{"id":2034,"date":"2023-11-16T08:22:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T08:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/?p=2034"},"modified":"2024-12-09T04:20:33","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T04:20:33","slug":"a-colossal-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/16\/a-colossal-day\/","title":{"rendered":"A Colossal Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Activity level: \ud83c\udf36\ufe0f\ud83c\udf36\ufe0f\ud83c\udf36\ufe0f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modes of transportation: \ud83d\ude97\ud83d\udc5f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aunt Nancy \u201cbooked\u201d us a tour of the US embassy at 11:30 (\u201cbooked\u201d as in asked her friend who worked there) so we woke up and got ready. We had a little time, so we got cappuccinos and croissants at the same place as yesterday with Sean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We were regulars there by the end of the trip!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We had trouble getting a cab (apparently a big problem in Rome) and there was a big public transit protest happening, so we ended up walking over from Sean\u2019s place. Luckily, we left ourselves just enough time to make it the 45 minute walk away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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‘Merican Embassy (Also: Sarah has a new shirt from the shopping excursion)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We went to the wrong entrance at first, but ended up making it on time, where we were greeted by Loretta, Aunt Nancy\u2019s friend, and her assistant Giulia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US embassy in Rome is probably one of the most historic embassies the US has. The main building is the old palace of Princess Margherita of Savoy (the same princess the pizza is named after). It\u2019s a beautiful old building with 1st and 2nd century statues in the courtyard and all the halls. Truly a museum in itself! They even had an original statue of “Venus” in the entryway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We went on a tour of the main building, the ambassador\u2019s floor, and around the grounds. There even happened to be a Christmas market inside, so we bought a nice watercolor of the Spanish Steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While walking through the market, everyone was buzzing because the ambassador was there. Loretta was extremely gracious and even introduced us to him, and we talked for a few minutes (he was extremely personable). We told him we lived in Washington DC, and he joked that we had to keep it a secret how nice Italy was (and that he was trying to get it labeled a \u201chardship post\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We met Ambassador Markel! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, we couldn\u2019t take our phones inside, so we don\u2019t have any pictures\u2014but we swear, it happened!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We weren’t allowed to bring our phones inside the embassy, so we had to take photos with our mind.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We had a ticket to enter the Colosseum at 2:00, so we started walking there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another perfect day in Rome :’)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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At every corner had magnificent marble buildings like this<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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On the way, we grabbed a simple lunch (well, sort of) of mozzarella, wine, prosciutto, and pasta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sarah was ready to eat some mozzarella del bufalo and prosciutto! (tbh she’s always ready)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Still dreaming about this meal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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ooh la la<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Pasta in a bowl made out of cheese<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We got to our appointment relatively on time and made it into the Coliseum. We downloaded an audio tour, so we popped in our AirPods and listened to that. It was so interesting learning about the productions they put on there and imagining how it might have looked 2000 years before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<Warning: Many photos of the colosseum ahead><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The outer structure is iconic, but it\u2019s also amazing how intricate the tunnels under the stage are. They definitely understood the logistics of putting on a show, with dozens of trap doors, elevators for animals, and dressing rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Colosseum is magnificent.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rushing to the Roman Forum, looking for the entrance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We finished our tour and rushed to the Roman Forum, which we knew closed at 3:30. We got there at 3:25, but the gate was closed; so we headed up the hill to another gate (where a lot of people were going).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unfortunately we just missed the Roman Forum, guess we have<\/em> to come back.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Turns out, it was a long walk to a dead end, and we had to walk back down the hill. No idea why they closed early, but we never did get to go in (it\u2019s pretty from the outside though).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There was this church at the top of the hill just outside of the Roman Forum. Can anyone ID it?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Italian word for mid-day rest is riposo<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We went for a walk to do some window shopping and ran into a beautiful tunnel with a street musician singing in Italian and playing the accordion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Note the accordion player in the background on the steps.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We got a taxi back to Sean\u2019s where we took a big nap. We still weren\u2019t entirely caught up on sleep unfortunately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Waiting for our taxi in another beautiful roman street.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sean made late (for Americans) reservations at one of his favorite restaurants with his friends, so we headed over to the restaurant in Sean’s smart car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sarah was a little cramped in the back seat. Check out Piazza Venezia in the background! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The food turned out to be incredible. We ordered a bunch of appetizers which were fantastic, but the real star of the show was the carbonara. All of Sean\u2019s friends agree that it\u2019s the best in the city. It came covered in shaved black truffles, which were amazing (and maybe the first time Eric had had real truffles).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fun Fact: Sean picked out the wine, but made Sarah do the taste test with the waiter. The wine was definitely not good, but she wasn’t about to send it back, so everyone had to suffer through it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Real Truffles!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Not sure what this was, but it was delicious and fun!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After that, we had to find some gelato, so we went to Sean\u2019s best friend Felipo\u2019s favorite spot, which was also very good. The night was just beginning by Italian standards (mostly a joke), so we went out for a few drinks. By this time, it was far after midnight so we headed back and called it a night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Is it a trip to Italy if you don’t get gelato at least once per day?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sarah and Eric tour the American Embassy and one of Italy’s most iconic monuments\u2014and meet a surprise guest along the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-2034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-italy","tag-rome"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2034"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3584,"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2034\/revisions\/3584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahanderictraveltheworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}