06/04/22 On our own in Rome

This Saturday the rest of our tour group met in the lobby and headed out - either going home or on to another city. 

Our group of six is staying another day so we had a light breakfast at the hotel before going out to look for a pharmacy that will be open tomorrow because US law requires a Covid test 24 hours before flying in. Giuseppe said lots of pharmacies are open on Sunday but we wanted to make sure.  The first pharmacy we found would not be open but it had a sign with the hours for other testing stations, and one at the Barberini plaza will be open. It's not far from our hotel so we walked over there to make sure, and it will be open on Sunday. Testing doesn't take place in the pharmacy; there is a tent set up outside for that.  

Then, since we were out for the day, we walked by Trevi fountain again. I've found that drivers usually are very patient with the crowds who are always walking in the side streets. Necessity does not always create kindness but it seems to work here. Some streets, though, are so small that they have built out bumps on the side of the building, which gives pedestrians a slight place to get out of the way. I had to step against the wall and in-between these to avoid being scraped by a passing truck; they run that close!

Next we walked over to see the Pantheon.   Along the way we found several areas where "love locks" are being left. 

And other cool but unknowable things...

Love the cars that are almost the same size as scooters!

And at least one truck cut the corner a little too tight!

When we arrived at the Pantheon, we learned that now you need reservations to get in. And there were no more reservations available today! We could not even get close enough to look in the doorway! So sad about that. 

We decided to go to McDonald's for lunch. We weren't craving McDonalds but we were looking for a little comfort after the Parthenon disappointment. And McDonald's soda has fizz, you get ice with your drink, they have straws, and it's air conditioned. That seemed like a good idea after a long walk on a hot day that ended in disappointment.  (Coke products in Italy generally don't have a fizz or ice; if you ask for ice, you get 2 cubes.) We just had to decipher the mysteries of an Italian McDonald's order machine.

The other thing we wanted to see today was the Forum. It's a longer walk but we were ready for it. 

We passed the beautiful Victor Emmanuel Monument. This was also covered with scaffolding the last time we were here. 

By now we'd walked far enough that we were at the Colisseum again. 

And it's close neighbor, Constantine's Arch.

We noticed that there are almost no cats around anymore, nor pickpockets. We missed the cats.

Nearby we saw evidence of Rome's ongoing problem - anytime they try to build something new, they find something old. 

Before we reached the Forum we passed a large area with old ruins, similar to what I remember the Forum looking like. I did not actually pass...

Then we continued to the nearby Forum where we discovered - we need tickets to get in! And tickets could only be bought online! And there were no more tickets available today!

Two disappointments in one day was enough. We went back to the hotel for a shower and nap. With a little time before dinner we took a walk across the street with Aaron and Glenda to a lovely park they had discovered. 

Yesterday Guiseppe told us about Capuchin monks who used to preserve bodies and bones in their church in a small catacomb. Napoleon put an end to that but the monks got to kept their collection. I really wanted to see that! When we got back from our walk in the park we got a text from Jack that he and Joe had already visited the Capuchin catacombs. So now it was our turn. I am not sure the Snyders would have picked that as a destination, but everybody humored me and we went. No photos are allowed inside so I snagged a photo from Wikipedia:

I really did find this was fascinating! There are six small rooms that are each filled with and decorated with bones and a few mummified monks. It is estimated that the remains of 3,700 bodies are here. I am very glad I went; I liked this but it turns out that a little was enough. I decided I don't really want to go deep underground to the big catacombs. 

Now it was time for dinner: we went with the Snyders to Sapori D'Ischia, a very nice restaurant that specialized in fish. It's a small place but they managed to fit in a grand piano and pianist, right behind where Aaron was sitting. 

We started with an appetizer of fried artichoke, which was really good.

I ordered a salad and Randy had a pasta dish

For dessert we thought we ordered ice cream with sauce; it wasn't really ice cream but was good.

That was enough for one day. We went back to the hotel where I admired that ancient wall, right outside of our hotel.