Rome.

We visited Rome today and it was what we expected – hot and people-y with cool ancient sites around most corners.

We went in knowing there was way more than we could ever see in one day so we made a basic plan – the Pantheon, Colosseum (from the outside – not a tour), and the Baths of Caracalla (a lesser visited site I learned about through my favorite travel guy Rick Steves). Plus some food and espresso and gelato. With that, we would be content.

And so that’s what we did. We grabbed the train from our port of Civitavicchia; it was about an hour ride into Rome. Figuring out we weren’t all that far from the Vatican, we decided to walk by. It’s free to get into St. Peter’s Square and thought we might do that but were met with long security lines and the square was FULL of people. Our travel companions would send a photo later that confirmed the Pope was addressing the crowd today.

From there, we worked our way down busy streets and cute alleys to the Pantheon, a dome that defied architectural standards of the day. (And stopped enroute in a cute espresso store that was right up my alley.) The dome is as wide as it is high. Much of the marble floor still original, two centuries later; the pillars on the portico cut from a single stone.

We headed towards the coliseum and we both got a little cranky on the way. (Truth.) We found some food and regrouped before taking our photos and continuing on.

At the Baths of Caracalla, we didn’t learn a whole lot but relished the nice breeze and enjoyed a space with very few people. We envision that in its glory, the baths were like a country club; it’s where the people of status would come to soak in the pool and talk politics. Or something. But it was neat and old. Check.

We found some gelato before a brisk walk to the train station. We were toast – seven miles later – and learned that it was either the train now or wait two more hours. Now, please. We even figured out how to validate our ticket this time in the machines on the wall. (We couldn’t figure it out on the trip in and were lucky a conductor didn’t ask for our tickets; an invalidated ticket comes with a fine.)

We were toast … but still had energy after the train ride to find some drinks by the sea in the port city before taking the shuttle back to the boat. I finally tried an aperol spritz, the quintessential mixed drink here. I liked it. (I had two.)