Today is our last full day and night in Rome. We have just about seen everything we had planned on visiting during our stay, so we slept in a little bit this morning. Also, there was still some rain moving through, with lightning and thunder, so we were not motivated to get out in the rain after yesterday’s experience.
We ate our breakfast, which consisted of some different pastries and some rolls, delivered to our basket hanging on the wall outside of the door. I once again made a small espresso with the machine and small cups.
By the time we finished breakfast and got ready, the rain had ended, but it was still a little cloudy. We planned on visiting the last of the four Papal Basilicas, Santa Maria Maggiore, which was also the closest to our hotel, just a few blocks away. By the time we walked to the Basilica, the sun was starting to peek through the clouds. It was a little cooler today, and slightly windier.
When we arrived at the Basilica, we got into the line for security screening. It was not terribly long, and within about ten minutes, we were heading into the church through its “Holy Door”, opened for this year’s Year of Mercy. This was the last of the holy doors for us to pass through. The church is nice inside, not quite as ornate as the other basilicas, but still pretty.
When we exited the church, it was sunny, and almost all of the clouds had disappeared. After taking some photos of the outside of the church, we headed to the nearest Metro Station to go back to the San Giovanni in Laterano Basilica that we had visited late yesterday afternoon. Since it was now such a nice sunny day, we wanted to see the inside of the church illuminated with better sunlight.
We went through the short security line and entered the church. It was much prettier with all of the natural sunlight bringing out the colors inside. We ended up going to Mass there also, it is held every hour in the morning.
After finishing our tour there, we searched the nearby bus stops to find the bus that would take us over to the Pantheon so that we could also enjoy it in the sunlight, and to stop off at our favorite deli/bar there for some good sandwiches and wine for our late lunch.
On the way, we stopped in to see the Santa Maria Sopra Minerva church, which has one of the lesser known marble statues done by Michelangelo. It is also the only Gothic Church in Rome.
We tried some different sandwiches and pizza today, and once again enjoyed some of the fresh cheeses and meats that they were cutting up and serving for samples. It was also nice because there is a clean bathroom and free wifi, so we could catch up on the status of Hurricane Matthew.
After finishing our meal and wine, we did purchase a small wedge of Parmesan cheese to bring home, after asking about refrigeration and US customs regulations, and doing a little online research to make sure it was allowable to bring home.
We have a refrigerator in out hotel room, and will have a refrigerator in our cabin on the ship when we board tomorrow, so we will be able to keep it refrigerated except for a few hours of travel time tomorrow to the port, and then on on our flight home. It is well sealed in vacuum packaging so it is supposedly not an issue to bring it into the USA.
After lunch, we headed over to the main north-south street in Rome, Via Del Corso, to try and catch a bus back to Via Cavour, near our hotel. The street was packed with traffic and people, it was about 5:00 PM and everyone was heading home from work and/or just tourists like us. We started walking in the general direction of the Forum, and homeward, to find the closest bus stop.
The traffic was so bad, and moving so slowly, that the buses were very infrequent, and we could not figure out which one, or ones would take us closest to the hotel. In the end, we just ended up walking and we were glad we did. We first stopped at the Victor Emmanuel Monument for some photos in the setting sun.
We also wanted to stop at an ATM to get some more cash, and there were several banks in this area. After getting our cash, we headed along Via Dei Fori Imperiali, which bisects the Forum area, so we could get some photos there.
We got to Via Cavour shortly afterward and stopped at a Gelato stand and both ordered a small bowl. We continued up Via Cavour until we could get over to Via Urbana, where our hotel is located. We went back to the hotel because it was too early to go and eat dinner. This allowed us to drop off our backpacks and rest a little, and to do some organizing for re-packing our suitcases for our travel day tomorrow.
We headed out for dinner, once again going to our favorite restaurant several blocks away. We though it might be more crowded since it was Friday evening, but there were not many people there, and we had no issues getting a good table. It started to fill in pretty quickly after we arrived. Stephanie ordered the same thing she had gotten the first night, the Tortellini with ham, and I got a rigatoni pasta with ham and brandy sauce, which we both thought was the best thing that I had gotten in the three dinners we had here. Of course, we got our normal liter of house red wine and bread to enjoy with the dinner.
After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to pack up for tomorrows train ride to Civitavecchia to board the Royal Princess and begin our cruise. We have tickets for the 9:57 AM train, so we do not have to get up that early. It is only about a ten minute uphill walk from the hotel to the Termini Train Station, and an hour’s ride to Civitavecchia.
After packing, we rested and enjoyed a glass of wine before retiring for the evening.