Thursday, May 4
We landed in Rome this morning. Yes, we are finally actually taking our Europe vacation! We’re staying in the fun and funky neighborhood called Trastevere, which translated to something like “the wrong side of the river.” We’re enjoying the narrow and jumbled streets and tiny shops and restaurants.
We walked to the Castel Sant'Angelo. This was a mistake since we had just spent something like 24 hours (it seemed) on an airplane with almost no sleep and we were exhausted. We splurged and took a taxi back.
The Castel Sant'Angelo has been around since Roman times, as a tomb and family mausoleum for Emporer Hadrian, a fortress, a prison, a papal palace, a secret escape for popes under attack, a museum, and a suicide site climaxing a famous opera. You can see all of those there (well, except the last one—you need to see Tosca). We enjoyed the history, the mix of eras and uses and the views over Rome.