Fernando's Top Five and What to See the First Day

Fernando wants to make sure he sees his top five sites in Rome, just like he did in San Francisco.

1. Spanish Steps
2. St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel (16+4€)
3. Palazzo della Cancelleria's Da Vinci Exposition
4. Galeria Borghese (€ 11)(Bernini's sculptures and Caravaggio's paintings)
5. Villa Farnesina (5-6€) in Trastevere for the Raffaello

I won't put mine down because I have about 100 and they are almost all in previous blog postings.

Leonardo Express

Fodor's 25 Best: Rome suggests that one spend the first morning wandering around instead of rushing off to see the Colosseum, St. Peter's, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Roman Forum or the Vatican Museum.  Our first morning, if all goes well, will be spent getting from the airport to the apartment -- landing at 8:55am; an hour to get baggage and go through immigration; at least an hour to find the Leonardo Express train to Rome, buy tickets, wait for the train and get to Termini; 1/2 hour to walk to the apartment -- noon is probably a good arrival bet, at which point Fernando and I will be ready for a nap.

But just a short nap since we have to walk half a mile down to the SMA supermarket just beyond Santa Maria Maggiore (maybe pop in to say hello), unless Andrea tells us there is a better one close by (qui vicino).  We can't visit the Nuovo Mercato Esquilino because the mercati are only open Monday-Saturday and we arrive on a Sunday.  We'll save that one for when Penny arrives.  I have a new Baggalini backpack so I'll take it with me to stock up on a few things we might need, like bread and milk and wine.  I wonder what Andrea will supply us with.

Near the SMA supermarket is a UPIM Department store that is open on Sundays from 9am to 8pm, in case either of us forget to bring underwear or in case we want to pick up something in the latest color: verde petrolio.  Petroleum Green?  (deep teal in English)

Via Sistina

After that, since it is Sunday, all the tourist sites are sure to be crowded but it will be a great day for people-watching or going to chiesa.  The guidebooks say most shops will be closed so it will be an ideal day for strolling down the Via dei Condotti, doing some designer window-shopping, and checking to see if people are actually wearing verde petrolio.  As long as it isn't raining, we can wander all over the Centro Storico just to see how long our knees and legs hold out.  We could start by walking down Via Nazionale and then up Via delle Quatro Fontanne/Via Sistina all the way to the Spanish Steps (.7 miles).  Then walk down the steps and up Via del Babuino, over to Via Margutta and up that to Piazza Santa Maria del Popolo (.53 miles). 

il Natale luminarie in Via del Corso

What time is it now?  Maybe 5 pm?  Time for the passeggiata.  Via del Corso is where it happens so we can walk the mile from Santa Maria del Popolo to Piazza Venezia just to cut la bella figura.  Maybe we should pick up something in verde petrolio first...  And look how beautiful the Via del Corso is when they put up the Christmas lights!  Too bad we are arriving a month early.

I don't have any restaurants marked on the route (we can't afford any in this neighborhood) and we're beginning to get a bit hungry so maybe we can walk a couple of blocks over to Antica Birreria Peroni.  Shoot!  It's closed on Sundays!!  Did we buy any food for dinner??  Maybe we'll run across a pizza place in our wanderings or is everything closed?  Otherwise we'll need to walk the .8 mile back to the apartment (have we bought a weekly bus pass yet?) and cook some spaghetti.

Oh wait!!  We can look for stuzzichini!  Those free little aperitivi in bars along the way.  Except I always feel out of place in bars.

And then there are those tavole calde, fast-food Italian-style cafeterias, like Il Delfino, near the Pantheon, where you can pick up pizza and chips (!) for €9,50 (with a dessert and beverage).  But watch out: it has a tourist menu and wifi but no hours, although Yelp says it is open on Sundays from 7:30am to 10:30pm.

I think we are going to have to play it by ear and make sure we have something in the apartment as a fall-back.  Most restaurants are closed on Sunday so, Penny, you won't miss anything.