We finally made it to our hotel room around 1:30 this morning. Our hotel room was awful. It smelled like cigarette smoke and was dirty. The hotel guy had to unlock the outside door to let us into the hotel. I was afraid to let the guy that transported us from the airport leave for a minute. As it was so late we didn’t say anything to the desk clerk about our room. We had requested two twin beds and only had one double bed. We decided if they couldn’t move us in the morning we would call the tour company and tell them we needed to change hotels.
This morning we talked to the desk clerk and he agreed to move us to a different room for tonight. We packed up our stuff after we had a bite of breakfast as they said they would move our stuff for us.
Breakfast was a challenge as they mainly had breads. I ate some cheese and salami type meat. They didn’t have any fruit. Nicole chose not to eat anything.
We got directions from the hotel clerk and headed out. Our plan was to ride the bus and then the subway and then another bus and we headed out to see the Pantheon. We struggled to find the first bus stop and had to stop and ask directions. We found the bus stop and waited a bit for the bus to show up. We had to change buses to get to where we wanted to go. After waiting 30 minutes for the second bus we decided to try the subway. About that time my stomach acted up and I needed an emergency bathroom stop. Luckily I found a restaurant close and found one to use. Barely made it in time.
We rode the subway to get as close as we could to the Pantheon. We had to catch another bus to get us closer to where we wanted to go. The bus came just after I finished a second emergency bathroom stop. We were excited to see the bus and got on it only to discover it was going the wrong direction. We gave up at that point as we had to be back to the hotel for our afternoon adventure and still needed to eat lunch. We came back frustrated that we were unable to navigate the subway and bus system.
To our defense, their subway and bus system is not near as efficient as the one in Japan and Barcelona.
After we got to the hotel we found out our new room wasn’t ready but they let us rest for a bit in the dirty, old room. We then went to a restaurant about eight blocks away and had a brunch. It was 20 euro’s each but not worth it as it should have been called a seafood brunch and neither one of us likes seafood. I had a few bites of veggies but my tummy was still a bit unsettled and I decided I better not eat much.
We got picked up for our afternoon adventure at our hotel. He drove us to the Colosseum for a guided tour. We saw Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. Nicole took lots of pictures. I struggled a bit with a very rapid heart beat at times and felt a bit light-headed. Thankfully the guide stopped a lot to talk and I was able to rest between climbs.
I opted out of the final part of the Colosseum tour and sat and enjoyed the shade and sights while the rest of the tour finished up. Nicole decided to stay with me. By the time the group got back I was finally feeling much better.
We had to find our own way back to the hotel as return transportation was not included in the tour package. We saw one of the double-decker buses that are hop on and hop off and decided to get a 24 hour pass for one of them. We hopped on and it took us back around to where we had gotten on the subway this morning. It took over one and one half hours to get there though as traffic was so heavy.
We found a nice little restaurant after we got off the bus and had a lovely dinner. We needed a good way to end this day. The waiter was fun and good and the food was good. I had chicken and veggies so was able to stay on plan.
We then went to the bus stop to ride the bus home but it was going to be at least a 30 minute wait for the bus. We were tired and it was getting dark. We are in a shady neighborhood and decided it wasn’t safe to walk the half mile from the final bus stop to the hotel. Nicole got a Uber for us who picked us up three minutes later and got us to the hotel quickly, safe and sound.
When we got back to the hotel they had our stuff in a different room. We now have two twin beds and a much nicer bathroom. This room doesn’t have a broken window and it doesn’t smell like a beer hall. We were relieved they fixed the issue for us. The A/C even works in this room.
Tomorrow we have a list of places we want to go see. The Vatican and the Sistine Chapel is at the top of my list. We saw a glimpse of them from the bus this afternoon. May call a Uber in the morning to pick us up and take us to the double-decker bus stop. It would give us more time to be on the bus as the city buses and subways tend to run behind schedule here. Forecast is calling for rain tomorrow so will see how many places we get to. Nicole has several places on her list too.
Lots of people in the city! Sure wouldn’t want to come here in the hot summer months. It was warm enough for me today. Got kissed by the sun while on our tour this afternoon. Walked over 14,500 steps today.
Tuesday we head to Florence via train so tomorrow is our last chance to see Rome.
Grateful we were able to salvage this day and enjoy the second part of it, grateful we have a much nicer room tonight (although it isn’t great – it is much better), and grateful I am feeling better tonight and was able to find bathrooms in the nick of time earlier today.