So, before finishing up our Scotland blog posts with reports on Speyside, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh, let’s fill you in on our first two stops in Italy: Rome and Florence. This post will cover our quick 38 hours in what’s popularly known as the Eternal City (Urbs Aeterna), and then we’ll follow that up with the 2-day stop in our city in Tuscany, Firenze.
As a quick reminder, two of our underlying purposes in setting Scotland and Italy as the dual foci of these Nomad Life travels is the genealogical roots we individually share with one of those countries, my dad’s multi-great paternal connection to Scotland and Nancy’s dad’s roots in Italy.
As a quick reminder, two of our underlying purposes in setting Scotland and Italy as the dual foci of these Nomad Life travels is the genealogical roots we individually share with one of those countries, my dad’s multi-great paternal connection to Scotland and Nancy’s dad’s roots in Italy.
If you’ll remember Brad, the likeable Sixt rental car agent in London, he himself a Scotsman, well, Brad encouraged me to leverage my double-Scots Gaelic name throughout our Highlands journey. Lead with your name, mate. With a name like Glenn Gordon, they’ll welcome you as one of their own. We’ll get into a bit of my heritage exploration when we post about our three nights in Speyside.
And on 5 September, after our 3 weeks in Tuscany, we’ll ride the rails to Foggia and its coastal neighbor Vieste, the home of Nancy’s nonna paterna, her father’s mother. Several of her siblings and extended kin have pursued Nancy’s family history in Puglia and Calabria; we may do a bit of that ourselves in a week or so.
But first, to Roma.
A pleasantly uneventful 3-hour RyanAir flight from Edinburgh put us into Rome’s secondary Ciampino Airport at just before 1pm, the facility’s diminished status soon evident by infrequent connections to the city’s center. We coulda shoulda snagged a FreeNow cab, but decided we’d save a few bucks and wait for the bus. *slap forehead now* 40 minutes and 95 degrees Fahrenheit later, we boarded for a 10-minute meander to the scrawny suburb rail station, then a half hour wait for a train, and a 15-minute whoosh to Rome’s Central Termini station, and finally a mere 6-minute walk to our fourth floor AirBnB, via an old school phone booth-sized elevator that barely fit both of us with our luggage.
Worth the effort, in any case. Our place was nice and airy (and air-conditioned!!) with high ceilings and maybe a view, the drapes remained strategically closed because of the intense heat.
FreeNow. Heard of it?
If you haven’t heard of FreeNow, I expect you will soon enough, especially if you travel to Europe. It’s owned by Lyft and is basically a rideshare service utilizing taxi cabs. It also allows users to book and utilize various other transportation options like e-scooters, e-bikes, e-mopeds, car sharing, and even public transport within the same app. 150 major cities in 9 European countries, and makes booking a cab easy peasy when Uber (or Lyft) isn’t offered. In conjunction with Lyft’s acquisition of FreeNow, they apparently will begin offering conventional taxi bookings via their Lyft app. Not sure when.
If you haven’t heard of FreeNow, I expect you will soon enough, especially if you travel to Europe. It’s owned by Lyft and is basically a rideshare service utilizing taxi cabs. It also allows users to book and utilize various other transportation options like e-scooters, e-bikes, e-mopeds, car sharing, and even public transport within the same app. 150 major cities in 9 European countries, and makes booking a cab easy peasy when Uber (or Lyft) isn’t offered. In conjunction with Lyft’s acquisition of FreeNow, they apparently will begin offering conventional taxi bookings via their Lyft app. Not sure when.
FreeNow. Heard of it?
If you haven’t heard of FreeNow, I expect you will soon enough, especially if you travel to Europe. It’s owned by Lyft and is basically a rideshare service utilizing taxi cabs. It also allows users to book and utilize various other transportation options like e-scooters, e-bikes, e-mopeds, car sharing, and even public transport within the same app. 150 major cities in 9 European countries, and makes booking a cab easy peasy when Uber (or Lyft) isn’t offered. In conjunction with Lyft’s acquisition of FreeNow, they apparently will begin offering conventional taxi bookings via their Lyft app. Not sure when.
