weighted vest. It’s supposed to be hard, it’s supposed to mentally push you, it’s supposed to make you appreciate everything our soldiers sacrifice for us, including the lives of so many.


Sooo, I did a very modified version. I ran 2 miles, did 50 of these lat pulls with my duffel bag and a towel (Brittany sent me a link on YouTube, if our lives depended on my ability to do an actual pull up-there would be no survivors), 100 push ups, 150 squats, and I ended with another 2 mile run. I also feel like I’m currently wearing an extra 20 pounds of pasta-so, that part was definitely covered. It took me over an hour to complete my personal mission, and by the end I could barely raise my arms to wash my hair in the shower!


I put on my pjs and fell fast asleep.. I’ve been exhausted lately, but this was the kind of worn out that makes you sleep oh so well! Which is just what I needed!

EuroTrip: Day 31-Wandering Around Rome

I woke up very hungover.. as in, got sick in the middle of the night hungover.. I haven’t felt that cruddy in a long time. I was so beyond happy that we had nothing planned and we could sleep in today. Some time after noon, we finally got motivated to go find some food.


We stopped into a restaurant named “That’s Amore” and ordered a pizza. It was hot and stuffy inside, and hotter and muggier outside. Ah, when in Rome. We ate and made sure to order drinks with ice, that melted way too fast. Even the Italians were complaining that this is the hottest May they can remember, and we all know it’s only going to get hotter as the weeks pass.


We strolled through the busy roads, slowly thanks to me feeling crappy, and snapped so many pictures of this beautiful city. We just don’t have this type of ancient architecture back home, so of course we oooo and ahhh at every building with flowery vines roped across it. It’s impossible not to!


We passed the Trevi Fountain again, which was even more crowded than the first time we saw it, then headed directly towards the Pantheon. We could have signed up for a tour of it, but we both decided pictures of its outside and the piazza that it sits in would be enough for today. We strolled back towards the apartment and decided to stop at the little grocery store between the two restaurants on the ground floor.


The store was tiny but we couldn’t seem to find what we were looking for. The man behind the counter came to help us find the eggs (not refrigerated by the way), butter, cheese and bread.. plus some other snacky things. Mom asked him about the coffee maker in our apartment, seeing if he would be able to explain to her how to use it-which he did.. then he tells us that he will be working tonight until 10pm so if we can’t figure out the coffee maker or the stove, take pictures and come back down and he’d try to help us get it working. So so kind!


We put our new groceries away and then settled into the couch to watch movies. I googled how to logout of the Dutch Netflix account since I couldn’t tell what any of the words were, and then logged into my own. I also tried downloading Hulu to the TV, but it isn’t an app they “allow.” I guess no Chicago PD for us! We watched movies in the cool air conditioned paradise apartment until a little after 9pm.. it was fantastic!

We then decided to get dressed and go find somewhere to eat dinner, don’t we sound like legitimate Italians now? Ha! Originally the plan was to eat at one of the two restaurants right outside our door, but they were so busy and had no seats available. We walked up the hill towards the Spanish steps. A man in a suit told us about the rooftop restaurant right down the side street from where we were standing. He let us check out the menu and then off we went!


It was a beautiful rooftop terrace, and mom looked so beautiful in her new sunflower sundress. The food-was mediocre. I got mushroom and truffle risotto, but the rice wasn’t quite cooked to the soft smush it usually is, it still wasn’t terrible, but not nearly as good as it has been at other places. Mom got a steak and every bite she tried to take was gristle.. I thought she was exaggerating, but when I took a bite I couldn’t chew it either. She ate her sides though, and we planned on telling our waiter, but he never came back during the actual meal.


When he finally did come by, he was mortified that she didn’t like her steak and tried for awhile to talk her into something else, which she wasn’t having.. she was full from the sides and had already decided she wanted dessert from down the street. So, he took her food off the bill and apologized over and over. We did our best to make him realize we weren’t upset in any way, sometimes things just don’t turn out right, it was still an enjoyable dinner!


We took some pictures on the rooftop with the flowers and then carried on the to dessert place. We picked out some little pastries to take with us back to the room. I changed my clothes and did a very slow jog for my mile and accepted the fact that I’m 8 miles away from reaching the 50 mile goal for the month.. and only have 2 days to do it.. soooo, more than likely that’s not going to happen. And not to mention I’m now on day 1 of a new run streak.. Whatever, it is what it is.


I got showered and in my pjs and we settled in for another movie. I think we both needed this downtime. It’s felt so refreshing and relaxing to have no whee to be and nothing to do but escape the insufferable heat. Today felt more like living here than exploring here, which is a wonderful feeling.

EuroTrip: Day 30-Vatican City

Today was phenomenal, but it started off with some hiccups.. well, maybe it didn’t “start” with hiccups, but they surely came. We left the house and caught the Metro to the Vatican City stop. We got croissants and coffee (I’m so sick of croissants-Italians would be so mortified by this), and walked to the meeting spot for our tour-and ate while sitting on the sidewalk.


We got put into our group, and our guide was a little underwhelming. I couldn’t tell you his name, because if he ever told the group, we we’re privy to hearing him. We didn’t get the headset thingys until actually inside the two locations we went to, so all the walking and talking as a group that he did-we caught none of what he was saying. That makes me sad, because I love the little details.

