Doing as the Romans do, Day 2

On Thursday, I had a lazy morning catching up on sleep after my late night the night before. I also quizzed Francesca on places to check out in Rome, since it is my first time here.

I took off in the afternoon to explore a bit and get an idea of the general layout of town. I made it to the Colosseum and the older parts of town, then I headed up to the historical center and saw the Pantheon and the maze of streets around it. I finished up at the beautiful Spanish steps at around 6:30pm, then I met up with Francesca and a friend in San Lorenzo again for a drink.

Drinks wrapped up at about 9, then we went for one last one due to the rain. Fran had her scooter but no second helmet, so we didn't risk me hopping on the back. I headed for the tram stop and waited. And waited. In fact, two trams passed by, completely empty, without stopping. I think they must stop running at about 10, so I was stuck not really knowing how to get home. I went to a nearby sandwich stand and asked for a public phone, but they didn't know where one was. A woman offered to let me use her cell phone, so I tried to call Francesca, but it went directly to voice mail. Hmmm.... I found the street that eventually would take me home, and thankfully, shortly after starting off, I saw a bus and remembered that the 105 would take me nearly to the front door. What luck!

It worked out beautifully, and I was back at the apartment at about 11 and ready to stay in for the night. But Francesca was going to go out to meet her boyfriend for just one drink. Right. So I joined her and got my first Roman scooter ride in the process! A must for all...

It was nice at the small little bar she took me to, and we ran into several of her friends there, as well. Drinking in Rome seems to be very different from most other countries I've been to, and I like it. When you go out, your goal is usually to socialize and/or enjoy a couple of glasses of wine/beer/your poison of choice, not to get absolutely trashed. I think I just barely made it to tipsy during the week I was there, and that was just once. Very refreshing!

Back to that night... of course, things turned out as they usually do in Rome, and when 1:30am came around, I was ready to go home, and Francesca was ready to move on to the next bar. Rome stays up late. Due to the cold I was trying to get over, I had a good enough excuse to go home, so I got a ride with a friend of hers and headed home.