Notes, observations, and photos from our first full day in Rome:

After waking up early, getting the dogs situated, and picking up cappuccinos and croissants from the bakery across the street, we took the metro to the meeting point for today’s tour: City Walks’ Skip the Line: Premium Colosseum Tour with Roman Forum & Palatine Hill. Luckily we arrived early because after exiting the metro station we had a hard time following the provided directions to the tour meeting spot at the entrance to the Colle Oppio Park. We would probably have done better just following Google Maps. Even so, we were one of the first to arrive and we had a chance to duck into Oppio Caffe for another cappuccino, this time with a delicious muffin. It’s all about the sustenance 🙂 Despite the less-than-auspicious beginning, the tour itself was excellent! This was the first guided tour I’d ever been on, and the first that John and I had been on as a couple. We generally like to move along at our own pace and avoid groups wherever possible, but we knew that with limited time in Rome (and the hordes of tourists, even in February) doing a skip-the-line was the way to go. I’m so glad we did! We had very limited wait to get into the attractions and our guide was full of facts that we’d never have learned otherwise. She also brought visual aids — a flip book/binder showing what the ruins we were seeing looked like now vs. what they would have looked like in their prime. It was very cool. Based on this experience and the following day’s tour, I highly recommend the City Experiences’ Walks. 

We took about a thousand pictures during the tour — and this might not even be an exaggeration (all told, we took more than 3,000 photos during our 4-ish days in Rome. Yikes!). At the end of the tour our guide left us, but we were still inside the archeological park and free to explore now on our own. By this point we were starving, so we stopped by the park’s cafe for panini and waters (and a chat with another couple who’d been on the tour with us). Then we took another hour or so to wander around the park. It was just as amazing the second time through. Without the guide we also had the chance to climb up to the gardens overlooking the forum ruins for a spectacular overview. My favorite part, though, had to be walking through the forum along the Via Sacra (sacred street). Because you know who else walked there? ROMANS!! Caesar, Caligula, Nero, Pompey, Brutus, Pliny, Cato, Ovid, Cicero, Catullus, Virgil, etc., etc., etc. I studied Latin for six years, which in addition to the language came with a healthy dose of ancient history and classic literature. Walking the same stones so many of the historical figures I knew so well walked when they visited the capitol was totally surreal and impossible to surpass.  

After our amazing day soaking in the Roman ruins, we took the metro home then took the dogs out. Along the walk we had an excellent gelato at a shop near the apartment, picked up our clean and folded laundry, and attempted to pick up an Amazon.it restock order I’d placed several days earlier. Unfortunately the clerk at the pick-up location was ridiculously rude and I ended up leaving the shop with empty hands and fists clenched in fury. (Later that night, when attempting to change my pickup location, I realized most of the order hadn’t gone through. My bad!). 

As our dinner the night before was less than stellar, we instead made a last-minute reservation at Tram Tram, a restaurant recommended on one of the blogs we’d read over the winter. It wasn’t too far, so we decided to walk to the restaurant. That may have been a mistake — a couple of the neighborhoods we walked through were a bit sketchy. Upon arriving at the restaurant, we were seated in the vacant front room, right next to the front door. Not only were people opening the door and walking almost on top of us as they came in, but the door didn’t close properly so we had a cold draft throughout the meal. Not ideal! However both the food (fava beans, artichokes, tonnarelli cacio e pepe) and wine were great, and other than where they sat us the service was pretty good. We did get to watch “mom” at her desk working on the accounts while “son” searched the stacks for a second bottle of wine for us (and ultimately had to run to the storeroom next door for). I can recommend Tram Tram, but I would definitely suggest making reservations at least a few days ahead — maybe then you’ll get to sit in the dining room with the cool kids. We caught a taxi home rather than risk the sketchy walk back late at night. 

Today’s step count: 22,886. 

4(ish) Days in Rome: Additional Days Linked Below

Arrival Day | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Departure Day