Dreary Day

Last friday we planned to walk with Chris and Sali to visit the U.S. Consulate and to see the more distant part of Rome on our way there. We nearly lost our lives several times walking along the busy street next to the convent, but we did see some special things on the way so it was worth it.

Me, Chris, and Sali in an Indian shop along the way.

Brendan and I at Vittoriano – a giant monument for Italian Victory. Inside was a free museum that we need to explore soon. Outside we got to see an awesome view of the Colleseum and surrounding area.

At the top of the stairs at Vittoriano, this is the Italian version of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that we have here. It is guarded by two young soldiers who did a great job keeping serious faces on for all the pictures.

You can see that it’s starting to get more gloomy outside, but luckily Brendan snapped this picture before the downpour started. From Vittoriano we had a nice view of the Colleseum before we got up close and personal with it.

After lunch we started up toward the U.S. Embassy, but decided to take the Metro (the Rome subway train) because it had started to rain heavily. Getting tickets and trying to decide which line to take to get to the right spot were quite a hassle, but eventually we figured it out.

By this time it was downpouring, as it would for the rest of the day. We went to the US Embassy and found out that it was break time, and we couldn’t get in, so we began our journey back across Rome. After further train and bus rides based on the advice of very friendly and well meaning Italian people, who could never quite give us the correct information, we walked a long way and made it home, saturated in water and very tired.

To truly know a place you must get lost there and then find your way back. It took a long time, but we made it home. We are becoming more and more familiar with Rome by the day!

Anyway, it was a lesson well learned and my guess is we will only need to get lost two or three more times to know our area of the city very well. We’ll keep you updated on our progress : )