We arrived in Rom at 7:30am. Before disembarking, they served us a simple breakfast of croissants, juice, and coffee. We walked from the Roma Termini to the Discover Roma Hotel and were able to check-in right away. The owner Vincent provided us with a map and an excellent itinerary.

Today we saw the following sights:
– San Carlo Quattro Fontane (four sculptures)
– Fontana del Tritone (Triton fountain)
– Trinita dei Monti
– gardens
– Pincio
– Piazza del Popolo
– Mauseleo Augusto
– Palazzo Montecitorio/Chigi
– Pantheon
– Area Sacra
– Piazza Venezia
– Piazza Campidoglio/Arco di Tito
– Colosseo
– Palatino
– Circo Massimo (horse racetrack, seen from afar)

In between all this walking, we found a store selling Hello Kitty stuff, their brand “Ki La Ra” which has cool stuff like clothing, shoes, luggage, motorcycle helmets, etc. We stopped by for lunch of a panini, lasagna, and onion rings… very expensive!

We were very exhausted in the late afternoon so went back to our hotel area to have a light sandwich before napping until 7pm. We woke up for dinner and we went within walking distance to Pizzaria (aka Hostaria Romana da Dino) on v. dei Mille 10.

We had one huge bruschetta, Ron had veal with ham & wine, I had a cannoloni and mixed salad. We ordered a side of funghi (mushrooms) and a bottle of Prosecco. It was a surprisingly affordable meal and we left happily full. There’s no “cover charge” either. There were some restaurants we considered that charge 1 or 2 Euros per person to go into the restaurant. Such a strange concept.

Tomorrow will be another full day.

If you can’t see the slideshow above, click HERE.

We arrived in Rome at 9:30am. We had a breakfast of our the stroopwafels that we bought in Amsterdam. We spent a few hours at the ticket counters to reserve our future train seats. Afterwards we headed to the Duomo on the train and found a place recommended in our guidebook called Principe B&B for lunch. The guy inside told me not take pictures but I snuck one in before being scolded 😛 We order two types of pizza, brie & bacon and proscuitto which cost 4.5 Euros and I ordered mozarella wrap with tuna and it was served with a vegetable lasagna-like thing for 6 Euros. Yummy stuff.

We visited the Duomo cathedral before heading to try some famous gelato at Grom. A coni piccolo (small cone) is 2.5 Euros and I tried cafe, smooth stuff. Ron had a cup media (medium cup) for 3 Euros and a mix of melone (melon) and pesca (peach).

Next we attempted to go to the Da Vinci Museum, only to find out that it was closed until September for renovations! 🙁 We took a break on the steps before treating ourselves to a delicious nectarine and fig for a snack. We headed to Castello Sforzesco and walked through the grounds. We stopped at the park around 4pm to play cards and take a nap until dinner time. To our unpleasant surprise, the area had a few perverted people. On the lawns next to us, there was a guy masterbating while watching a young woman in a bathing suit. Very gross. Then when I went to the bathroom, apparently there was a guy hiding in one of the stalls and when I went into another stall on the opposite side, he came out and Ron saw him trying to peek into my stall. Once Ron yelled at him, he played dumb and ran out as fast as we could. The police office was right nearby but we had trouble communicating with the officer so the guy got away. Not a pleasant experience.

We headed back to the Galleria to do a bit of shopping. I found a store that sold Hello Kitty clothes! We had another round of gelato before heading to the train station to find an internet cafe to book out hotel in Rome. Then we went to dinner at a restaurant across the street from the station. I tried the osso bucco and it was very tender and a good portion.

Our train to Rome was at 11:20 and we got a cabin with bunk beds and a hidden sink. An interesting experience.

If you can’t see the slideshow above, click HERE.