After cool showers, we slow walked our 3-mile late afternoon reconnoiter into the city hub – basically the Forum and back. Clearly by then, the intense heat had driven most tourists back into their cooled lodging sanctuaries, so the crowds were light.
Crazy thing . . . and we talked about it as we walked along the Via Cavour . . . had we jusat flown in from Seattle or Charleston or Philadelphia, our initial reaction to Rome would probably have been quite different. But no, we had just come from 2 weeks in the oldy old Scotland, conquered and architecturely influenced by the Romans in the first millineum, and I guess our brains were oldened out. We’d temporarily OD’d on old. So, the wow didn’t smack us in the face like we thought it would.
Not until the next day
We dined late (for us) at a randomly-chosen restaurant/sandwich shop, Bono Monti, a few blocks from our apartment. Learning of our American roots, our Moroccan server embarrassed and enlightened us with the revelation that Morocco was the first country to acknowledge the USA as a sovereign nation back in 1775. Who knew? Not us!
A cool bottle of Pinot Grigio and generous portions of Nonna’s handmade Roman-style meatballs (photo below), led to Casio pepe, Smoked scamorza cheese with porcini mushrooms; and Tirolese mixed salad with radicchio, beechwood smoked speck, gorgonzola, and walnuts. So good. So Bono. (Psst, that’s their slogan.). The tiramisu looked fabulous, but we were beyond stuffed, though we graciously accepted complimentary digestif pours of housemade limoncello. And as a side note, the offerings at their connected-by-a-lobby sister sandwich shop, Bono Bottega Nostrana, looked outstanding. We’d go back just for a couple of those. And some tiramisu.
We arose early for a less scorching, less crowded 10-mile walk, encompassing plenty of Rome’s must do’s: the expansively beautiful Borghese Villa and Galleria; Villa Medici, and the Spanish Steps; then we crossed the River Tiber facing the Corte Suprema di Cassazione; then left-turned past the Castel Sant’Angelo (photo, top left); then shockingly!! were able to enter the piazza right there at Saint Peter’s Basilica (photo, top right). We thought we’d have to wait in line somewhere for that. Yay, us. We gaped and gawked there till the heat nudged us out and back across the river to the Piazza Navona and Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (photo, middle left); and on to the Pantheon with iced coffees and croissants at Tempio Bar bistro overlooking the structure’s ancient facade (photo, middle right). The server appeared confused by my mangled Italian order for iced Americanos and brought us espresso shots and tall glasses of ice. Lo and behold . . . perfecto!!! We added the coffee shots to the ice, topped up the glasses with our bottled still water, and we were in business. Nancy convinced me later that the guy no doubt knew what we wanted all along and just let us dilute the espresso to our own preference. Makes sense.
We finished our walk with the Trevi Fountain and a lap around the Colosseum.
Yeah, for seeing so much, we realize how much we didn’t see. Next time we plan to come for 4-5 days, and spend the time necessary for St. Peter’s, the Pantheon, and the Colosseum. Add in the Vatican and its museums, and the Sistine Chapel. The artwork in the Galleria Borghese. We’re not huge fans of the crowds, so we’d have to time it right.
Returning from our mega-walk, we relaxed in the A/C for a few hours after long showers, then FreeNow’d to the Travastere area overlooking the city. Very fresh, upbeat, with clusters of bistros and wine bars. Lots of younguns dressed up for a night out, but also plenty of local middle-agers and beyond.
I’d read a rave review of the Essenza Wine Bar, and we lucked out with our timing, securing a cozy window table with a view of the burgeoning masses in the alleyway outside. As this was dinner, we opted for their house tagliere board for two: 5 varied cheeses (3 hard – 2 soft), 5 meats, juicy cantelope, plump green grapes, local honey, and moist buffalo mozzarella with basil and cherry tomato. There was also a dish of ricotta cheese with truffle cream and black sesame seeds, as well as two pairs of saltine-sized bruscetta, one with pumpkin and bacon, the other featuring parma ham with smoked cheese and mushroom cream. Oh, and some creamy blue cheese with self-grated dark chocolate. Gulp. For wines we each enjoyed two glasses: Pecorino 2015 Terre di Chieti and Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2015 Masciarelli (both superb, and only €6.00 – about $7 US – for a healthy medium pour). Afterward, we wandered the neighborhood for a bit, and unfortunately, chose wrong for our post-prandial gelatos. Won’t name the place.
