Rome to Florence by Train

For our last remaining hours in Rome we took the metro to the Pantheon. More columns, but this time it was a complete structure! We discovered a great little cafe on a side street for lunch where Mom and I both had spaghetti with olive oil and garlic for on €5 - so we threw in a beer to make it a complete meal.

As we had already packed and left our luggage at the hotel, we took the metro back to retrieve our bags and dragged them to the Termini so we could catch our train to Florence.

I made a necessary stop at the SPAR, a grocery store, for espresso to bring back to Raleigh and a giant bottle of water for the ride. I wish I had more room for more good stuff!

We had a delightful train ride from Rome to Florence this afternoon. It was so nice to sit back and relax (in the air-conditioning) while looking out the window seeing the sunflower fields, grapes, and hillside towns.

Our hotel in Florence is not too far from the train station and after we dragged our bags all the way to Hotel Paris, we were informed that the hotel was overbooked and that we would be staying at one of the sister hotels down the street instead. The hotel called a taxi for us and paid for our ride to the new hotel, Hotel Machiavelli. This hotel is much older than the one in Rome. The room itself is a loft style with the two beds on the lower level and a TV/fridge/couch in the loft area above.

After dropping our bags and regrouping, we wandered down the street to a large street market to see what was for sale. Mom got roped into one of the leather booths but never found a leather jacket that she liked. We saw quite a few purses, scarves, and other neat items but decided to have another day in the city (and more time to price compare) before we made any big purchase decisions.

We had a dinner of pasta, caprese salad, and mixed greens before heading back to the area by our hotel for some gelato from Bermuda Triangle Gelato. I had mint and chocolate while mom opted for the single flavor of pistacio. We both loved it!

Now I am typing from an internet cafe (€1 for 30 minutes) since it is cheaper than using the wi-fi from the hotel which is €8 for one hour.

We do not have a plan for tomorrow quite yet, but I am sure by the time you read my next post we will have walked around the city and back again.

For now, I need to go to the hotel and wash my hands, this internet cafe makes me feel very germy.

Last morning in Rome

This moring we're all packed up and ready to leave our bags with the desk at the hotel. We are going to look around at a few more things (and maybe have another gelato along the way) before we have to go to the train station in the afternoon to catch our 3 p.m. train to Florence.

There is a SPAR grocery store in the train station, just like the one that was down the street from our house in The Netherlands, so I will be running in there for espresso and a number of other things (like train snacks!) before we have to leave.

It's another warm and beautiful sunny day in Rome!

Ciao!