Today started a bit earlier than day 2 but I did not really sleep well. Perhaps the espresso at dinner time gave me more caffeine than I needed or perhaps it was one of my Sunday night insomnia attacks I very rarely get. It was not a matter of being awake really as not being asleep. Anyway, I got showered and out the door by 7:30 or so and was able to try their continental breakfast included in the stay at the hotel. The coffee was a bit rough but not terrible. I had a croissant that was stuffed with nutella. I didn’t know it was stuff till I was a bit into it. Otherwise I would probably have tried something else. It was very sweet.
After breakfast I walked westward towards the river and came upon the Castle of Saint Angelo. It was however closed because it was Monday. During the walk it started to rain some and by the time I got there it got very heavy for a bit. I ended up hiding under a bridge for a little while. This ended up working out well as when I finally decided to get on the move again it was light rain for a bit. During that time I was walking along the river (I assume the Tiber) and there were a lot of very tall trees providing cover. I was very close to the Vatican but I decided I would wait until the return trip to Rome to visit the Vatican. I thought the rain might cheapen it up a bit so I skipped on it for today. Due to the rain I was a bit limited in pictures for the early portion of the day. The rain did eventually go away though the sky stayed overcast all the way.
I went down the river past the Circus Maximus which also allowed for some southern views of the Roman Forum. It wasn’t a very long walk to there technically but I went on a very roundabout route and that made the trip seem very long. I managed to find some maps that explained where the Appia Antica was and decided I would see what I missed on day 2. It brought me to a chance to see the Cisto Pyramid and I opted to turn off course for that first. I was beginning to despair that I had been led astray by the sign when I found it lodged behind another closed monument. After a couple quick pictures I turned around and headed back so I could find the Appian Way.
I did indeed find the Appian Way. At the head is the Termi de Caracala, which is a very large Roman bathhouse. It was 6 Euro to get in. Like most of the Roman structures it is basically in complete ruins, but not surprising since it is over 1800 years old. The buildings were obviously gigantic. I was amazed at how large it was. They had managed to find some mosaic artwork as well in the ruins and some of those were on display in the ruins. Overall for the price it was well worth the visit. By the way Termi means bath house. They manufactured their own heating and water flow for the bath house. It is very incredible to think about from so long ago.
After the Termi I walked further up the road and found the Appia Antica for real. Unfortunately it not being Sunday meant the road was jammed full of psychopathically driven cars and the road is very narrow and does not have much by way of pedestrian space. I still tried to make my way through it but I had already been on my feet for about 5 hours so far by the time I got there. Still I made my way down to a point that would have led to two catacombs for saints but both were closed, apparently for lunch until 2pm by the time I got there. I walked to look at both of them and in the second I found a sign depicting how long the route is. I am sure if I had not detoured or really had decided to head there first thing and found it I could have cleared the course, but as it stands I was more than enough tired and decided to turn around and head for home.
Since I knew where I was going and was making a straight shot it was not terribly long to the Coliseum. I opted to have a late lunch at the Domus Antica which is right off the edge of the Coliseum. I had 2 Peroni and Penne alla Pesto which was very enjoyable. From there I tried to find some of the other nearby ruins because it was still early enough I didn’t want to head into the room. I tried to find the Domus Aureus which was apparently owned by Nero and used by him as a support building to the Coliseum. It is well disguised right now because it is closed for renovations. I had to turn myself around 3 times before I found the actual entrance and the sign that said it was closed. With that I realized anywhere else would be too far out of my way for the day and I headed back to the room. It was too early to eat dinner, besides lunch wasn’t that long before so I just relaxed in the room for a bit.
When it was near 6pm I opted to go back down to La Mensa di Bacco for dinner where I had Pizza alla Capriccio accompanied by a glass of red wine. I followed that with a panna cotta that was enjoyable. I skipped on the coffee to hopefully get some sleep. After dinner it was back to the room to prepare for the early departure to Sicily.
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