Spanish Steps... It's now a long walk home!
On day 2, as we made our way to the Colosseum, we walked through the Jewish Ghetto and noticed a small bakery, Pasticceria Embraica Il Boccione, that was jammed with locals. It was Ray's idea for me to go in and buy whatever these people were standing in line for, which turned out to be Pizza Embraica or Jewish Pizza -- irresistibly sweet, crunchy cakes filled with raisins, candied fruit and almonds and served hot out of the oven. Also being snatched up "like hotcakes" were the ricotta cakes with sour cherry or chocolate, almond tarts (they looked like macaroons) and honey biscotti. All I can say is that the Pizza Embraica was truly one of the most delectable items we have ever had! And the other treats were incredibly delish as well (I bought a little of everything!).
Pizza Embraica (Jewish Pizza). Delizioso!!
The rain dissipated by early evening, so we headed out to Pizzeria da Baffeto for dinner. Again, a place found merely by chance. During the night before, we noticed a LONG line of people patiently waiting to get into the restaurant. Later, as we researched it on the internet, we read that many consider the pizza here as "the best in Rome", so of course, we had to give it a try!
We arrived at 6:15pm (a full 15-minutes before opening) and were the first in line. Once seated, we ordered the house specialty: "Pizza da Baffeto" (the owner's own creation) -- consisting of ham, sausage, onions, mushroom, red peppers, artichoke pieces and right before it is served, a fresh egg cracked right in the middle. Trust me, it tastes much better than it sounds!!! We also ordered a white bean salad and a Margherita pizza for the kids. And, of course, I sampled some of their home-made wine. DS exclaimed the white bean salad as one of the best salads she has ever had.
On Day 3, we were blessed with sunny blue skies and headed out early to walk to the Colosseum. It was a beautiful leisurely walk with amazing sights along the way. This week coincidentally was Settimana della Cultura week in Italy, which meant free entrance to all state owned musea which allowed us to walk into the Colosseum free of charge (cool!) . And since we got there early, there was no line!
Seeing the Colosseum in person was truly magnificent!
After leaving the Colosseum, we did the "Caesar Shuffle" and went to the Forum. With DS' souvenir book of Rome in hand, we were able to see the ruins as they appeared today, and with cool overlays, see what it used to look like in the past. One of the amazing facts about Rome is that when new buildings were being built, instead of tearing down the existing buildings, the cities were "filled in" with rubble and new buildings and cities were built on top of the old ones. As such, to this day, excavations will uncover layers upon layers of ancient ruins! The Forum was the political, religious, and commercial centre of the city. In fact, we saw the actual site where Julius Caesar's body was burned after he was assassinated.
Since we had a 2 day pass, after the forum, we hopped on the double decker open-top bus, which on a clear day like today, made viewing the sights absolutely breathtaking, not to mention a lot of fun!
In front of Circus Maximus...
In front of Piazza Popolo and Colosseum...
We hopped off the bus at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City and took in the sights of the area. Unfortunately, the lines were too long to view the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica, so this will have to wait for another trip... Instead, we had lunch in the vicinity before hopping back onto the bus to our next stop, the Pantheon -- Rome's best preserved monument.
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