The Purple Penguin

Or walking on the Appian Way.

But last night Joe ate tomatoes! Raw tomatoes! I think he may have been replaced by a pod person. We ended up in a little Trattoria around the corner from the hotel for dinner. They were pretty laid back, but served lots of good food. When they came to get our order they plonked down a plate of bruschetta – large slices of toast covered in garlic and tomato and Joe ate his. And his meal was served with tomatoes which he also ate (well, not the sliced ones around the outside of the plate). Joe ordered a pudding and they delivered it to the table with two spoons which was nice. Just a really nice place and not at all expensive.

So we slept in this morning. So late we missed hotel breakfast. Went to get transport tickets and had a very nice man at the tobacconist shop (where you buy tickets) give us directions and advice. Walked forever to get to the bus stop (probably about half the distance to the Appian Way!). Stopped to get a coffee and had a brioche bun (standing up :)). Got the 218 to the top of the way, headed into the tourist info shop which was heaving with people renting bikes and got a map and advice where to go. 

The first bit of the walk was a bit like I imagined but fewer ruins and an asphalt paved road. And don’t believe ‘no traffic on Sundays’ there are a lot of buses and private cars still. I really didn’t notice any lack of traffic. And the place does get busy with cyclists and walkers. We didn’t go into any of the catacombs, but did go into the Circus of Maxentius, Tomb of Caecilia Metella, and the Capo di Bove baths. The road wasn’t at all like I imaged. There are still a lot of modern homes along the road, so it’s pretty much like other roads around Rome, just a few more rocky areas. It probably gets better further along, but we turned off to head toward the aqueducts and the metro. 

We didn’t see the aqueducts, but did find the Via Latina which is another little stretch of ancient Roman road. It doesn’t have the original stones of the ancient road (or we didn’t see any), but otherwise looked more like what I thought the Appian Way would look like, with huge old tombs lining the way. The tombs are supposed to be really interesting inside, but you have to book in advance so we didn’t get. Still the outside was nice.

By this time we were completely tired so headed back to the hotel by metro. After a rest we headed out to eat at that place we couldn’t get into last night (they were booked solid) and it was worth going back as the food was very good. I had a pizza bowl which was interesting. Tomorrow we are up very very early so off to sleep early!