Last – Exploring Rome: From Airport to Iconic Sites – Day 1
Morning Run
I went for a run in the morning. It was perfect weather. I tried to set my route in Strava. It worked out ok. I ended up jogging around the capitol building. By the Maximus Olympus, around the Forum and up to the Constantine Arche and the Colosseum. Not a bad run if I don’t say so myself and I did ok. When I first got out to run the cold air filled my lungs and I was like… uh maybe not. But as I got going the 50 something temperature was invigorating.
A Day Around The Colosseum and The Forum
We planned on seeing the main sites of the forum and possibly walk down to the Jewish Ghetto, but we only made it around The Colosseum and The Forum. We ended up putting on some Rick Steve’s guided tour recordings for both sites and enjoyed a leisurely stroll. The Forum is a bit difficult to see now that they’ve closed it off and they require you to pay. But we had walked it a couple of times before they were charging for it so it wasn’t an issue to walk around it and point out the different structures the guided tour was referencing as we walked. We did the same for the Colosseum.
After that we ended up walking towards the Tiber River and had a quick gin and tonic along with a zucchini pizza and then walked across Tiber Island and along the river. Soon it was dark and we had to hurry back to our reservation at a restaurant near the Colosseum. We have the platinum American Express card and they are offering up to 100 dollars per quarter if you use Resy so we decided to find a restaurant from the app and give it a try.
Dinner and an Evening Stroll
It was along a strip of 4 or 5 restaurants along the Via Labicana grouped together. They all looked alike and you couldn’t tell when one ended and another started. We got a bottle of wine a biter red and ordered Caprese Salad, Sea Bass Ravioli and a fried squid, shrimp and veggie platter. The food was light and fresh and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It was Halloween so we saw a few kids dressed in outfits as they asked for candy from the restaurants. The manager or owner was nice enough to share a few with us as well. We finished off our meal with a cortado, coffee Americano a slice of cheese cake and a cannoli. The deserts were expensive 10 euros a piece and a little underwhelming but always a requirement for me.
After dinner we met a couple of people on the walk back to the apartment. Two couples who were psychologists one residing in Boston Mass. and the other in California and discussed our Florida school ties. Then we met a sweet young couple in love and I helped take their picture in front of the Colosseum kissing. We got back to the apartment. I passed out for an hour on the couch before heading to bed. Buenos Sera Night two.
