THE ADVENTURE BROAD - living a big life one small adventure at a time: Roma

I gotta say, the heat and the constant 'on-the-go' is starting to get to me. Rose and I spend about 6+ hours a day walking in the sun as we tour one big destination a day. Of course, we come across so many things on the way to that location, we must stop and explore each one. I am also feeling a bit homesick, too. I am out of my routine and that is mildly jarring to me. Rose is determined to get each and every nugget of fun in during her week here but I must recuperate this weekend because I simply can keep this pace for a whole month! 😆

This trip is many things for me including an experiment. I am considering a life as an expat at some point in the future and living abroad for one month is a 'let's start testing the water' approach. Now, having written that, I am doing way more touristy stuff than I would do if I lived somewhere for a spell. But I believe that I will get a better sense of things starting this weekend.

Anyway, back to Days 4 and 5 of my Grand Tour!

Day 4 - The Pantheon + The Jewish Ghetto

Rose and I had our ticket to visit the Pantheon and on our way to it, we came across yet another one of the 900+ churches in the city. The ceilings were stunning and I cannot get over Italian marble.

Accessing the Pantheon was easy breezy in spite of all the tourists. The dome is incredible. The space was packed with tourists. Funny thing about some visitors - total disregard of the profound space they are in and ignoring simple things as 'this space is reserved for prayer'. I admit that I am a rule follower and I would never hop up on a fallen ruin that is thousands of years old to take a selfie. I have to hand it to the site staff. There must be a love/hate relationship to us tourists descending on their city after 2+ years of no one being here.

We headed to the area known as the Jewish Ghetto which was about a 20 minute walk from the Pantheon and next to the Tiber River. We ate lunch at one of the spots there at the recommendation of our new Roman friend, Pietro. He insisted we try the Jewish fried artichokes and we stopped by one place and enjoyed a delicious meal. Our salad came with shredded beef and the cutest little croutons we ever did see. Of course, my first (not my last!) glass of prosecco was a requirement, too. Okay, I had TWO glasses - the waiter gave me an extra one because I 'wasn't driving'. 😂

With full bellies, we visited the Museo Ebraico (the Jewish Museum) and the synagogue and walk along the Tiber River.

Day 5 - The Vatican + Sistine Chapel

We decided it was way too far to walk to Vatican City and I am just not up to try buses in Rome. I am not my best self when I am sticky hot and exhausted, so we took a cab. What a scene! Thousands of tourists had descended on the sacred site and it was crazy. We were lucky to have the 'buy the ticket online and skip the ticket line' line but it was a bit over the top logistically and I applaud the staff having to deal with all of us. So. Many. People. The treasures found in the museum definitely had me navigating a mild case of the Stendahl Syndrome. They crammed so many people in the Sistine Chapel (no photos allowed), I was feeling a wee bit panicky and didn't stay in the space too long. Rose and I met outside and we were off for lunch. Delicious pasta for me; tuna steak for her; and I enjoyed one of those yummy Italian spritz drinks and have added Aperol and prosecco to my shopping list once I am back in the US.