Europe, Travel

Our Last Day in Rome

I was exhausted by our last day in Rome.  Two weeks of sightseeing, over eating and drinking, and sleeping in strange beds had caught up with me.  The last thing I wanted to do was hit another popular tourist attraction and fight crowds.  I had enough of that already.

 

Tips planning the perfect last day in Rome. Make sure your last day in Rome is your best day in Rome!

 

We woke up late and lingered over breakfast in our hotel room near Trevi Fountain, fingering through Frommer’s Rome Day by Day for a morning activity as our afternoon was already booked on a Crypts and Catacombs tour.  We stumbled onto Galleria Doria Pamphilj, an off-the-beaten path art museum which still offered paintings by the greats, and it sounded perfect for our last day in Rome!

 

Travel Tip – I can’t stress enough how useful Frommer’s Rome Day by Day is!  It’s small, light-weight, and easy to pack.  Do yourself a favor and buy one for your trip to Rome.

 

Galleria Doria Pamphilj

The building was a still used Palace of the Doria Pamphilj family, one of Rome’s wealthiest families.  And yes, like many Italian families, their wealth was gained when a nephew became a pope.

The tour of the museum included some of the family apartments no longer used, their personal chapel containing two saint relics (Because everyone needs a dead body in their house), and the family art collection, which contains works by Caravaggio, Rapheal, and Titian.

The audio tour is actually narrated by an heir to the family adding a bit more color commentary than most audio tours provide. It was a really great way to spend the morning away from the crowds and still enjoy quintessential Roman art.

 

Pizza on the Go

Lunch was fast, cheap, and perfect.  We had less than an hour until our Crypts and Catacombs tour.  We opted for pizza to go from Pizza in Trevi and a seat overlooking the Trevi Fountain.

I was finally over my fear of Roman crowds and embraced the life teaming around Trevi as I dove into my slice of white pizza topped with an assortment of hot and mild peppers.

We sat in the last row of benches overlooking the fountain and savored our lunch and the scenery, watching the people more than the fountain. As I looked around, I was starting to fall in love with Eternal City and was sad that this was our last day in Rome.

 

Tips planning the perfect last day in Rome. Make sure your last day in Rome is your best day in Rome!

 

Dark Rome’s Crypts and Catacombs Tour

We then traveled into the darker sides of Rome on Dark Rome’s Crypts and Catacombs Tour (Unfortunately photos are not permitted at any of the stops).

This tour isn’t as morbid as it sounds but is more of a historical look at the church in Rome outside of the Vatican.  Stops include the Catacombs, Basilica San Clemente with layers of history beneath the church dating back to the Etruscans, and the Capuchin Crypt known for its alters made of bones (okay, that part is morbid).

The tour began with the Catacombe San Callisto outside of Rome’s ancient walls.  Four levels of winding tunnels beneath the ground took us past family burial sites and hidden chapels.

The catacombs just weren’t crypts but also places of worship for early Christians as they hid from persecution.  Not much remains in terms of artifacts as the catacombs were raided by Vikings during the dark ages.  One chapel on our tour was the spot where an early pope was martyred.  The experience was introspective to just how dangerous it was to be a Christian in the early church.

 

Tips planning the perfect last day in Rome. Make sure your last day in Rome is your best day in Rome!

 

Next was Basilica San Clemente, which is a whole layer cake of history – a twelfth century church built on a fourth century church built on a first century Etruscan temple built on a 100 BC Roman road and apartment building.  And yes, the tour takes you down into all four layers.  Outside of the Vatican, this was my favorite site in Rome.

Last was the Capuchin Crypt where the remains of 4,000 Capuchin monks are on artful display.  We walked under archways and chandeliers of human bones.  I was a bit creeped out, fearing a bone fragment would break off at hit me in the head.  I don’t like the sight of my own blood.  The thought of a thousand year old bone made me nausea.

 

Travel Tip – I recommend opting for an organized tour on your last day in Rome. It’s relaxing to be led instead of plotting the moves on your own. Rome is a wonderful city, but it can devour you.

 

Dinner on our Last Day in Rome

Our last day in Rome ended with the same cluster that it began with.  I blame us more than Rome though.  We were ornery and tired and saved that quintessential Roman meal for the last night.

We envisioned the type of meal only Anthony Bourdain can find at a small family run restaurant where the owner adopts you as his own for the night.  The place where they love you so much that they don’t charge for the five courses you ate because, well, they’re just in it for the food.  You know, the place that doesn’t exist.  At least not for us.

We had a list of restaurants found on review sites and given to us by other travelers we met along the road.  Even our tour guide on the Catacombs and Crypts tour provided us with a few of her favorites.  Back at our hotel room, we called every damn restaurant on the list only to find that all were closed due to a soccer game.

Discouraged, we asked Dopey, the front desk clerk at our hotel, for recommendations.  He perked up for the first time of our four night stay and suggested the Jewish Ghetto (which isn’t really Jewish anymore).  He even wrote out his favorites.

 

Side Note – Besides Dopey mentioned above, our hotel was awesome! A great deal for the price. Check out the TripAdvisor reviews or prices on Travelocity or Expedia.

 

We settled on La Giriggata.  I wasn’t really happy with any of the selections in the Jewish Ghetto.  All seemed run-down hostel quality or so large that they lacked that family run charm which to me should be the heart of Roman food. Still, we tried to make this last night in Rome a celebration feast by ordering a primi, secondi, and a main course.

Another mistake.

The only tolerable item was the fried stuffed zucchini flowers we ordered for our primi.  While there was some oil residue on the plate that any respectable chef would have wiped off, the zucchini flowers themselves were delicious – stuffed with a simple white cheese, each bite exploded with a creamy, floral, and fruity flavor.  I’m pretty sure flowers grow on our zucchinis in the US.  Why aren’t we eating them?

 

Tips planning the perfect last day in Rome. Make sure your last day in Rome is your best day in Rome!

 

My secondi was Pasta Pepe e Cacio – probably the most popular Roman dish outside of spaghetti carbonaro.  It was completely bland.  Yes, I realize it’s a simple dish.  But simple is different than bland.  My wife’s seafood risotto had more black pepper kick.

My main dish was lamb cacciatore, cooked with the absolute cheapest cut of meats the restaurant could find.  Almost every bite contained a piece of bone.  If it didn’t, the texture was chewier than shoe leather.  After nearly losing several teeth, I sent the dish back as inedible.

 

Travel Tip – If you have a special meal in mind while travelling, call several days or weeks in advance to make reservations or to confirm that the restaurant will at least be open.

 

Goodbye to Rome

On our way back to the hotel, we once again stopped at the Trevi Fountain.  Mrs. G. wanted to toss a coin over her shoulder in the grand tourist tradition.  If it lands in the fountain, you are destined to return to Rome.

I hesitated.  Did I really want to return? Or did I truly want to make this my last day in Rome?

Alas, I tossed my coin with enough umph to land splash in the middle of the water.  Rome has so much to explore that it definitely warrants a return visit.  The next time, I will be all the wiser and truly be able to explore some of the quainter parts of the city.

 

Tips planning the perfect last day in Rome. Make sure your last day in Rome is your best day in Rome!

Tips for planning the perfect last day in Rome. Make sure your last day in Rome is your best day in Rome!

 

What activities do you recommend for a last day in Rome?

Tips planning the perfect last day in Rome. Make sure your last day in Rome is your best day in Rome!