The next morning we walked to the basilica where Pope Francis was buried last year Basilica di Papale Santa Maria Maggiore in the center of Rome, only a fifteen minute walk. (More on that later)
The Basilica is pretty much in the center of the city and was very busy which isn’t surprising given the popularity of Pope Francis.
The church was full of tourists and a mass was being held in one of the many chapels. Chapel….I’ve seen entire Catholic Churches in the states that could have been a chapel to that chapel. This particular Basilica was for many years where Popes were interred until the recent trend to be interred at St. Peter’s in Vatican City.
The weather was warm and humid and I was hot but it was worth it to visit the basilica.
Have you heard of the Friendship bracelet scam? We got to experience it directly….almost but for the quick actions of Will. Here’s how the scam works: An individual (In Italy typically african) walks up in a very friendly way and while extending there hand in friendship slips a “friendship bracelet “ on the unsuspecting victim’s wrist. Then asks for money for the “given” bracelet creating a loud and public scene if the victim refuses. This usually results in the victim giving five or ten euros to shut them up. Well we ran into two “Nigerian princes” who accosted Will and Stephen. When the one guy approached Will , Will told him “put it on the ground and I’ll accept the bracelet “ at which point the scamster just smiled and walked away. However, his partner had cornered Stephen and had two bracelets on his wrist before Will stepped in pulled the bracelets off his brother’s wrist, handed them back to the scamster and when the scamster, who spoke English, protested told the scamster “bacia mi culo” or “kiss my ass” In Italian. Uniquely the scamster followed us and he and Will almost came to blows before his partner stepped between them and guided his buddy back to more unsuspecting victims.
Tickets are timed at the Colosseum so we had a few minutes to kill and found some shade. But, even with timed tickets about one hundred tourists are allowed to enter every fifteen minutes. So, it was crowded.
Our tickets allowed for access to the first two levels so no underground tour but I bought the tickets directly from the colosseum website and thus just gave 18€ per ticket versus marked up tickets on third party websites such as Travel Advisor.
After being shoulder to shoulder our ticket allowed us to visit the Fourum. Think downtown Rome two millennia ago.
The cobble stones above tried to break my ankle but fortunately I’ve been going to the gym and my ankle was fine. It’s was a warm day so we walked to the Capitoline Hill and enjoyed a cold adult beverage at the roof top lounge of the museum.
On a stroll back to our apartment we passed a statue of Caesar.
That evening we shared bistecca Florentine with appropriate sides.
Afterwards we decided to stroll through random neighborhoods in Rome to the Trattoria we enjoyed the previous evening for a grappa nightcap, something I would not do in Chicago. It was a lovely evening and there was never a point where anything felt sketchy. Tomorrow on to Abruzzo. Ciao!
