Rome: A Day Trip!

Woke up at a sharp 7:00 am on Saturday morning to begin our first trip: Roma! Only about an hour and a half train ride from Florence, Diana, Nat, Grace, and I decided to take a day trip outside of the city! We arrived at Santa Maria Novella train station around 8:30 to board our direct train into the city after stopping for a quick croissant and coffee to start the morning. The train was easy and got us into Rome around 10:00! We walked straight into the city from there to stand in line early at the Colosseum to get an early tour. 

Upon arriving at the Colosseum, lines were already backed up and packed full of tourists, a bizarre sighting for the middle of January. We bought out tickets for the 11:45 tour and killed time by walking around the Colosseum and reading about the history of such an iconic building. We took a walking tour through and were surrounded by tourists from all over the world, some much more polite than others, but enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather after a rainy week in Florence. Our tickets got us into the Forum and Palatine Hill, thus we wandered around the ruins and tried to take in the historical prominence of the sites we had the privilege of seeing, twice for myself! It is always fascinating to see Roman history after studying Latin for 8 years (the one thing about taking Latin that I can say was truly helpful in my adult life!) With Diana, we can't really take either person seriously, so we were taking funny pictures that I think will hold many more memories than the typical boring selfies. We left the Forum in anticipation of a local lunch spot away from the crowds and were able to see Trajan's column along the way, a sight I missed on my first trip to Rome in 2022. Its intricacy was truly breathtaking and I was amazed more people don't stop to see it. I had a bizarre lasagna with Diana (the first of many bizarre eats in Rome) and a Coke to keep the caffeine rolling throughout our long day.

After lunch we headed over to the Pantheon, about a 20 minute walk from our lunch spot. We bought our tickets at the door and were able to gaze at one of the biggest archaeological symbols of Italy and the world! The Oculus will never fail to amaze me. (Also shoutout to the kid in the full Minecraft outfit in the Pantheon, its amazing to watch two generations come together [and I was laughing for 10 minutes]). Confirmed by a text from my mom, I had to show Nat, Grace, and Diana where we believe the best gelato in the world remains. My mom and I tried Giolitti, a hidden gem of the city, when we had come in 2022. Thus, I have been waiting for the day to go back and get my perfect gelato scoop again! An old fashioned gelato shop, you pay at the counter and take your ticket to go choose your perfect scoops. I got the pistachio (my personal favorite flavor), and the hazelnut. Diana swears by her grapefruit and lemon sorbets she had. We walked only about five minutes to the Trevi Fountain and watched the sun go down over it as our gelato dwindled. 

After done and dusting the major historical feats of the city, we turned to explore some of the more contemporary aspects! We vintage shopped and I was faced with my main challenge: deciding what I was going to collect from every new place I visit. I landed on a postcard and a magnet, both small things I can bring along with me! Thus, we grabbed our souvenirs and headed to our apperitivo spot to rest our feet after trekking the whole city. We had wine and spritz's and headed over to our dinner spot. So excited for a real meal after the day would come to be a sad letdown. I had the worst caprese salad of my life (not even complaining, I just don't understand how you can make mozzarella, tomatoes, and olive oil taste bad) and a mediocre rigatoni carbonara. Safe to say I am excited to return to the delights of Florence! We headed back to the Roma Termini station to catch our 8:45 train out of the city. 12.8 miles and over 27,000 steps later, I think it's safe to say we built Rome in a day our own way! Ciao, and cheers to a wonderful first trip!