And that was Rome. Bada bing, bada boom.
After coffee and croissants the next morning at a cafe down the way, we walked our luggage two blocks to the train station and zoomed cross-country to Florence (Firenze), paying the few additional Euros to upgrade to business class, which gave us wider Frau leather seats with more legroom. Good call – super comfortable. We’ll do the same for our travel from Florence to Foggia and Bari to Rome.
More on that later. We’ll be in touch.
Drank a Punk IPA on the top of a hotel in Bangkok!
Indeed, they are everywhere!
I would still be walking from the Firenze train station to your first airbnb!!!!
I’m sooo sorry you had to suffer through the gelato tastings to find the One. Somebody had to do it!
I totally agree about the sangiovese grape. One of my favorite wines is a Super Tuscan. Mainly made with indigenous grapes blended with non-indigenous vines like Cab Sauv and merlot. One of the top wines in the world! And a bargain price.
In Nancy and your honor, I made a Tuscan chicken dish the other day. Except it didn’t look like the food you pictured….and didn’t taste like it, I’m sure!
Enjoying your trip with you!
Hey Jim, love that you’re following along, and appreciate your comments. The Tuscan wines are truly a joy, though we did enjoy a Puglian red this evening while in Vieste. Awesome town. You’d love it!! A festival tonight with music or comedy every night a stone’s throw away.
Ah, the Pantheon, one of my favorite buildings, especially considering its age.
Yes, we’ll be back in Florence in Wednesday and Thursday next week. We’ll tour the Pantheon then.
Okay! I will have the house tagliere board for two! For myself! And 2 glasses of wine??? You can’t fool me.
Just read an article about the area where Nancy’s family lived. An area known for its unique buildings with a purpose to evade taxes!
Trullo buildings in Alberobello! Also, now B and B’s. May your safe journeys continue!
Ahh, the Trulli of Alberobello. We won’t be lodging in one, but plan to spend a morning or afternoon visiting Alberobello. Thanks again for your comments, Jim. We head to Montecino and Montepulciano today. Puglia in a week.
We loved Dublin (actually ALL of Ireland!) but didn’t have enough time there.
The library was amazing as well as the Book of Kells but I see the books are all gone! Must be renovating.
Big fan of Jamie…..sooo jealous!
Totally agree on Guinness tour.
They’re restoring (un-dusting) the books in the library at Trinity College; only about 10% on display. It’ll be a several-year project.
Glenn, not surprisingly your lilting eloquence embellishes the accompanying pictorial fare and invites one to pour a wee dram with which to enjoy both!
My hope has been to capture the spirit and flavor of the places and people we encounter on our journey. I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
Wow, that all sounds so lovely, except for the driving part! That would make me so nervous.
I’m really not trying to dominate the comment section but………
Where you are brings back sooo many memories of Derry (wife, not place!). She, also, was my navigator and her job was to pick the ivy off the passenger side mirror because I was so close to those damned rock walls avoiding a lorry coming at me @ 100Km/hr on a 1 & 1/2 lane road!
We went to Connemara National Park, climbed up most of the way, and went to visit the great love story that Kylemore Abbey represents.
The walled garden was amazing, too.
I have watched the very perplexing movie “The Banshees of Inisherin”
I agree, Galway is awesome!! We did indeed have a brew or two @ Monroe’s!
Keep your comments coming, my friend. We love having you along for the ride.
I love vicariously eating and sight-seeing with you two! And I’m glad I’m not splitting the bill!
Asheville and the Blue ridge Parkway were the some of the highlights on my trips around there. We, also, skipped the Biltmore tour. $50-head to see someone else’s ostentatiousness!
And I now have to put Curate on my list…..love me some Spanish tapas!
