Wow… we thought the last few days were big, but today the kids broke their all-time step count PBs—28k+ steps each!
We didn’t plan for a big day—it just happened. We had a slowish morning as we looked into hop-on-hop-off buses, since the kids were keen to try one. After some research, we figured we would probably be best served just catching local buses as needed. Most of the stops on the hop-on-hop-off bus would take us to places we had already visited.
So we set out on foot with a very loose plan that was open to changes. We really only wanted to see a few key things today: the Spanish Steps, Villa Borghese, and the Roman Forums (which were part of our Colosseum ticket). They were in opposite directions, however.
As it was still early for Rome (9:30am), we decided to try our luck back at the Trevi Fountain, as it was pretty packed the other day when we visited.
Our wandering took us past the Pantheon again—and this time it was open. A quick scan of a QR code and 10 euros later, we had tickets for NOW! In we went to soak in the wonder of this magnificent building.
After the Pantheon, we continued on our way toward the Trevi Fountain. We arrived to crowds of people; however, access down to the fountain itself was still closed as they were cleaning it out (literally sweeping the coins out of the fountain).
But we had pretty good access to the level above and were able to get in and have a good look.
We continued on to find the Spanish Steps. On our way, we passed a gelato store that claimed to have 150 flavours. We had to see… The assortment of flavours was incredible. The kids were amazed—we had to come back.
We pushed on to find the Spanish Steps. It was now mid-morning and time for a coffee stop. We couldn’t easily see a good little cafe—which was unusual. We finally stumbled on one and sat down to order. Before we could look at the menus, the waitress was on us. We basically knew what we wanted already, so just asked: a macchiato espresso, a cappuccino, two iced teas for the kids, and we would share two cornettos.
After ordering, our spidey senses started tingling… something was off. The ordering happened so quickly…
Our drinks and food arrived. Standard coffees, which were okay. Nothing out of the ordinary here. The kids’ drinks (iced teas) came in massive glasses—we had expected a 300ml bottle as we got everywhere else. The cornettos were standard.
After our coffees and drinks, we grabbed the bill… OMG… 😱😱😱
49 euros! We’ve eaten out for less than that!
Clearly, we stumbled into the biggest tourist trap in Rome. We could not believe how badly ripped off we had just been. At this point, what can you do but pay… I refused to push in our chairs (as I normally do). Stuff them. I did a quick search and found many people were also complaining about this place. 1.3 stars out of 5! I felt it my duty to also leave a bad review. This joint sucks!
We’ve not had this type of experience on the whole trip. Ah Roma—thanks for the memories.
Anyway, we pushed on in our search for the Spanish Steps and decided it was a good day to eat lunch at home. We had a stockpile of food in the fridge we needed to get through before we moved on anyway.
Up the Spanish Steps, we continued on to Villa Borghese. Walking along the high points provided a lovely outlook across Rome—and the many domes (there was a dad joke at this point about Rome should have been called Dome—yep, it was a bad one).
We walked on to Villa Borghese and wandered through the parks, which were quite lovely. We had seen other people riding around on 2- and 4-seater bikes—we needed to find one of these. We thought it would be a great swap out for the hop-on-hop-off bus and the kids would probably enjoy it more.
We eventually found where we could hire one, and for 25 euros we were free to ride a 4-seater bike around the park for an hour.
This was great fun—and a highlight for the kids. It also got us off our feet for an hour.
The bikes had an awkward electric power assist which would kick on to get you going and assist with hills—but it was full speed or nothing. There was also an odd handbrake that took some getting used to—especially in tight spaces given the limited turning circle of the bike. But we managed and got the hang of it—although the kids had to help push us out of a few tight spots at times.
We cruised the park—around and around and around. We started off following the main paths—but where’s the fun in that? We decided to venture off-road and follow some of the gravel paths.
An hour on one of these bikes is more than enough. By the end, we had ridden around the park several times and were more than ready to return it. Although I expect the kids would have kept going all day.
It was early afternoon by this point and we needed to head home for some lunch.
We had lunch and some downtime back at the apartment to recharge for the late afternoon outing to the Forums.
We had considered taking the bus—but it was very walkable and at times you end up waiting longer in the sun and the bus gets jammed in traffic… it’s just easier to walk.
It was around 4pm by the time we arrived at the entrance to the Forums. We explored the old ruins and buildings for around an hour—but everyone was starting to get pretty tired by this point. So after pushing on and taking in some more, we decided it was time to head back.
The kids had put in a massive day and were already over 20k steps. We had promised them earlier in the day if they broke 20k they could have a triple scoop gelato—so we had to come good on the promise.
Trouble is, we also had to walk 15 minutes back toward home to get to the gelato place with 150 flavours—but we did it.
The kids were stoked with their prize. Neither had ever had a triple scoop gelato before. Seems they had already selected their flavours from our earlier visit—they knew exactly what they wanted.
We lingered in the store to enjoy the gelatos and have a rest in the cooler air.
After gelato, we headed back home and chilled out before heading out for a later dinner.
Tomorrow we leave Rome and head to Florence.
