Day 40: last day as a tourist in Rome

October 16, 2023

We did research Rome before this trip. It was about 3 months ago, and we didn't exactly take notes. We figured that when we happen upon a certain place, it'll all come rushing back to us. Guess what? It finally happened today! That was pretty nice. Plus, we're finding it much easier to navigate the city, both by foot and by public transportation, as we become more familiar with various landmarks.

The only destination we had in mind today was Villa Borghese, which feels like Rome's version of Central Park. It was mostly locals, walking their dogs and whatnot. There appear to be two warring factions: those who insist on leashing their dogs, and those who insist on not leashing their dogs. We side with the former.

Today was a day of stair climbing. It finally feels good to do so!

No idea who this guy is, but I love the font they used

During a relaxing visit to a nearby bar, we decided on our next destination:Capitoline Hill. We hopped on the bus, and when we hopped off, we encountered three separate sets of stairs. The shallow (and therefore most inviting) ones, on the far right, lead to the Campignolo, a big piazza with museums on either side. The real treat of this area is that you can get a good look down at some of the Forum ruins.

Amazing to see that they're *still* uncovering stuff here

The far left set of stairs leads to the huge memorial complex of Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of the united country of Italy. The walk up is imposing, the views at the top are great, and the walk down is through the interior of the building. Highly recommended.

The middle set of stairs leads to the Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a basilica in this town, but we were here and we could climb stairs again, so up we went.

They liked this pope so much, they give him the keys to the city. How nice.

See, this is what happens when you put bas relief panels on the floor. People just walk all over you. I don't know whether there's a sarcophagus under there or not, but I'm superstitious about it. I gingerly step aside.

Here's some flooring I don't mind walking on. Pretty patterns.

The oval window in the middle is actually a stained glass panel of three bees. I'm going to pretend they symbolize Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms.

Since I remembered these sites from our research, it also clicked that another place we could visit is Isola Tiberina, an island in the river. The main attraction is the Ponte Fabricio, the only bridge across the river (and in this case not even half way across the river) that survives from antiquity. While the island and bridge naturally attract tourists (and the accompanying street vendors trying to sell junk to the rubes), it's a nice break from the rush of city life.

It rained lightly off and on during the afternoon, but it didn't affect our third day in Rome one bit. The rain picked up once we returned to the campground, and it threatened to ruin our dinner plans. However, we persevered and ate a lovely meal of packaged spiced rice and cauliflower on a damp picnic table. Maybe it was a silly thing to do with a covered dining room nearby, but that's us. Camping is camping, elements and all.

Everything is set for the tail end of our trip. We have an apartment and bike boxes waiting for us in Fiumicino. All we have to do is get there, get out the tape, and start taking our bikes apart. It's not the most fun part of a tour, but I'm pleased as punch not to have to scramble like crazy looking for boxes in a place that's unfamiliar to us. Let's be thankful for the little things in life.

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