We took the hotel's shuttle down to the Spanish Steps. We walked towards the Colosseum, stopping at Bar Orrefazione, where we got the most delicious cappucinos for .80 euros! What a steal! It clearly was a local place where people came did a quick shot of espresso, then went about their day (to work or whatever). Everyone, including us, stood at the bar to drink our coffee.
Passing through Piazza del Quirinale, we made it to the Colosseum in no time. Spent some time walking around. There were hundreds of people in the square, many waiting to get inside the Colosseum. We did not want to spend all of our day in line, so we saved that for another time. It was cool just seeing it from the outside.
There were a lot of street vendors selling t-shirts, books, etc. Also, there were plenty of men dressed as gladiators if you wanted to pay for a picture with them. Not! Despite the distractions of the touristy crap, it was a very cool area. Besides the Colosseum, there is Constantine's Arch and Palatino Hill with lots of ruins.
After that we walked by the Vittoriano Monument which is HUGE. By then we were ready for lunch. We were looking for a trattoria or something, but DH insisted we just get something at this chain place, Rossopomodoro. I was appalled. However, it turned out to be quite delicious! We had the most incredible pizza. It wasn't made with tomato sauce at all, it was creamy and buttery. We got our usual carafe of house wine. Then we had these amazing donut-like things for dessert. It wasn't very crowded where we were sitting downstairs, but when we used the restroom upstairs we saw where everyone went--it was packed up there. And, strangely enough, it didn't seem touristy.
From there we went to the Vatican (see next entry).
After that we walked by the Castel St. Angelo which looks like a cool place to tour inside. We walked across the St. Angelo Bridge that crosses the Tiber River. We finally were able to hail a cab and went back to the hotel.
DH had to go to a meeting, so I took the opportunity for a quick snooze. ZZZZzzzzz.
After DH got back we went out walking some more and to have dinner. DH wanted to eat at one of the restaurants in the Pantheon square. I thought it would be a mistake (too touristy), but AGAIN, he was right. Dang. Anyway, we had a great time at dinner at Ristorante di Rienzo, with the most entertaining waiter, not to mention a table at the edge where we could gaze upon the Pantheon as much as we wanted. We had a really nice, very leisurely dinner.
Afterwards, we had to go the gelato place we had seen the night before called, Della Palma. There were SO many choices of gelato flavors, and every one of them looked yummy. We each got two scoops (mine in a cup, DH's on a cone) and we sat on the bench inside to eat it.
After a great night out, it was time to head back, so we got a taxi back to the hotel.
P.S. Still no sign of my suitcase.
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