We went to Saint Peter’s Basilica first. The inside of this place screams money! There were no paintings present, everything was marble, so the pictures that look like detailed paintings: mosaics! Just, wow. So very stunning. I was staring at the floors and the walls and every intricate little thing the entire time. Of course I guide showed us the tomb of this saint and that pope, but I don’t remember any of that, besides the fact that Saint Peter is clearly one of them, since this basilica is named for him.. I was more shocked about all of the red, pink, green marble absolutely everywhere.. knowing that it was imported from Egypt way back when..


We went back out into the heat and walked about 15-20 minutes around the walls of Vatican City (which is recognized as its own country, by the way, and it’s guarded by the Swiss army, to keep church and state separate). He took us into the Vatican museum and got us new headsets for this part. We walked through a couple rooms and out into a courtyard where he explained the details of the Sistine Chapel that we would be seeing by the end of the tour.. but since it’s considered a holy place, silence is required inside.


While it was blisteringly hot out there, I did actually pay attention during this part.. though it wasn’t easy. He showed us the different sections of the walls and ceiling, depicting different scenes from the Bible.. like Adam and Eve and the serpent of temptation. The scenes from heaven had many people/angels looking distraught and our guide says that was thanks to Michelangelo now having questions about his faith after dealing with the church for so long. Who knows?

From the heat, we finally headed inside and had a few rooms before the chapel. I loved the map room.. it had old world maps and a gorgeous ceiling across the entire place. At the end of this room is where we quickly gave back the headsets and made our way to see Michelangelo’s masterpiece. It was busy and so crowded, but people were mostly silent as requested, and no pictures are allowed to be taken, even if I did see many people sneaking them. I didn’t attempt.


It took us about 25 minutes to figure out how the heck to get out of the museum and the Vatican City walls. We walked a little ways before mom picked a place to sit and have a drink to cool off.. except it was just as hot sitting with a cold drink as it was walking-but the still air felt stagnant and suffocating. We got up and walked until we found a restaurant with actual air conditioning that was actually on.


We ate lunch, both of us loved our pasta.. it’s hard not to. And we sat awhile, killing time in the cool air. Around this time I got a text asking if we could join the 3:30 food tour instead of the 4:30 tour, because they didn’t have enough guides today. We said yes, thankful that our next “thing” to do was sooner than expected, even if we were a little worried we wouldn’t be hungry yet. I booked a Prati Food Tour because Prati is right by the Vatican, making it an easy transition between the two places.


As we were walking to the meeting spot, we came across a little market with people selling clothes. Mom and I got some €10 dresses and I couldn’t be happier with them! Finally! Good, cheap dresses! We had to buy them in a hurry though because we were getting very close to being late for the tour.


We walked up to the little cafe meeting spot to find about 10 people standing outside. Our guide introduced herself, Irena, from Moldova, but she’s lived in Rome for more than half her life. She was wonderful! And the people on the food tour were pretty awesome too! We met Allison and Dolly, two women from Scotland here celebrating Allison’s 60th birthday. We sat next to them at the cafe-and they had us in tears! So very witty!

At this stop we had Prosecco (about a bottle a piece, I swear) plus little appetizers, like bruschetta, cheeses with honey and truffles, caprese salad-with Mozzarella and fresh tomatoes so good it’s going to make eating it at home feel disappointing. We ate and laughed and had the best time meeting each other.


From there we walked to a famous pizza place and Irena chose 4 different pizzas, had them cut into little squares, and we all got to dig in and get a couple squares of each kind. We also started in on the red wine there too. And “there” was on the sidewalk outside the pizza place because it was only for take away. Here we started chatting with a girl from San Diego and Dolly kept all of us laughing so hard we could barely breathe.


Our next stop was inside a restaurant where we had some type of almost calzone, like a stuffed type pizza.. but mine had chicken that wasn’t very good really. I tried a bite of a mozzarella and sardine one, only because Irena said it was a traditional local choice. It was disgusting.. hahaha

Finally, our last stop was at a nice restaurant where we got pasta (caccio e Pepe for me) and tiramisu.. and way too much wine. We ended up talking with a couple from Reno, Desirae and Derek, and another couple stationed in Italy with the US military, Rebecca and Jayson. We had such a blast talking, laughing, eating the food and drinking way too much wine. We even carried on outside once dinner was done and the others departed.. with more wine on the sidewalk. It was probably one of the funnest nights I’ve had!

Around 10pm we finally started saying our goodbyes and figuring out how to get home. We popped into a little cafe to get mom and coffee and to let me use the restroom. Mom ended up getting them to call us a taxi from there.. thank God! Once we got home (and I’m here to tell you I don’t actually remember getting home)-y’all-I was too drunk to run. I ended run streak by missing the 146th day! I thought I would be so so sad-but I honestly wasn’t, and I’m still not. I had such a good time and there was no way I would have ran earlier in the day when it was so muggy hot.. nor do I regret a moment of that food tour and enjoying meeting new people.


So. That’s that. New run streak starts tomorrow I guess!