A Loss For Words (A Very Long Italian Story, Part Fifteen)

Our first morning in Roma took us to Pannella, a little bakery down from Santa Maria Maggiore (a big ol’ church). It was a wonderful little shop, with some tasty goodies (including the hot out of the fryer donut I had for breakfast) and excellent espresso. Monkey and I visited here each morning we were in town.

Proceeding (afoot) to Palatine Hill, we purchased tickets for there and the Coliseum, then walked over to the Coliseum to start our sightseeing day. It’s hard to really say anything that doesn’t seem pedantic about the Coliseum, so, I’ll just post some pictures.

From the Coliseum, we went over to Palatine Hill, where the Roman emperors used to build their homes (this place is where we get the word “palace”). This was amazing, a huge area of ruins: walls and foundations, steps to nowhere, vistas. Wow. And, as an added bonus, from an overlook, you can see the remnants of the half-mile-long Circus Maximus, where the Roman version of Carl Edwards (Karlus Edwardii) and Tony Stewart (Antonius Caesar) once did their things with chariots.

From the hill, we descended into the Roman Forum, another place where description would fail miserably. So, visuals.



We left the Forum, and wandered more of Rome: Capitoline Hill, designed by Michelangelo; the Victor Emmanuel Monument, the massive white structure that Romans call the “false teeth;” Palazzo Venezia, where Mussolini would address crowds in the street from the window above; Trajan’s Column, with a statue of St. Peter where Trajan used to be; the Pantheon, a spot we would come back to every day we were here, and lastly, Trevi Fountsin, where it appeared everyone else in Rome had decided to go, as well. Very crowded little piazza.

We shuffled back to the apartment, and then walked down to the Coliseum area for dinner. However, the restaurant where we wanted to eat was closed (it was supposed to be open, according to their hours). We suspected that the owners decided to focus on the quarterfinal soccer match with Spain that evening. So, we headed to another restaurant that we had been informed of, Trattoria di Quadranto. The pictures on the wall showed that this establishment had been here for at least eighty years, so, we figured that as a good sign.

We learned something very important at this restaurant. Monkey ordered a pasta with a gorgonzola sauce. It turns out she doesn’t like gorgonzola as much as she thought. So, not wanting to leave a full plate of food in front of us, I ate her pasta, and my fried cod (this after a primi, also). I was stuffed!

We had flirted with a night walk, but, after the day's marathon, and my distended belly, we decided that we’d walk to a gelateria (for Monkey—none for me…okay, maybe just a little taste), and then head home. That would be enough of a walk, and we’d save the romantic evening stroll for another time. Like tomorrow, after we got back from visiting the Pope’s house.