Day 3 – Rome

It was an early start as we planned to head to the Vatican City for 7am in the hope to get some tickets to meet the Pope. We scooted over, admiring the empty streets on the way but didn’t manage to get any tickets. It was a shot in the dark and sure all the Popes look the same anyway. It was cool to see the place so peaceful though and sure, we’ll get to see Dean Morton anyway soon enough.

This time on bikes, we headed back towards the Trevi Fountain and Pantheon to see it without all the tourists. For breakfast, I had a pain au chocolate and hot chocolate, and Louis had a croissant overlooking the empty fountain. He says it was the best croissant he has ever had in his life. When ordering, I may have forgotten that we weren’t actually in France and used a bit of rusty GCSE French…

Before coming to Rome I had looked up some recommended activities. One of the activities that caught my eye was rowing in Villa Borghese park. For only 4 euro you can row on the lake (a glorified pond) and embrace the romantic notebook movie moment. There are even some turtles to look out for, although the water in the Foyle is probably cleaner.

It was only 10.45am by the time we arrived back to the hotel for a quick toilet break but when we approached our room, we could see that it was getting cleaned. With every one of my bladder muscles, I had to hold on to dear life as we found a café nearby. As I made the toilet in time, without any (major) spillage, I celebrated with a mid morning Prosecco.

After half an hour or so, we headed back to the room with a few slices of pizza for lunch. We cracked open a bottle of Prosecco and watched the next episode of The Fall on Netflix. I wrote the blog, had a wee nap and looked up somewhere for dinner. It was an early early start so I needed some downtime.

We wandered toward to Trastevere across the river. This is apparently where the locals and in particular the students hang out. We found a cheap and cosy restaurant and enjoyed the usual. Bruschetta, pizza & pasta. Anything with cheese and we are easily pleased. How poetic of me.

As we strolled along the bustling streets, we stumbled across a wine bar with a pianist. I had a fantastic idea, I was going to persuade Louis to play. Before he had time to stop me, I stopped the pianist after his quick cigarette break to tell him that if he wanted another break, Louis would be more than happy to play a song or two for him. As I said this, I wasn’t sure how Louis was going to react. Much, and I mean much, to my surprise he reluctantly agreed and started planning his pieces. What on Earth got into him?! A little bit of pinot Dutch courage was working its magic tonight.

The time arrived. The pianist was desperate for his nicotine hit and I was desperate to watch this all unfold. His first chosen piece was Danny Boy. I mean it had to be, right? The second piece was a Tchaikovsky number as the pianist had asked for a classical piece. They were a very generous crowd, perhaps if I got up and play Mary Had a Little Lamb I would get a cheer too? In all seriousness though, he did very well and did it without any fuss. A changed man.

To finish the night, we called into a cocktail bar and watched the last 20 minutes of the football match. Thankfully Liverpool won!Unfortunately there wasn’t a mic, or I would have had a go at entertaining the crowd this time. My favourite ‘Que Sera’ would have them all up on their feet…. to find the nearest possible exit.