June 1, 2022

We left the Agriturismo after our last huge breakfast and stopped by a bank in Lucca on our way to Pisa to return the car. I snapped a photo of the cute little mint Fiat we kept seeing about town (maybe there were two of them?) and little did I know that within a week of returning home the Mercedes would be smashed on our street by an inattentive driver and Carvanna would deliver to me, all the way from Florida, the same make and color of Fiat. Sometimes I guess things were meant to be! The drive to Pisa was uneventful, and we dropped off the car and then took the metro subway thing from the airport to the train station. Let me just say that it’s way more expensive than it ought to be but I guess they know you don’t really have a choice. We arrived at the train station in plenty of time and had something to eat at the Burger King there. The train to Rome was fine and we found a cab from there to the little VRBO in the Trastevere area of Rome. Oh my, such a cute little place. Wasn’t loving the steep three flights of stairs up to it with my luggage, especially as the person who was checking us in just ran up them, but we made it. It looked like it was designed for elves and I’m not sure that entry to the bathroom that crossed the stairs would meet code in the US but we liked it.

We walked around the lively area and found a good place to have dinner. We caught the sunset overlooking the Tiber River, and saw a bit of the nightlife but we were tired so we returned to our apartment. Note the door was tucked in between the outdoor seating areas of two bars, which was fun.

June 2, 2022

We got up nice and early and started to walk to the Parthenon to get there before it got too crowded. On the way we stopped at a cafe for a croissant and coffee for breakfast, and ate it as we walked. We got to the Parthenon and it was not yet open because it was a holiday. Also you have to have a reservation online so all of us in the line were on our phones making the reservations. It all worked out though because we got to be the first group in and got lots of photos while it was still pretty empty. After the Parthenon we headed to the Largo di Torre Argentina. The last time we were in Rome this site close to the place we were staying was full of cats and there was a cat sanctuary there you could tour. Now it’s fenced off because it’s going to be opened as its own archeological site so no sanctuary and very few cats.

Next we went to the Teatro di Marcello, a theater built in 12 BC. After it fell out of use in the 4th century they used it as a quarry and then in the 16th Century built a palazzo on what was left, which is apartments now. The grounds are very nice and there’s a lot left there so it was a good stop. The Italian President was making an appearance nearby so it was very crowded. We went to the location where we thought our food tour was meeting but they had moved it so we had to go very fast to the correct meeting place in the Campo di Fiori. When I booked the tour it was supposed to be of the Trastevere area but unfortunately because of the holiday not enough was open there so they moved it and it was virtually the same as the food tour we’d taken the last time we were in Rome except that one had a livelier tour guide. Oh well. Charlotte and I were the only vegetarians so we were a little annoyed when all the meat eaters demolished our cheese plate instead of eating the prosciutto etc that was provided for them. I think they just didn’t realize. Also in a fun twist we returned to the same bakery where we’d gotten breakfast earlier! The tour finished up with gelato near the Trevi Fountain where we tossed in our obligatory coins. Nearby was a cool Galleria . And then it was time for dinner so we returned to Trastevere and went to a Taverna and then walked up to the Giardini del Guancolo for a great view of the city at Sunset. Back through the lovely Trastevere and to our apartment.

June 3, 2022

Today we went to a restaurant that advertised that it had a proper American breakfast. Well I don’t think I would go that far and the indifferent service was slow as anything. So maybe the traditional Italian plan of eating a croissant is better.

Today was our day to see the lesser sights of Rome because we’ve pretty much seen all of the main sights. We walked around, went past Trajan’s column and then toured the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj which is also a gallery of the art and furniture collected by the family since the 16th century. The halls had a distinct Versailles vibe. Charlotte and I discovered that we actually have an opinion on art–we both quite like Caravaggio! Doria Pamphili had an in with the pope and was using him to skim money to fund all of the art etc, which was also funny. We definitely recommend a tour of this Palazzo.

Next we walked around Rome some more until we got to the Piazza Del Campidoglio, and into the Musei Capitolini. This museum has a lot of great ancient Roman artifacts but most importantly it backs onto the Foro Romano. So if it’s hot or if you just aren’t up to that much walking or if you’ve already seen the Foro Romano and just want to see it again but not spend all day, this museum is the move. The back of it has a large observation area where you can see all the crowds you’re avoiding but also see the ruins. That’s your pro tip for the day.

Finally we returned to Trastevere and toured the Villa Farnesina built in the 16th Century as a suburban villa. It has a ceiling by Rafael and other art panels and nice grounds. We returned to our hobbit house to rest a bit and then went out for dinner. Charlotte and I tried the Roman version of aracini which is called suppli and it’s oblong and a bit bigger than it’s Sicilian cousin. She had cacio e pepe and I had lemon cacio e pepe and they were fantastic. One of those things we wished we’d tried the first day because we would have kept coming back.

Mark wanted a proper dinner so we went to the trendy restaurant we’d seen everyone waiting at the previous nights. Very good solid meal. Both Mark and Charlotte were too pooped to go out for drink, so we returned to our place entering the door in the space between the two packed bars. Nice last day in Italy!

June 4, 2022

We packed up our luggage and Charlotte got the big suitcases down the narrow stairs. Thanks Charlotte! We walked to the cab stand a half block away and got our ride to the airport. The driver checked several times to make sure we weren’t going to Fiumicino, but don’t be silly, Ryanair would never have terminals in the nice airport! The flight to Dublin was as uneventful as a Ryanair flight can be (again, I PAID for that backpack you cretins!) and we were able to easily get through customs. Next we had to go to the nearby office to take our Coronavirus tests that the US still inexplicably required for reentry into the country. They dropped the requirement a week later, so that’s $75 each and two hours we’ll never get back but oh well. At least we were all negative. We then took the shuttle bus to our nearby hotel. Once there we checked in and quickly went back out, using the FreeNow app I’d downloaded earlier. Really feeling like a boss.

We got to the Temple Bar area and I’d misjudged how hungry Mark was because he was having none of our authentic pub experience in Dublin. So after we had our beer in a very nice pub we went to dinner at this restaurant recommended by Genevieve, the Red Torch Ginger Thai restaurant. Very hip and tasty. We found another pub and had another drink, and then returned to the hotel conveniently driving by Kavanaugh Court which was the student housing Genevieve had lived at so I got to show them where it was and what it looked like.

June 5, 2022

We had breakfast in the hotel which inexplicably had a dark nightclub vibe. A bit strange (and hard to see) at 7:30am but I’m sure they had their reasons for the dim lighting. We returned to the airport via shuttle and Mark and Charlotte got into the quick line but I’d been unable to hook my negative test result to my ticket so I was in the slow line. At least I got pulled out about a half hour later because I had been able to get 3/4 of the way through the process so I got to go into the medium quick line. Then we had to walk FOREVER to get to our terminal. And go through US customs and security again (we did get to skip customs in the US at least). We had a quick lunch and then Charlotte and I walked around the terminal until we got our 10,000 steps, irritating Mark because we abandoned him but our streaks remained unbroken. The flight to SFO was fine and our Lyft ride home was uneventful except the poor guy didn’t realize he’d be driving down to San Jose so we had to stop for gas. Nice to see the pets and Genevieve!

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