I’m finally recapping the LAST day of my trip back in May. Lol. This post is hard for me to reminisce. As a result, I had to take some time off from my friends in order to reflect and move forward. The day started out late. The groom stayed behind to take care of business, and the uncle of the bride decided to help him. Our road trip crew got smaller, but off we went. We were heading back to Rome.
We didn’t mean to head out late but it’s inevitable when you’re traveling with a group of people. Our 4 hour drive meant we were anticipating on arriving close to rush hour. Rome is a very busy metropolitan city, and the traffic alone can be hectic. I knew my friend had a lot on her shoulders driving us down there, along with the fact we couldn’t help out because none of us knew how to drive stick shift. But we made the commute as light-hearted as possible, snapping away pictures of the countryside and enjoying stories about the wedding that we might have missed.
Our makeup artist friend had a hotel reservation in the center of Rome, not far from where he originally was located on day one. It was my turn to pay for the hotel this time since my roommate on this trip took care of night one. Our air b&b was also located in the center of Rome. We didn’t want to book anything too far away from the Roma Termini station since that was our way back to the airport the next day. Of course, this was one of the stressful parts of our trip. Once we entered Rome, my friend warned us about the driving zones within the center of the city. Because of the size of our group, along with our luggage, we didn’t want to park too far away in order to walk the streets with so many things to carry. This part alone took over an hour, and it was wearing down our patience. We finally settled on an indoor overnight parking garage and decided to cab it to our hotels. I jumped in the same cab as the makeup artist so I could help him check in his hotel, and the girls took my luggage with them and went to check in our air b&b.
Now we were back on track! We decided to meet up by the Spanish steps so we could continue to sight-see as well as shop around for any souvenirs. Again, time was slipping away from us due to lack of communication. The other group was taking a while to meet up with us and we weren’t sure what was going on. I finally got a hold of my friend and she told us they were on their way. Me and the makeup artist were under the impression that maybe they decided to hangout on their own and meet up much later, (which would have been fine) since we were waiting around for a bit. I decided to call back my friend to see how far along were they, and that’s when she mentioned that her aunt was having a hard time keeping up due to knee problems. Whew! At least we were now in the loop.
After being apart for close to an hour, we were finally together and trying to decide what to do next. My hotel rommie wanted to check out some stores, and I wanted to grab a few souvenirs for my mom. My friend was impatient due to the large crowds, and the makeup artist wanted to sight see. My friend’s aunt needed to rest, so I sat with her on the Spanish Steps for a bit while everyone checked out the shops in the surrounding area.
Once they were done, we decided to venture out to the Trevi fountain for some picture taking. Luckily it was not as packed as the first day we were here, but everyone loved snapping away. My friend was again impatient due to the crowds, but I figured if we took our time we would be able to enjoy more of the experience with the others who have not seen the sights. We slowly made our way to the Pantheon but arrived too late to go inside. It is a pretty impressive structural building and I enjoyed my first encounter here.
Next we were on our way to the Piazza Navona. At this point I stayed behind with the aunt while the others rushed over. Again, I wasn’t sure what the plans were, so I was under the impression that we were chilling, but everything seemed rushed. I knew we were going to have dinner at Ba Ghetto again (me and my friend dined there in March) but that wasn’t until later. Well “later” was creeping up on us and we were not aware of what time it was. The Piazza Navona was a very busy area that we lost two of our travelers. We couldn’t find them anywhere. We walked around the massive fountains but there were so many people here. It was hard to locate them. AGAIN our patience was being tested and it was getting the best of us. I’m not sure any of us on this day were really enjoying ourselves. It’s frustrating looking back on this.
Once we finally found everyone we had to head back. My friend needed to retrieve some makeup from the makeup artist back at his hotel. With the aunt not being able to move so quickly, we decided to walk back to the Spanish steps (me and her) while the others rushed to his hotel. His place was located on the top of the steps barely two blocks away. It took us some time to get there, and we even climbed up the steps to take more pictures while waiting to hear back from them. My friend called me to let me know that they were going back to our air b&b to get ready since the reservations for dinner were at 9pm. She advised that we take a cab back to the air b&b to meet them there instead. Again, another frustrating incident of this day. The cab driver dropped us off at the address we provided, but I’ve never seen the air b&b since I never checked in with the girls earlier that day. The aunt lead us to a hotel and we rode up the elevator, but then she got confused. I tried calling my friend but they were not answering. The makeup artist called me because he just arrived from getting ready at his hotel. He said the girls ran out of his hotel and he stayed behind. It seemed that he was at our air b&b but no one was answering the doorbell. It was then we me and the aunt realized we were at the wrong hotel. A hotel employee ran up the stairs and yelled at us because we didn’t close the elevator doors correctly and it wasn’t allowing it to go back down. I was getting upset on how this day was turning out.
When we FINALLY found the correct air b&b (which was an apartment complex) the girls were already dressed and ready to head out. I told them to leave without me. I had to get ready as well and was upset that they wouldn’t answer our calls earlier (they definitely jumped in the showers back to back). I needed some time to recoup, but they insisted on waiting on me (which I hated). I had some friends from Amsterdam that happened to be in Rome the same time we were here. They wanted to catch with me over drinks. I wanted to skip dinner and hangout with them but my friend wanted me to join them instead for dinner. I went along. I wish I hadn’t.
Dinner believe it or not was fine. The food is always delish at Ba Ghetto and I was feeling good off the wine. My Dutch friends wanted to know what time I would be done with dinner. I told my friend I was going to join them for a bit. The crew was going to go back to their hotels to get some sleep. This day was indeed exhausting. The rest is history. I jumped in a cab and headed to Campo di Fiori to meet up with my friends. There I enjoyed a glass of wine and we talked about our time here in Rome. I did not feel I was out long, but of course, some might argue that claim. In the end, the night turned out disastrous for me and probably for the rest of the crew. I wish I could have done things differently, but as they say, you live and you learn. I think the only lesson I could pin point for me is that I should have followed my instincts and did my own thing after the wedding. As I’m getting older I’m realizing it can be draining being around so many people. I miss my time traveling alone.
