My mom got here a few days ago and I have had so much fun showing her and her friend around Rome! They landed on Thursday morning, and unfortunately I had class until about 2:30, so they came to meet me at my school Thursday afternoon. They had already had a busy day before they came to see me and had done a lot of walking and had seen some of the sights already, so we decided to find a place where we could watch the Butler-Bucknell game a couple of hours from then.
There are a few "American" sports bars in Rome that masquerade as Irish pubs, so we called a few of them to see which ones would be able to broadcast the game. We finally called one that said they might not be able to broadcast it from ESPN America, but that they would stream it online for us on one of their TVs, which was good enough for us! The plan was to go there, watch the game (which started around 5:30 Rome time), and then find somewhere to eat dinner (since Italians eat dinner pretty late... around 8 usually).
We got there and I was pretty hungry, so we ordered an appetizer... nachos. Don't laugh. I hadn't had nachos in the entire time I had been in Rome until then. About halfway through the game, it became obvious that they were not going to make it to dinner... they were both falling asleep at the table! So yes, on my mom's first night in Italy, we ate dinner at Scholar's Lounge... one of the most American places you will find in the entire city of Rome.
The next morning they had planned on doing an early tour of the Vatican Museums, so I gave them directions from their apartment to the metro stop closest to the Vatican. I was supposed to meet them after their tour was over, but when I got there, they told me that they hadn't ended up taking their tour because the Sistine Chapel was closed that morning so they were taking a different one later in the afternoon. So we got lunch instead, and they took their tour and we met up afterward. I took them to my favorite gelato place, Old Bridge, which is right outside of the Vatican walls (how convenient!).
We got dinner that night close to the Colosseum, and the next morning I met them at their hotel somewhat early because we had a pretty full day planned. There's a pretty famous flower market in Rome in Campo di Fiori, so we went there first in the morning. It doesn't have as many flowers as it used to, but there are all sorts of vendors selling fruits and vegetables and various food items. I made them try oranges from the market, because you'll never find anything more fresh. From there, we walked over to St. Peter's to climb to the top of the basilica. Okay, actually, we cheated, because we paid the extra 2 euro to take the elevator halfway... but it's really not that much of a cheat because you still have about 250 stairs to climb after you get off of the elevator.
That was definitely worth the view! There were some parts of the climb that made me feel a little claustrophobic (narrow, winding stairways... enough said), but by the time we got to the top, I was glad that we did it. I could even see all the way to my apartment, so I pointed that out to them.
We made our way back down to the ground level and stopped for lunch at a little restaurant on the other side of the Vatican. After that, we took a bus to Piazza Venezia, because they were booked on a walking tour of Rome that started at the Colosseum. They managed to get me added on to it, which was fine with me even though I've obviously seen everything on it. It was an ambitious tour, though... the Colosseum, Forum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and Piazza Navona in three hours. I could spend three hours in the Forum alone, but it was a good introductory tour. I wish we could have spent more time in the Colosseum and the Forum (even though that was my third time in both this semester!), but I tried to point out the things that I knew that our tour guide wasn't telling the group. The Pantheon was closed for mass (or some kind of ceremony) by the time we got over there, but luckily they had already seen it on their first day. We got gelato at Trevi and finished in Piazza Navona, which will always be one of my favorite places in Rome!
That was their last night of their first part in Rome, so I took them to the Jewish ghetto area of Rome for dinner. I had never eaten in any of the restaurants in that neighborhood before, but everyone says it's one of the best places in Rome for dinner, so I knew we would find something good. Also, it's getting to be the end of artichoke season in Rome, and the carciofi alla guidia (literally Jewish artichokes) are a must-try in Roman cuisine. They were SO GOOD, and so was the rest of the food.
The next morning they got on a train for Florence, and that's where they are now. I'm meeting them in Sorrento on Thursday after my classes are done, and then we all come back to Rome on Saturday afternoon!
No comments:
Post a Comment