Rome - Our Last Day

Jon sitting on The Spanish Steps.
Jon running on the way to the Circus Maximus.
Jon posing for a pic mid-run around the Circus Maximus with the Palatine Hill in the background!
Our feet on the Appian Way!!!

We woke up early and got on a train heading back to Rome! We weren't sure how this last day was going to work out - we had 11:00AM reservations at the Borghese Gallery and weren't getting into Rome until 10AM.

As it turned out our plan to check our bags at Termini was thwarted when we got to the bag check and saw the long long line. So the Borghese Gallery is going to have to wait until we return to Rome (and we WILL return!)

So we went to our hostel and decided to check-in and then start our day. Well we got to our hostel, the same one we stayed in the first time we were in Rome and found out that a water pipe had burst so he couldn't have us stay there that night. We were so disappointed because it was definitely our favorite hostel. He was nice enough to have arranged for us to stay at a neighboring hostel in the same neighborhood. So he brought us over there got us all checked in and then we were ready to head out.

We ended up going back to visit the Spanish Steps because Jon wanted to see them during the day. We got lunch on the way and ate on the steps. Then we went to the Piazza de Popoli because I had wanted to check it out after having read about it in Angels & Demons:) It was raining at this point so we decided to head back to the hostel. We finished some postcards and bought stamps and got them in the mail. The weather had gotten a little better so we decided to go for a run.

We got all ready to go and headed out towards the Circus Maximus below the Palatine Hill. It was a nice little run there and then we ran a lap around the Circus Maximus (which was pretty cool) and then we decided to run to the Appian Way to check it out. We weren't exactly sure where we were going but we knew the general direction. So we headed do the Via Appia Nuova. Maybe halfway down that road towards our destination it started to DOWNPOUR! We headed down to a Metro stop to wait it out and checked out a map while we were down there, which was a good thing given that we had to make a turn coming up and we would have never known that. We waited about 5 more minutes and headed out again with a better sense of where we were going and ran in the rain to the Via Appia Antica, the very first road ever! It was pretty cool, we ran in one direction for a little bit just checking it out, snapped photos, ran in the other direction trying to figure out where the catacombs were. After realizing that everything was closed, it started to get pretty cold and dark and it was still raining so we decided to head back to the bus stop we had seen. We ended up having to sprint over the cobblestones of the Appian Way to catch it in time so we weren't left there out in the cold. It'll certainly be a run that we won't forget. It was about 7 miles in length total - not a bad run for our last day of vacation - after having walked all the miles we did!

We got back to the hostel, showered and got ready to go out. We went back to the Pantheon area and found a sweet little restaurant down an alleyway and enjoyed a nice dinner. Then we headed of course to our favorite wine bar near the Pantheon. When we got there we were the only people there except for the owner who was hosting a couple. It was sweet! We got a seat indoors and ordered a glass of wine. It was the perfect end to the perfect trip. We spent some time there enjoying wine and then the owner, Giovanni, came over and poured us a glass of wine on the house - he remembered us from the other two nights we had been there! I loved it.

After that we hit up our fave gelato/cappachino place and got one last order, then we walked to the Trevi Fountain for one last look and threw our quarters in wishing for a return trip, then we headed back to the hostel.

I have to say I was very sad to leave Italy. I have a dream that I will live there for a year at some point in my life, just traveling all around for the year. After our trip Jon has agreed that he'd love to live in Italy at some point in our life as well! It may not happen until we're 60 but for right now that's our goal! Hopefully we'll get back there before we "move" there though - because it truly is my favorite country that I've been to so far!

So that's it our trip in a "nutshell" or 10 long descriptive posts! I'm going to do a blog on the Italian food and some pics from our trip so stay tuned....