My last two days in Rome were much more relaxed than the first part of my week, both because the weather was cold and rainy and because it was Easter weekend, which I took off to have some much needed down time. The day before Easter I hiked all the way out to the Roman Baths of Caracalla (which, okay, are only a ten minute walk from the Colosseum). The remaining ruins of the baths leave much to the imagination as they were considered ruins even in ancient times, just to give you an idea of how old they are. They’re still quite impressive, and the remaining walls are huge. I think I read that it took ten years to complete with over 1,000 men working on it per day. Like I said, they were huge.
The engineering that went into building them is equally astounding. The Roman Baths had sections of heated tile floors that used the circulation of hot air to stay warm. There were steam rooms, cool and warm baths, a giant room for recreational purposes, and an entire section devoted to trade. As I was reading some of the plaques, I was stunned by how much time and effort had gone into creating this space. The best part was that it was built entirely for the Roman people as a sort of hang out spot. I have a friend who’s going to be studying in Turkey next year who said that baths of that sort are still common there. I’m thinking I might need to visit Turkey in the near future, strictly for blogging purposes of course…
After a morning at the Roman Baths, the weather took a turn for the worst, and I found myself scrambling to get back over to the Spanish Steps on the opposite side of the city to find a particular pasta place called Pastaficio. This pasta place was recommended to us by an Italian, which was my first indicator that it’d be good. My second indicator was that I was freezing cold and wet, so any food sounded tasty. I call it a pasta place and not a restaurant because you walk up to the counter and choose from two pre-made pasta dishes and take it with you. It sounds sketchy, but it was the absolute best 4 Euro pasta I’ve ever had. If you’re ever in the Spanish Steps area, you should definitely check this place out.
My last day in Rome was Easter Sunday, and I woke up bright and early to stand in St. Peter’s Square to attend mass. As I’m not Catholic (and don’t know any Latin, which is what the majority of the mass was delivered in) my friend had to explain some of the main rituals to me as we listened. It was a great experience, and I’m pleased to say that I survived five hours in the freezing rain. It was all worth it though, and the huge plate of pasta and mug of warm tea I inhaled immediately afterwards helped immensely. I didn’t take any photos of the service both because it seemed rude to do so during mass and also because it was pouring buckets and I was afraid my camera might be damaged.
I’m sad to say that’s the last of my Rome posts for now. I’ll be posting about my adventures in Florence later this week, so check back in for that! If you’ve enjoyed my Rome series, feel free to share them on Facebook or Bloglovin‘, and I’d love to hear back from you about your thoughts on Rome!
Signing off,
Claire
When in Rome:
Comments & Reviews
I’ve so enjoyed traveling Rome through your posts; I’m so excited to hear what fun we had in Florence! And, if you need a real person to visit the Turkish baths…I’ll happily volunteer!
Good photo composition.
Thank you!