Italy 2026 – Rome
We took the train back to Rome. Like the ride from Bologna the track ran along the coast with many tunnels. In Rome Termini station we walked to our new home base, The Hive. Not the greatest place honestly, but convenient enough.
May had arranged an early tour of the Coliseum. Our tour guide, Olga, did a great job with the history of the arena and forum. It was really amazing how much the Roman civilization accomplished over two thousand years ago! The area was so big, comparable to any NFL stadium but built to last. Food, plumbing, trap doors, just amazing. The forum area has so many layers of occupation over the millennia. The fact that they didn’t know whole building levels were under ground. The heat a lot, but we managed. Kate got here Seventeen poses near the arch. Mission accomplished.
After the tour, Lillian and Jeff went to pick up her bike and luggage from bag drop. It turned into a bit of an epic adventure as there was another fire on the train tracks. Eventually they found a taxi able to take everything and made it to the hotel just as a thunderstorm started.
For dinner we went to a place near the hotel, OperArt. It was okay, we are now spoiled after the meal from Santa Margherita. We had buccatini, octopus salad, cacio e peppe and a ginormous fish. The waiter had a big presentation of deboning it at the table. Our entertainment was watching the people use the public drinking fountain. The different approaches to fill the bottles and squirt the water up.
Turns out the phone we got in Florence didn’t have dual eSIM so Lilian and Jeff went on another phone side-quest. They took the metro to a MediaWorld Smart and exchanged the phone for another model. Back at the hotel, Lillian figured out that there still wasn’t a way to transfer the ATT number to the new phone without being connected to a US ATT cell tower, She transferred her accounts though to the new phone and will keep the frizting phone a a back up and a way to do TFAs for accounts tied to her US number.
The girls walked to Trevi fountain. They were on high pick pocket alert given the notoriety.
As the trip came to an end we all packed up. Kate and May would take all four suitcases back while Lillian and Jeff each put some clothes into their backpacks for the Dublin excurions. Because the student visa has specific dates, Lillian had to leave the Shrengen zone and reentry. Dublin, although still part of the EU was outside the zone fullfilling the visa requirements. Unfortunately, we didn’t book the Ryan Air flights early enough to get the super cheap fare but it was the best option still. So at the air we split up. Two to home and two to Ireland. One last adventure as Lillian and Jeff didn’t realize the lounge wasn’t though all the security controls. They ended up running through the terminal to get to gate 61, the further in the terminal. The flight ended up boarding late so the excitement was a bit unnecessary but added yet another story.