April 28- Naples to Rome

Had another early morning but we had to wait our turn to go for breakfast. The eating area can only accommodate 14 people and the hotel, if full, could have 60. At 8:15 we are told that we can go. It’s the usual Italian breakfast: croissants, yogourts, other sweets, bonus is that there are bananas, pears, and apples. Bad part is I forgot to pick one up on our way out. I also only noticed granola on my way out. Oh well, back in the room to prepare to walk to the train station. We are early and so we wait to see which platform we will need to go to. We board with about 15 minutes before departure. Our seats are reserved and are facing each other. We thought that we had the four seats to ourselves but then a woman sat beside me. The trip was quick as we were on an express and first stop was Roma. At one point I noticed that the train was going 298 km/hr. We arrive on time but then it takes about twenty minutes to find the tourist info center. Why do they show the signs, but hide the offices?  Very frustrating. We buy a map, they don’t give them away in this city. The woman shows us the route to walk to our Airbnb. It was only 20 minutes away. We actually find it quite quickly, not always an easy task for the two of us. One of the owners is waiting for us. He walks with us to the small apt and shows us everything that we need to know.
He told us where the supermarket and laundromat were located. Luckily bother are pretty close to here so we decide to check those places out before becoming real tourists. On our way we see a Vietnamese restaurant. I started to salivate. Veggies and no pasta and bread. We decide that we will go there for supper. On our way back from the grocery store, it is 1:30 and we are hungry, so Vietnamese food it is, now. We can’t wait any longer. It is also packed and with Asians, so it must be good. It does not disappoint. We start with spring rolls and then I have chicken, rice, and veggies, and Ron has the same except with beef. It is soooooo yummy. No camera, so no photos.

After putting things away, we are out for our first adventure in Roma. Today we begin at the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Palatine Hill.

And we thought we had seen so much Roman history in other Italian cities. This is the top of the world. 

The forum. Many leaders wanted their own forum, Ceasar, Augustus, and others.

Ceasar’s Forum as his statues are here and there

Standing with Ceasar

Ruins of a Forum

Colisseum

Another angle as it is too large to get with my camera.

We continue our walk to find Trevi Fountain. Ron gets a much better view than I do as crowds surround it. They say that you take a coin while having your back to the fountain and toss it to ensure that you will return to Rome.

Trevi Fountain 

Victor Emmanuel Monument, Italy’s first king. I will get a closer photo soon.

We tried buying tickets to visit the Colosseum, Forum, etc, but th tickets that we wanted were sold out for the day. We will try again in a couple of days. 

On our walk back to our place we decide to get information about a Hop-on-hop-off bus. We decide to get a two day pass. First day we will hit all of the hot spots around Rome, including Vatican City. (We have tickets for a visit on Thursday) The bus ticket will also get us to the Appian Way where we pay a bit more to visit the Catacombs. 

We are tired and it’s about 7:00 when we return. We will not go out again tonight. We shared a beer and some chips for supper. Our wonderful meal at lunch was filling enough to tide my over until the morning.