#2714 vacation day 14: Rome

We got up a little later than yesterday, but still early, because I wanted to go over to the Trevi Fountain. I was hopeful it would not be as crowded earlier in the morning, and I was right! There were people there, but we were able to get to fountain level, and I got to toss a coin in the fountain. I’ll be seeing you again, Rome!

We went over to the Pantheon next. We were again rewarded with great views and very few people.

There was some very important business to take care of today. I’m happy to say we both tested negative for Covid! I knew we weren’t sick, but it is nice to have official documentation to confirm. 

Since we had seen all the major touristic sites, we didn’t have anything planned for today, other than getting our Covid tests and doing some souvenir shopping. We decided to go off the beaten path a little and visit the only cathedral in Rome, the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran. What we learned from our guide yesterday is that a city can only have one cathedral, and since St. Peter’s is in Vatican City, St. John’s in Lateran is the cathedral of Rome. It is a papal cathedral, meaning that when the pope is doing his job as the Archbishop of Rome, he holds mass at St. John’s. There are actually four papal basilicas in Rome; we have seen three of them - two of them today.

St. John’s is huge. Have I mentioned that everything here is huge? 

I don’t love the off-to-the-side angle of this photo, but there were trucks parked right behind that fence you see in the foreground, so it was hard to get a straight on photo. We were not allowed in the fenced off area. There was a big stage set up across from the church, so maybe there was or is going to be a concert there. It was kind of a bummer. 

Inside, the place is ginormous and beautiful, opulent even. The Catholic Church is not short of funds. The paintings are lovely. The statuary is awesome. There are giant statues of all 12 saints that are intricate and astonishing. The chapels surrounding the nave are elegant. Here are a few pics:

The Papal altar

I can’t find much info about this sculpture, but it is beautiful

The statue of St. Peter

We also visited the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The ceiling in the basilica is beautifully gilded. What caught our attention were the columns lining the nave. Here are some pics. 

I didn’t take many photos in this church because, frankly, I’m a little churched out. I honestly think there is only so much you can see until it all sort of blurs together.

It was around 12:15, so we thought about having some lunch, but 12:15 is not lunchtime here. We stopped into a cafe and had a Coca-Cola. It tasted so damn good. Suddenly, memories came rushing back to me of stopping at a cafe with my abuelita to have a lunchtime aperitif before we went to lunch. You remember that, Mom and Lizzie? The actual timing of it all was that we saw St. John, then had the Cokes, then saw Maria Maggiore, then we had lunch. I was looking forward to some pasta carbonara and I was not disappointed. The food here is, as you can imagine, AMAZING!

A quick note about getting to St. John’s. It is about two miles from the hotel, in a part of Rome we had not seen. The cathedral is not a big tourist attraction, so most of the people in the neighborhood were locals. It felt more like what “regular” Rome is like, I think. The street we walked on, Via Merulana, was a beautiful, tree-lined street. Little bars and restaurants had tables lining the sidewalks. It was quiet. I loved not “fighting” the tourist crowds. The big tourist areas are so packed with people. I totally get it - I am one of those people! - but it was pretty wonderful to get a taste of the city outside of the tourist zone. It is a much different vibe.

You can’t shake a stick in this city without hitting a nun, a friar, or a priest.  Not that I have hit any nuns, friars, or priests, mind you, I’m just saying they are everywhere!

So far today, our step count is 18,264; 7.7 miles.

Yesterday, we went back out in the evening and ended up with 24,059 steps, an even 10 miles. We’ll go out again this evening. We haven’t done our souvenir shopping yet! We’re still hoping to get up to the rooftop bar here at the hotel. Last night we tried, but there was a private party and they told us to go away. Here’s hoping for tonight!

This is my last post from Rome. Tomorrow is a travel day, so I probably won’t write again until the weekend. I hope you have enjoyed vicariously coming on this trip with us. I promise I will update earlier posts with photos! It takes me a long time to write these posts because I start looking for links to include and I end up looking at a bunch of different things as I find more information. 

Ciao!