Tuesday: Real Roma! It was remarkable how deeply I was able to sleep last night. It wasn't without interruptions but it definitely was able to dispel that sick-in-the-gut feeling one can get when overtired. The watch alarm rang at 7:15 and it did seem like a perfect time to get up.
By the time we were done shaving, washing, and brushing, it was after eight. There were three girls in the adjoining room and only one bathroom for us all.
Breakfast at the main Freedom Travellers isn't gourmet but it was enough to get started. We walked towards Republic Square to buy Metro day tickets and the Colosseum was only a few stops away. That's where we started. Entrance cost 9 Euros. It was stunning walking up to the second floor. We had that feeling that we must've been here together in ancient days and had to fulfill a destiny. Those sort of feelings come when there's such an abundance of history around.
We walked directly up the hill of the Palatino and over and around the the Forum. When walking out onto the streets, we ended up seeing the pedestrian walkways. We though the Trevi Fountain would be far but were there in no time. The same thing happened again. This time we were at the Pantheon area. It was getting on toward 2 pm and we were hungry enough to eat lunch. After finishing we went inside the Pantheon. Next, the signs pointed us in the direction of Piazza Navona and its three fountains. Only two were on as the middle one with the Egyptian hieroglyphs was under re-construction. After that, we walked along the river up to the area of the Spanish steps.
The sun was hot. We were thirsty. At 5 o'clock we wanted to be at a Santa Suzanna Church as we had arranged to have tickets for the Wednesday morning public audience of the Pope. The tickets were waiting to be picked up but the time was now only after four. We finally got back on the Metro and went the the Central Station and had ice cream cones at a McDonalds. By the time we'd found the chuch near Republic Square, it was about the right time. The father came late but we got them by 5:15.
We slowly walked back to our hostel as they have free beer and pizza on Tuesdays at 6:00. It was good. It was strange to see Jay eating pizza. It would've been weirder seeing him drink beer but he didn't.
Time to go back to our room. I felt the need for a shower. To kill a few minutes we went back down to Circus Maximus and walked to see the Colosseum at night.
It's only quarter past nine but for some reason I'm tired. Perhaps it's because we just walked all over most of Rome by foot!