Day 11: Wandering Rome and Dinner with Friends
Giardino degli Aranci
Today was a relaxing day compared to our full tour day yesterday. We got a later start than usual, then made our way over to Giardino degli Aranci - it's a public park with nice views of the city. We sat here for a while and took a few photos at the overlook area.
Sidenote: these trees are all over Rome. Their trunks look similar the pine trees we have in Louisiana, but they often branch off midway and their canopy is just a single cluster of needles.
Walk through Trastevere Neighborhood
Just across from the public garden is the Trastevere neighborhood. It's popular for its quaint walkways and building facades. From what we saw, it looked pretty similar to most of Rome, which is equally as pretty! That said, we didn't take any photos while we were there.
Lunch in Trastevere
At lunch, as we were ordering our pasta dishes, the waitress urged us to also get an appetizer. After declining once or twice, she negotiated us up to a small appetizer - two slices of bruschetta.
When our main plates were served, we could tell we wouldn't be finishing the meal. The portions were large for lunch and relatively large compared to other places we've gone for dinner! Despite the large portions, our waitress later noticed how little we had eaten and questioned us, "What, do you not like it??"
We assured her that it was good, just a large serving of food. Regardless, she continued to poke fun at us. "You didn't eat anything!". And after asking for to-go boxes, "Do you want more to-go? A steak? Coffee? Beer?"
She made enough jokes that the table next to us asked us why we were being pressured to eat so much. It was pretty funny!
Visiting the Pantheon
We passed by the Pantheon as part of our "Rome in a Day" tour yesterday, but we didn't go inside. Since it was on our way home today, we went in.
Looking up at the dome from the inside is really impressive. I didn't realize the center of the dome was open, so you see the blue sky and sunlight beaming through. As with all of these ancient structures, it really makes you wonder how they accomplished so much with the tools of their time.
This photo doesn't show the full dome, but it captures part of what makes it so pretty.
Dinner with the Couple from Venice
Tonight we linked up with the young couple we originally met in Venice! We found a restaurant on a nice quiet street and each got to share about how our trips have gone so far. Turns out they're staying in the same area as us, so we shared the walk back as well. It was really nice.
