Day 6 Getting lost In Rome

Today is Sunday so LC and I had a plan to go to church today - a Protestant church with a 10:30 service. By about 11:40 am we had to admit defeat and accept that we wouldn’t find said church!  But I am getting ahead of myself. 

Today - we were determined to try to get around Rome by metro. I bought a 72 hour metro pass for 18€ - and most taxis we take anywhere cost more than 10€ - so we thought we could save some money. 

The Pyramide station is near our apartment and required that we take a metro to Termini station. I didn’t appreciate how little I knew anything about travel by train in that everything is in Italian, no posted maps were to be found, we didn’t know this train station which is right next to Ostiense station for the regional trains AND I forgot my phone so I couldn’t even use my offline map service for the city of Rome.  Add in the fact that the Rome marathon was happening and two stations were closed - the Spanish Steps (our destination) being one of them - and we really couldnt get to the church on time. But laugh we did - and never was a temper tantrum thrown - ( well except when LC couldn’t find an acceptable restroom) and we just rolled with the punches. 

I should say the situation of trying to navigate our way around Rome improved immensely once we broke down and bought a map. LC never wanted to look like a tourist so she forbid us from pulling out a map and looking at in public. “Ah - trust me - they know we are tourists!”

The point of the day was to sightsee and we saw the sights!  We did get to the Spanish Steps - in glorious sunshine and blue sky. We actually saw the marathon race several times, cheered on participants and humorously had to find a break between runners to cross the race path - so we actually ran IN the Rome marathon!  We found a clothing store with clothing made in Italy that was so unique and comfortable and affordable (and made of silk and cotton) - we think it was called Stop Here. 

We revisited the Trevi Fountain, even busier on a Sunday, and the Vittoriano Emmanuel Monument. 

This time we climbed the walkway to the Capioliani Museum which had a stunning view atop the Forum. 

We made our way back to the Pantheon and were sitting on a pew enjoying the space when they announced the building was closing at 5:45 pm - so we were glad that we had entered it one more time. 

We made our way to the Trattoria de Famiatti - a restaurant near the Piazza Navona to meet our cousin Hazel once again. We had very thin crust pizza and delightful conversation. Much to our surprise her son, Mario joined us at the end of dinner. He had quite a difficult time finding the restaurant- which made LC and I feel quite a bit better about the number of times we were lost today - if a local Roman could get lost too!