Day 19 - A Visit to Rome

Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Trevi Fountain - July 10

July 10, 2023: One of planned overnight trips was to Rome. We took the mid afternoon train from Florence to Rome, about a 90 minute trip. We walked from the train station to our hotel. It took us almost 40 minutes in 95+ degree heat. We were soaked with sweat by the time we got there. We checked in and both took showers to cool off and sat in our air conditioned room for a while. We had reservations for dinner near the Piazza Navona and decided to walk to see the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain before dinner. Jimm had picked up the cold I had a few days ago and definitely not feeling 100%, but he was a trooper and we made the trek to those locations. It was very cool to see them in person, especially the Trevi Fountain. Both locations were absolutely packed with people. We have learned from our guides that they have been breaking records for visitors this summer. I guess this is the year for trips to Europe! I had gotten a tip off the Italy Planning Facebook group I follow about going to the 2nd floor of the Colors of Benetton store across the street from the fountain to get an unobstructed view. They were right and I was able to get a shot from the window. We headed back to the Piazza Navona for our dinner, but ended up having to change locations at the last minute and ended up getting a nice table next to misting fan while we had some decent pasta. We were suppose to go to a speakeasy afterward, but Jimm was done for the night (and I was too actually), so we called it a night and headed back to the hotel early. We knew we needed to get up very early in the morning for our Vatican City tour so it was just as well. My first impressions of Rome were that it is very dirty, there was garbage everywhere and it just does not have the same old world charm and appeal for me as Florence does.

Jimm’s rating for today: ***