Roma - Seconda Parte (Rome Part Two)

… Don’t get all excited and think I’m getting better at Italian.  Despite 3 weeks worth of listening to language CDs, I Googled the translation for the title.  We can’t all be good at everything and at least I’m trying! … yeah yeah … “very trying”, my dad tells me all the time!

I left off after being asked to dinner by Angelo … I continued walking back towards the Colosseum and by this time I could have eaten a scabby cavallo (that’s horse in Italian … yeah, I’m good at Googling!), so I plucked up the courage to sit and eat at a little restaurant on the pavement that happened to be outside my hotel.  I’ve never been very good at eating in restaurants on my own (I’m OK in the pictures – or movies for my American friends) but always feel really self conscious in restaurants.  Well I thought “When in Rome!” … see what I did there? … and plonked myself down in a chair.

I’ve been reading ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ were this woman (Julia Roberts in the film) goes travelling and stays for a few months in Italy.  She seems to have no problem finding fab ‘cheap’ restaurants and wonderful food, however, my first Roman restaurant experience left a bit to be desired.  The good thing is, I love Italian food, second only to Chinese, so don’t have much problem is understanding the menu … lasagna is lasagna weather your in Manchester or Rome … however, my first meal was, well, disappointing. 

I did what everyone says you should do and ask for their best dish or a dish recommended by the waiter … I did … I didn’t do it again.  I got pasta with tomato sauce and a tiny bit of bacon … cheap cheap cheap ingredients … I make a better sauce myself (and I don’t cook!).  The pasta was so ‘el dente’ that it was almost raw.  Heinz spaghetti hoops taste better.  I also had two glasses of wine … I had to have two, as together they only just made one normal sized glass (and I don’t mean a ‘Jo’ size glass here!) and a small bottle of water.  That little lot cost 35 Euros!  I was robbed (as they say) and not for the last time.

My First Meal in Roma!

I finished with about 20 minutes spare before my Colosseum rendezvous time.  I stood up and realised that my feet were killing me and I was only 2 hours into my weekend with a whole load of walking yet to do.  You’ve got to remember here that I only really wear heels at home, with the exception of going from my car to the offices where I’m working at the moment (I’d ruined a couple of pairs of really nice shoes hobbling across the flattened building site that is the car park) or at the gym and I only walk if I absolutely have to.  I remember thinking, “This is gonna be a long 3 hours”.

So I hobbled off to meet the tour guide and got their 10 minutes early (no surprise there then) and she turned up 30 minutes later!  I really hate my need to be early … drives me mad sometimes.  Anyway, turns out that I’d done exactly the right thing by pre-booking my ticket for the Colosseum.  Apparently you usually have to queue (get in line) for up to an hour and a half to get in and then you can only go on the ground and first floors.  With the ticket I’d booked, there was no waiting (if you don’t count the time spent waiting for the guide) and we got to see the dungeons and go up to the highest floors which was fascinating ... really, it was ... I loved it!

The Famous Colosseum!

After 2 hours at the Colosseum, we walked over to the Forum (which was actually opposite my hotel) well I say ‘walked’ I couldn’t really call it that as my feet and legs were on fire … not to mention filthy, black in fact … and spent an hour wandering around there.  It was amazing … I loved it ... see I can be a bit cultured when I want!

I won’t go into detail about what I saw … you can get any travel guide or Google it if you want a history lesson, but I did find it totally amazing and well worth the money … 33 Euro if you’re wondering, booked through http://www.tickitaly.com/.

After the tour guide left us at around 6 pm, we were left to wander round on our own.  I had a little walk up Palatine Hill, but then remembered I had to come back down and I could hardly walk as it was.  It took me nearly an hour to walk back down the hill and back to the hotel (what would usually have been about a 10 minute walk) each step was agony ... especially going down hill in thonged sandals ... ouch!  I went back to my room, had a quick shower, took 2 paracetamol for the pain and headed back to the same restaurant I’d had lunch at, for dinner.

I know I should have tried somewhere else, but my feet and legs were killing me and I was totally pooped … let’s not forget here that I had been up since 2.15 am!  So I ordered mozzarella and beef tomatoes followed by mussels and other assorted seafood in garlic and white wine with chunky bread to mop up the liquor.  Oh and Prosecco … 3 glasses of Prosecco (well they were tiny glasses!).  The food was good … I mean REALLY good and I can’t actually remember enjoying a meal so much for a long time, it was totally yummy. 

The Famous Mussels!

After my food, I stumbled the few steps to my hotel, got the lift up to my first floor room (What? I couldn’t walk, OK!) and literally fell into bed.  It was 9.00 pm and I was fast asleep by 9.02.  So all in all, not a bad day.  Very tiring and just a bit emotional, but looking back on it … I really did enjoy it!

Well lovely people, I’m sorry, but time has gotten the better of me … more tomorrow and hopefully I'll add some photos!

Be fabulous.

Jx