Day 2: Rome (in a day)

/ rollingontwo

They say Rome wasn’t built in a day and we couldn’t get there in a day either!  After a rain delay caused us to miss our flight in Charlotte (as we stood at the gate, glaring at the closed door of OUR plane with 30 peeved off soon-to-be-Amazing-Race-style rivals for seats on other planes), be rerouted to Rome via Heathrow, spend 8 hours wandering the halls of the the airport and arrived in Rome late Thursday night, we begin our trip with day 2 – Rome.

We are exhausted.  We had not planned to kill ourselves in Rome, but losing a day lead us down that path.  Feelings about Rome:

  • The scale is very different than anything we have experienced.  The buildings are HUGE, but the roads are tiny.  The picturesque alley-style roads you see on travel channels?  Well, they really have cars, taxis and scooters going at all speeds, darting in and out, bobbing around slow cars, not bothering to stay in their lane or even on their side of the road.  I tell you, these scooters take lane splitting to levels that will make your toes curl!
  • Even navigating on foot is maddening. Most streets are marked high up on buildings, but not always marked at all.  Even using Google Maps to walk, you think that your destination is several blocks away, but really, it’s just several alleys away, if you can figure out which one.  Nothing is square, and the map doesn’t update well because every building is made of seemingly feet thick marble!
  • Gelato – gelato makes everything better (especially pistachio)!

Just one day in, we are excited to settle in to what the rest of the country has to offer.

A few of our favorites from today (Vatican, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain).  Click on each to see larger picture with description.

Coat of Arms at The Vatican
Trevi Fountain
Rome navigation has me feelin’ like!
Same mosaic looks like fresco from a distance.
John the Baptist at The Pantheon
Detail of mosaic at St. Peter’s Basilica.

5 thoughts on “Day 2: Rome (in a day)”

  1. Pingback: Day 27: Saying goodbye is never easy! – A day in Milan | Rolling On Two

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  3. You all remind us of us last April when we were in Rome. Watch out for the Smart Card parked on the sidewalks and in parked going into the curb.
    Wish we were there again.
    Nancy & J.B.

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  4. I understand you pain. Our flight mess up was when we were leaving Italy and it got cancelled. After waiting for several hours to get re-booked they decided we couldn’t get out of Milan they bussed us to Bologna. Where severe left to negotiate our flight back on our own. We were suposed to fly direct to Charlotte but couldn’t get a flight so we flew to Germany, overnighted there and then to Dulles in Virginia, then to Charlotte & then to Tri Cities. Best part was flying Lufthansa – gear seating, real service, good food on the transatlantic flight. You’re right about Italian drivers, scooters, etc and the streets which often look like alleys. But as you have seen the architecture, sights etc are worth it. Enjoy wine & food!

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