Post FRANCIGENA: Visiting Rome in 48 Hours (or less)

The official end of our camino was in St. Peter's Square at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, Sept 26.  Gerry and I are not "big city" people, but we wanted to see and experience Rome.  We allocated a very short window to do so, as we were flying home at 11:15 am on Friday.

After we received our "Certificates of Completion of the Francigena Way" we walked two miles to our hotel, Hotel Travestere, located in the center of Rome, in the heart of Trastevere, one of the city's most ancient and distinctive neighborhoods.  This was an ideal location for our site-seeing.

We were understandably exhausted when we arrived mid-afternoon and scrapped the original idea of immediate site-seeing.  Instead, we took relaxing showers and some time to decompress.  It felt marvelous to lie in bed, with my legs elevated after the day's long walk, and the conclusion of a 200.6-mile trek.

I am grateful for my friend Cathleen who provided us with a lengthy list of Rome restaurant recommendations.  She listed about two dozen restaurants (with website links) and valuable commentaries.  We really appreciated this!

We walked to one of "Cathleen's restaurants" La Botticella for dinner.  La Botticella was on a quiet side street, fewer than 10 minutes from our hotel.  I appreciated that we were away from the plaza areas teeming with crowds.

La Botticella

We shared a bucatini with tomato sauce, sausage and pecorina, and chicken cacciatore, along with a half-carafe of their house wine.

A delicious dinner al fresco in Rome

Thursday morning we arose at our usual early morning hiking time.  We did justice to the breakfast buffet, and then walked approximately two miles to the tour office of  What A Life tours, located two blocks from the Vatican.  We had booked in advance the "Vatican Best of the Best" tour before we left L.A.

Our group was limited to 12 participants.  We met our tour guide, Grant, who is from South Africa.  The tour began at 9:15 am, and lasted nearly 3 hours.  Grant was knowledgeable with a dry sense of humor.  We were in good hands as he showed us around the Vatican. This tour lasted about three hours, and we skipped all the lines

We were allowed to take pictures everywhere, except the Sistine Chapel.

Outside the Vatican

Much to see and photograph.

Touring the Vatican museum

The statues, the furniture, and the floors were all pieces of art

This was one of my favorites

Artwork

Floor Tile

After the tour, Gerry and I walked below to the Grotto, beneath the church to view the tombstones of the many popes buried there.

Outside of the Vatican

We then strolled the streets of Rome, stopped at a cafe for panini, and then a 3-flavored gelato at a very busy gelateria.

We walked pass the Trevi Fountain (under construction, unfortunately) but still worth seeing.  We also viewed the Pantheon.

Outside the ancient Pantheon which dates back to 125 A.D.

We admire the stonework at the top of the building

The Pantheon dome remains the single largest, unreinforced concrete dome in the entire world

Inside the Pantheon, looking skyward

One block behind the Pantheon is the church, Santa Maria sopra Minerva.  You can't miss it, with the large elephant in front.

The church is to the right of this landmark

We took a leisurely walk back to the hotel, and enjoyed this lovely final day.

Another lovely view this afternoon

My birthday was Sept 9, the day before our flight on Sept 10.  Gerry gave me a birthday gift of  "a dinner of your choice on our final night in Rome."

I referenced Cathleen's list, and chose Il Bacaro, for my belated birthday dinner.  This restaurant was located near the Pantheon.  It was an excellent choice for our final dinner in Italy.

We sat outdoors in a romantic setting at a table for two, under an ivy trellis strung with lights.

We arrive at Il Bacaro

We shared a delicious appetizer of thinly sliced snapper with a citrus lime sauce.

The light appetizer

We each ordered the "Paccheri alla carbonara con tartufo".  To translate, this was homemade pasta with a sauce of egg yolk, pecorino and parmesan cheeses, black pepper, bacon, and black truffle. 

Paccheri alla carbonara   Yum-yum!

This was quite the delicious final meal.  It was the perfect ending of a two week wonderful walking vacation in Italy.  Our experiences were rich and memorable, and we are grateful we can do these active vacations, which I truly enjoy and treasure!