When In Rome do as the Romans...don't pay the bus fare

Rome Update!

Thursday, June 16

We had an early flight from Santorini to Rome but our amazing hotel made sure we were up in the morning and drove us to the airport. When we were in line to check our bags when we met two different couples of honeymooners, one from Boston and one from New York. The man from New York had on an Alabama tshirt and grew up in Birmingham and did his undergrad at Alabama. He is currently a lawyer (we’re pretty sure he and his wife both went to Yale Law School). The plane from Santorini to Rome was only about 30 minutes yet they still served us drinks and handed out mints.  To top if off we got the emergency exit isle, which meant we got an extra 5 feet of leg room! We love Agean Airlines. On the trip from Athens to Rome the flight was only 2 hours yet they served us a full meal complete with Beth and my favorite…greek yogurt with honey. YUM.

Once we arrived in Rome we had to go through a very long process of getting a train from the airport to the metro, then go to a different metro stop, then walk a ways to our hotel. When we got to our hotel we absolutely loved it! We stayed at a precious bed and breakfast where the owner Laura basically became our mom for the next several days we were in Rome. After getting settled we headed out and went to the Spanish Steps where we met our Auburn friends Melissa, Meredith, and Lauren for gelato! It was so fun to see them and catch up! After that we met up with Beth’s parents and after all the updates her dad lead us to the next destination. We loved having someone plan the day for a change!

The four of us headed to Trastevere where we went exploring before eating dinner. We attempted to find a gluten free bakery that I had heard about but come to find out Piazza does not always correlate with Via……mistake. So after wandering around we were hungry and got dinner in Trastevere. I had risotto and chicken and it was really good. I am also loving all the mozzarella with all the ham and melon. After coming back into the main part of Rome we called it a night.

Friday, June 17

Friday started out early so that we could make it to our tour of the Vatican. Laura left breakfast out for us and even left special gluten free crackers and cookies for me since I told her I had Celiac Disease. She didn’t understand that I couldn’t have wheat yet when I told her I had celiac she knew exactly what I meant! Beth and I went and met her parents and we all headed to the Vatican where we had an awesome tour guide that has her PhD in archeology from Cambridge. She was extremely knowledgeable and best of all we got to skip all the lines! After the Vatican and a quick lunch we said goodbye to Beth’s parents until we meet them again in Florence and headed to some sites.

We went to some amazing sites including the Pantheon, Piazza Navona where we had gelato at the impressive statues, Piazza Campo D. Fiori, Trevi Fountain, and Spanish Steps. We had dinner and got the best gelato I have ever had at San Crispino. Cinnamon Ginger and Chocolate Chip. So good!! We took our gelato back to the Trevi Fountain and had a fun time people watching. As we headed home on the bus that we thought we finally figured out we got slightly lost and ended up seeing where all the men who sell fake purses and sunglasses on the streets live….cool. Good news was that there was a guy also slightly lost from London that has been living in Rome 3 years and works as a guide at the Vatican that helped us find our way back home.

It's just like the Lizzy McGuire movie, only better.

Saturday, June 18

We woke up Saturday and had a delicious breakfast at the hotel. After walking to the Colosseum we were pleasantly surprised that we only had to wait 30 minutes to get in since we didn’t have a pass. We walked past and admired the Roman Forum on the way to Victor Emmanuel, which is extremely impressive! 

After lunch, we headed to Trastevere and were successful in finding Le Ben, the gluten free bakery. I had a pizza and got both pound cake and a chocolate cake for later. It was delicious! I would highly recommend it.

After an amazing nap at the hotel and getting ready, we headed back out to Trastevere for dinner. We went to a place called Il Tulipano where they cater to people with Celiac (Italians call it senza glutino). All the pastas and pizzas they can cook gluten free or regular. I had pasta and it was delicious! Being gluten free can be challenging but Italians are very aware of it. If you plan ahead and look up restaurants ahead of time and know what to ask (many restaurants have gluten free noodles) they are happy to help you out!

At dinner we met a family from Chicago. The mom went to culinary school in Florence and was a person chef in the White House for Hilary Clinton! Their daughter has Celiac so the mom planned every lunch and dinner for their family while they are in Italy so her daughter can eat pizza and pasta with the rest of the family. They gave us some great restaurants and gelato places in Rome and Florence, which was great! They also gave us the rest of their wine!! Seriously best dinner ever.

After dinner we went and got gelato and people watched at the Colosseum. We had a photo shoot and then watched other people take their own solo shots because we love to watch them. We asked a man with a tripod if he would take our picture eating gelato in front of the Colosseum and he enthusiastically answered “Hell Ya!” After a fun time of people watching we headed to the bus stop to go home where we met two guys from Siciliy (pretty sure they were gay) that we were able to practice the few Italian phrases we know on them. I am absolutely in love with the Italian language and I am determined to learn it. Beth and I are going to order children’s workbooks to learn when we get back to the states.

Sunday, June 19

After our last breakfast with Laura yesterday we headed to the train station to activate our Eurorail and check on trains to Florence. Once we finished there, we went to the Saint Marie Maggiore where we were able to catch the end of mass in a beautiful church. Again, I am obsessed with the Italian language. The people singing in Italian…ahhhh love it. We went to find another GF restaurant for lunch but it was closed due to it being Sunday. Bummer. Guess that means I will have to have another trip to Rome! Instead we got gelato at a place called Grom, which was delicious and walked back to our hotel, stopping for a more substantial lunch along the way. We went and got our bags, took a taxi to the train station and got on the train to Florence. After arriving in Florence we wandered around, got a snack to eat, and headed back to the hostel. I am already loving Florence even though we just got here and cannot wait for all the fun things we are planning to do!

Ciao!

Sidenote, I love to say ciao. It makes me so happy. I feel very Italian and say it as often as possible. I also love allora, which Laura would say by dragging out the a. It means then, well, so, etc.

Ciao Ciao!!