No doubt, our joy of good food has us reevaluating the dining budget! 😉
Have been hearing a lot lately about Charleston’s foodie scene!!!
I want a raclette burger and order me the trout with crawfish at Vern’s!
And be careful driving out there. Might get a little wet!
Stepping out of Vern’s last night it was dumping!! Thankfully they loaned us an umbrella for the short walk home, but with sandals . . . pretty sloppy. And yes, both of those food items were incredible.
Excellent post! I love how the architecture helps avoid the taxman… brilliant!
What a fun day!!! And then, to a Spanish restaurant serving some of my favorite tapas and vino!!
A new post after just 24 hours? You spoil us, and set a high bar for the detailed story-telling of your adventures! If the rest of your trip is half as enjoyable as your first day out to be, you’re in for a treat. Love you both and enjoy the humidity (and everything else, of course).
Hola to you two!!
A word of caution, kinda. Watch out for Travis Decker in Leavenworth!
Not that I have vast knowledge for packing for long trips, I would think taking along some “tradeable” clothing you can bargain with! Like a nice BBB shirt in exchange for a nice Italian sweater! And save room for souvenirs and fun stuff! No one will care if you wear the same shirt three days in a row, except Nancy!!
Also, I can partner with you about losing family. It certainly speeds up as we get older.
Yeah, definitely one of the downsides of aging!
What a great surprise it was to have you and Nancy swing by Green Lake, looking forward to hosting you both in Tucson next year! I had forgotten to mention during our conversation that there are two new Matador restaurants in S. Carolina if you are feeling nostalgic. Thanks again and safe travels, already excited to follow along!
Thanks for the heads up re. the Matadors. I see it’s actually a restaurant with a separate “Mezcaleria by Matador” next door. It’s 1.5 miles from our AirBnB. We’ll definitely go there. Glad to know you’ll be following along on our travels. Take care.
Wow! I bet you’re both getting excited for your continuing adventures. Love reading about them. We miss you guys!
So excited! Already loving our “vacationing” in our hometown, and chomping at the bit to truly hit the road. Miss you two, as well. Glad you’re following along. Hope your summer’s starting off great.
Whooohoo! You’re on your way! 👏🏼🌟
Looks like you two are loving and living life well. Love the narratives and the photos
Thanks, Sandy. Yes, life’s awesome.
(And Kirkland is just so cool, as I’m sure you remember.)
We love Kirkland, especially Isarn Thai 🤤🤤🤤 One of my favorite Thai restaurants! It looks like your adventures are off to a great start. Enjoy your time with family and friends!
Thanks, Kelsey. Isarn Thai is one of our daughter Kylene’s favorites, as well.
Hope you and Scott are enjoying your early summer.
Godspeed my friends. See you soon, hopefully it will involve libations and excellent conversation. Miss you guys!
So very excited for you two and looking forward to being on your adventure with you! I must be on your roster twice as I received 2 email notifications. Enjoy every minute and I hope to see you at one of your visits to BB!
Jealous…can’t wait to see and hear all about it
Bon voyage, and we’ll see you in Asheville!
I could not be more excited for you both! Have an amazing time in WA (wish I was joining for graduation) and on your stateside portion of this adventure. Can’t wait to see you in the Burgh in a few months. Cheers to new adventures!
Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge and experience, Best of luck Glenn and Nancy. Safe travels🙏🌺
Thanks, Al. Glad you’ll be following our adventure.
OMG this sounds absolutely amazing!!!!!!
Thanks, Lisa. See you soon!
Hello Nancy and Glenn!
What an exercise in travel planning and what a tremendously exciting and interesting journey it will be.
From reading your update, I’m not clear on the exact date you will be departing the US and/or Mexico and when you are scheduled to return. Could you confirm, please.
Are you going to be measured for your dress Gordon kilt while in Edinburgh?
Looking forward to ‘sharing ‘ your adventure.
Love, Angela
Safe travel and dr8nk a few for me!
Thanks, Michele. See you at the shop in a couple of weeks.
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I think I already signed up but…maybe not? Anyway, should be signed up now
You’re golden.
Add me to mailing list pls!
You’re good to go.