Our Last Day in Roma

Our last day in Rome started at 10 a.m. as we toured the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Our tour guide shared the violent history of the Colosseum. It was eerie to stand in a space where killing was a spectacle sport and so many people and animals had brutally lost their lives. Despite the tragic nature of the setting, the building itself was quite impressive. Built more than 2,000 years ago, the fact that even some of the structure is still standing today was unbelievable. We learned that the Colosseum actually had a retractable roof that workers moved on tethers—what an advanced system! We also learned that the Colosseum is the most pillaged site in Rome, which you can see by the holes where looters dug into the limestone to extract the metal.

I was even more impressed by the Roman Forum, where archaeologists have uncovered ancient ruins from the times of Julius Caesar and Emperor Augustus. Walking through ancient ruins was also an unusual feeling, but remarkable to see what people so many thousands of years ago were able to construct. It was exciting to see the archaeologists at work excavating ancient ruins from the ground below. What an incredible day at the office that would be!

The tour ended at 1 p.m. and by now the heat was sweltering again. We took the bus back to our neighborhood and decided we needed to correct the bad sandwich experience we had last night and find something that could rival the deliciousness of what we ate in Florence. There was a carniceria next to our hotel that smelled delicious every time we walked by. We popped in to discover that they offered sandwiches with fresh bread, meats cured at in the shop and different types of cheeses. For just 9 euro, we got one spicy salami and cheese sandwich, one regular salami and cheese sandwich and two giant bottles of water. Why hadn’t we eaten here every day for lunch?

We took our sandwiches and walked to the Pantheon. As we rounded the corner we were amazed that we had not yet seen this incredible structure. We sat on some steps at a bank across from the entrance to the Pantheon and ate our sandwiches while looking at this beautiful monument. The sandwiches were absolutely delicious (Kyle thought they were on par with those in Florence!). Then we went inside the Pantheon, which has a gorgeous dome that Brunelleschi studied to construct the Duomo in Florence. We saw Raphael’s tomb here (one of the world’s greatest painters) as well as the first two kings of Rome. Walking around the outside of the Pantheon, we could see remnants of the ancient city below that had been built on top of over the years.

We did some more souvenir shopping and then took a short siesta. For dinner we went to a top-rated restaurant in Rome called Matricianella. We ate a memorable meal of insalata with pear and pecorino cheese, penne arrabiata, fettuccini carbonara and eggplant parmigiano. For dessert, we went to our favorite gelato place, Il Ciampini, and each enjoyed a blackberry and lemon cone.

To celebrate our last night in Italy, we went on the romantic “Night Walk Across Rome” that Rick Steves published in his travel guide. We opened a bottle of Montalcino wine and walked from the Campo de’ Fiori to the Spanish Steps. Along the way we stopped at the Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Piazza Colonna, Via del Corso and the Trevi Fountain (this time Kyle tossed in a coin, wishing for a return trip to Italy). The sites and fountains are beautifully lit along the way. At the end of the walk, we sat on the Spanish Steps looking out on the street below. When Kyle asked if I was ready to go back to the hotel, I teared up knowing that meant our trip was over and we’d be waking up early to head to the airport. We stayed until the polizia ushered everyone out at midnight.

And that, my friends, was our arrivederci a Italia.