A Week in Italy: Day 3

The main objective of day 3 was traveling from Venice to Rome. With breakfast bright and early, we set off promptly at 8 am taking a water taxi from Ca’d’Oro to Tranchetto. After the whole boat taxi ordeal the previous day I admit that I was relieved to see our bus again and make our way towards the mainland. Walking cities have all my respect and admiration, but the chaotic structure of Venice doesn’t really comfort anyone setting out on foot.

Ahead of schedule, we drove away from Venice and the Adriatic Sea. The drive to Rome was a little over five hours. Every country in Europe has different labor laws in relation to driving transit. Bus drivers are required to take a minimum 30-minute break every 2 hours – I believe. The bus’s engine literally won’t start until it has been off for 30 minutes. Our first stop was outside of Bologna at an Autogrill – a fancy, high-quality cafeteria, grab and go, convenience store, and café all wrapped into one. We stopped due to labor laws but also because one of the tire caps flew off and hit a car driving in the next lane. After exchanging information and snapping some pictures of the damage we hit the road again.

Our second stop was outside of Florence around lunchtime. This time around we were given time to sit down and eat. Lizzy let us past the grab-and-go section straight towards a hidden elevator that took us to the top floor – yes there are multiple floors at European AutoGrills in fact they straddle the Autobahn so regardless of your direction on the highway you can pull over and easily access the AutoGrill. After much deliberation, after seeing the abundance of options at my disposal I settled on some made-to-order linguine with pesto along with a trusty Sprite. I honestly could rave about this pasta for hours – I still think about it days later. Their proportions were perfection, the pesto was more basil than oil, and the pasta was fresh. I miss it, truly.

We set out on our final leg of driving after filling our tummies. Circling the outer skirts of Rome and entering from the western edge, we stopped at St. Paul’s Outside of the Walls. The Papal Basilica of Saint Paul is one of four ancient Roman basilicas. They broke ground in 400 AD and it was updated as late as 1840 due to a fire that broke out and caused the ceiling to collapse. The façade is Neo-classical. The walls are adorned with portraits of each pope made from mosaics and paint. It is believed that when the empty portrait frames are filled that judgment day will ensue.

Once back on the bus we made out final dissent into Rome. Benny – our bus driver – dropped us off in front of the Corte Suprema di Cassazione, a courthouse. From there we walked about 12 minutes to Palazzo Navona Hotel. We checked in, got situated, and met up to take an orientation walk.

Our walk took us through Piazza Navona and ended in front of the Pantheon. After a brief pit stop at our hotel, we set out to find a nice place for dinner. Not far from our hotel we came across Cantina E Cucina. Other nearby restaurants had empty tables, but Cantina E Cucina had a line in the street. Travel tip, when picking a restaurant always pick the busier restaurant – it’s busy for a reason. We joined the line and were promptly greeted by the owner who generously poured us small glasses of complimentary wine. We were seated relatively fast and the waiters were attentive. With a glass of Chardonnay and a plate of Lasagna, my friends and I sat, chatted, and basked in the ambiance for a few hours. To put a cherry on top of the evening I grabbed gelato – mango and strawberry. You can never go wrong or have enough gelato, especially when in Italy.

Step Count: 6,650 steps