Last Full Day in Italy

(more endless notes from March/April 2025)

I know I advertised this post as being the last day… but it actually begins the night before 😂

Doesn’t everything look just like Paris?

We are on our last couple of meals in Italy—naturally we bee-lined it to a Mexican place, Pico’s Trastevere Sabor a Mexico!

Next morning: finally we are **truly** on the last full day of the trip

You just forget how absolutely massive it is!!! Unfortunately the crowds are massive as well—we’re here end of March, I don’t think visiting here mid-summer is even possible any more lol

Some other dude’s arch… it was kind of sad to see, but the entire Forum is now under lock & key: you have to get tickets, wait in crazy lines, etc. Last time I was here, you could just wander into the forum from the street and have it pretty much all to yourself

Good view into the side of the Colosseum… so cool but sheesh what a zoo

Unbelievably, these were the *first* mussels of the trip, on the *final day* of the trip! They were good, but just a pale imitation of the southern Italy ones

Sam saw lasagna on the menu and pounced… it was good but just OK, not nearly like the one at crazy Pane e Vino in Todi that we went back the next day for!

First time I’d seen one of these signs, definitely a new era!

We’re back up on the rooftop patio, and this dude had an eye on our chips!!

Random church in Rome, they seem to be literally every few blocks

Sam challenging the oncoming traffic: guess who won

Yet another completely random church, but we decided to visit this one

OMG so crazy!! How do they have so many of these, and each so magnificent?

Never heard of this place, it scarcely registered on my phone’s map????

Outside, it looks pretty much like everywhere else here, what an embarrassment of riches

FINALLY after all these years we made it back to the Pantheon!!! Last time we were here, Baby Matthew spent his time crawling all over the floor lol and the place was nearly empty

We didn’t brave the line to go in, it was enough to just walk by and see it again. We’ve been inside a few times many years before—and it’s totally worth it!!—but today we were just too tired of lines and crowds

We went into some other cathedral and saw the Altar of the T-1000!! Spooky!

You walk past this kind of thing all the time, it’s actually historical overkill here… we once spent some time in Rome with my parents, the professional archaeologists, I’m surprised we ever moved even a block!

Big moment coming up: our final dinner in Italy! We had asked the hotel to book us somewhere special… but after hiking around all day, we changed our minds: we just don’t want to face another heavy multi-course menu of endless dishes we can never finish, so instead we ended up… guess where

Back at the Pico’s, Mexican place!!! With table-side guacamole service no less!

I felt sorry for the guac guy tho, we kept correcting him and making him do it the way we wanted: less of this, more of that and that and that… stop, it’s done now!!

After we took charge, it ended up pretty legit, and totally hit the spot…. check out the salsas to the right

Was it a little spicy? 😂 Don’t let the pic fool you, she absolutely loved it, as did I

Hard to beat a great Mexican meal, even in Rome

Our very last walk back, through the dark… can’t wait to collapse into bed and digest

Doesn’t this photo totally look Tolkien-esque??

So it turns out that I hardly ever take pictures finishing off a trip… I don’t know if I just get sad? Sam volunteers that it’s because I’m busy dealing with all of her stress on a travel day 😀