Today was my last day in Rome and I was going to hit all the big sites today – the Colosseum, the forum, the ruins and the Pantheon.

Although I did finally meet some people (Jaimie and Freddy) to hang out with last night they were doing things I had already done so I was, once again, on my own.

I didn’t mind so much as the weather did a complete 180 and was easily the nicest weather I’ve seen in over a month.   Besides we had plans to meet up later in the evening to go out for a nice meal back where I was last night.

So around 11am I headed out to explore.   I had bought a Roma Pass yesterday which, along with discounted entries and free transit for 3 days, bypassed the huge line at the Colosseum.

After the lineup debacle yesterday it was with immense pleasure that I walked past everybody and entered 5 minutes after arriving.   A sweet measure of revenge even if I had to stand in the pouring rain and they were all standing in the beautiful sunlight.   I don’t care – I’ll take it.

Exploring everything was great and I took some amazing photos.   Of course everywhere was run over by tourists as I’m quickly become accustomed to here in Rome.   Seriously – doesn’t anyone work?   Is the whole world on vacation?

Anyway…

I headed back to the hostel around 2:00 and chance would have it Jaimie was also there on her way out to meet Freddy to do the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and Pantheon.   I had already done all of this but since it was a nice day and I really had nothing to do I figured I would go with.

We actually sat in the sun in the Plaza del Popolo for awhile catching rays and eating pizza and ice cream (I know, my diet – out the window!)

After awhile we finally got off and started our walk.   They actually went off in a different direction around the Spanish Steps than I had done previously so I was happy to be discovering a new part of the city.   We happened upon a cool little lake with ducks and turtles and people in little sailboats.

When we got to the fountain I left them as they were headed to the Pantheon and I was kinda tired and wanted to relax for a bit before heading out later in the evening.

Besides – it was about 6pm and surely there would be some new, cool people to talk with at the hostel…

Ah, no… just me.

Sigh.

I popped on my computer to figure out the next few days in Naples and the Amalfi coast and before I knew it they were back.

Time for a great dinner!

Well…

First it took forever to head out and then we did the timing was such that we didn’t have enough time to head into Trastevere, the restaurant district I was last night.

So we went to a place nearby that our guy at the hostel recommended.   I knew in my heart that this wasn’t what I wanted and I was compromising in a way I didn’t want to as this was my last meal in Rome and, frankly, I had eaten too many crappy overpriced meals here and knew where I could have a good one.

As Freddy, Jaimie, myself and another girl from the hostel entered the restaurant I looked at the menu board and, sure enough, the prices were 10 to 16 euros (twice as much as the place I was at last night).   The kicker for me though was we weren’t greeted for a full 10 minutes and while I understand that in general service in Europe sucks – it’s hard for me who comes from a service background to tolerate.

And I didn’t.

I left the others to head on my own.   It took about 45 minutes to get to where I wanted by bus and by foot but it was worth it.   Another great meal and another bottle of Prosecco.   It was a shame I couldn’t share the meal (and bottle) with the others as I really wanted them to experience what I had the night before but sometimes things don’t work out the way you want them to.

I arrived back at the hostel right before midnight and, shock of all shocks, no one was there.

This time I was kind of happy as I was tired and just wanted to go to bed plus I seriously was so done with Rome.   For me, the big cities (Rome, Barcelona, Madrid) are not my cup of tea.   I prefer the smaller cities and villages away from the swarms of tourists.

So, I just wanted to sleep knowing that when I awoke I would leave Rome behind and start a new adventure.