The Johnslingtons

Going to Rome was my idea. I’d never been and it felt like one of those places a person should see in their lifetime. (Dan was there in 2004, which was apparently enough for him.) Our pals Grant, Ellen and Violet from England, whom you might remember from last year’s travels in London and France, agreed to join us (Rome wasn’t their first choice either, but we were going to be there during the only weekend they were free and they’re good friends like that).

I figured mid-June was the best we could do for heat and crowds in the summer—we’d pop into the Colosseum, ooh and ahh at the Sistine Chapel, throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain and call it a weekend! Sigh. I was so naïve. Perhaps still operating in a 2022 travel mindset, it never occurred to us that one might need to, say, book any of these attractions in advance. Spoiler alert: One did. Almost all of the “big” tourist sights in Rome required advance reservations, and we hadn’t made any.

Honestly, it was a setback. I needed to take what Dan calls my “Julie 20 Minutes,” a short but very real period of time I generally need to adjust to a reality that doesn’t match my expectations. But at the end of it, here’s what I realized: We had a whole weekend to spend with our dear friends. It was hot but not brutally so, Ellen had miraculously booked us into a spacious and charming Airbnb in the adorable neighborhood of Trastevere and we were in freaking ROME, which meant there was plenty of good stuff to eat and drink. So, you know, life could be worse. So what did we get up during our Roman holiday? I’m glad you asked.

We Touristed

Just because we hadn’t made advance reservations didn’t mean we didn’t get to see any famous sights. Some didn’t require tickets (the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps) and others still had tickets available (the Pantheon, Vicus Caprarius (the archaeological site beneath the Trevi Fountain)) if you happened to be traveling with Ellen, who is not a woman to be trifled with when it comes to getting things done. And basically everywhere you look in Rome there’s something of pretty serious historical significance. So, you know, we still saw some stuff.

We Explored the City

All cobblestoned streets, fountained piazzas and random churches that happen to be incredibly grand and breathtaking, Rome is a pretty beautiful place to just wander around. And wander we did! While Fiona was initially put off by all the “hashtags” (the word she uses for graffiti tags that we don’t correct because we think it’s pretty cute), we came to appreciate the ancient-grandeur-meets-contemporary-grittiness of it all. We made a game of spotting the ubiquitous public water fountains, caught parts of the movies (including Who Framed Roger Rabbit dubbed in Italian!) screening in the square down the street from our apartment and did some pretty great people watching. We also happened to run into a family from Fiona’s school completely unexpectedly, which was awesome.

We Ate and Drank

I suppose it’s not exactly breaking news to tell you that the Italians make delicious things to eat and drink. But they do, and we were there for it. There were tiny coffees and giant Aperol spritzes. Cacio e pepe and carbonara that continue to haunt my dreams. The best fish maybe ever at a Sardinian restaurant we happened to stumble into one evening. Roughly two Margherita pies per day for our pizza-loving kid. And my oh my, there was gelato.

So it was decidedly crowded and pretty hot and kinda traffic-y and we didn’t prepare all that well for it, but all things considered, our weekend in Rome was a delight. And hey, we even got a pretty good view of the Colosseum from our cab ride to the train station. Maybe next time we’ll book the tour.