We spent Easter at my stepfamily's olive farm in Puglia and then traveled back to Rome via a night train on Easter Monday. We arrived in Rome around 7am. We were booked for the night in a Holiday Inn Express near the train station. My dad chose this hotel as he had stayed there for business in the past and it had a good location for catching the train to the airport the following day.
Even though it was very early in the morning we were able to access our rooms and drop off our luggage. I had my own room as Angelica was now traveling with us and they did not have any rooms that would accommodate four people.
We did not want to waste our last day in Rome so we did not spend too long at the hotel.
We did A LOT of walking this day, over 20 kilometres.
Our first destination was the Aqueduct Park (Parco degli Acquedotti). I loved this park. It was so open and it seemed as though we were out in the country and not in Rome.
I was charmed by the children playing soccer in the shadow of the ancient aqueduct.
After the aqueduct park we went to walk the Via Appia back into the city centre. The Via Appia or Appian Way is one of the oldest and most important roads in Rome. It led from ancient Rome to Brindisi, which was a port used by the Roman army.
Via Appia was lined by the villas of the very rich during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire and you can still see the ruins of some of these villas today such as at the Villa of the Quintilli.
Most of our walk on the Appian Way was very quiet and was pedestrian only. As we got closer to the city the road opened up to traffic and we honestly feared for our lives. I suppose not many people walk here and instead take a shuttle or bus. It was a huge relief when we saw the city walls and entrance to the city which heralded the return of sidewalks.
Even though our feet were killing us and we were exhausted from our night-time travels and full day of walking we carried on. Angelica and I decided to check out the Baths of Caracalla. The ruins here were impressive and I can imagine how amazing this complex was when it was intact.
We had one last place we wanted to visit this day and that was the Basilica di San Giovanni. This was the seat of the pope before The Vatican was built.
Maria was very tired and getting fed up with all the walking and she called out in frustration wondering when we would arrive at the church. She did this as we were standing in front of a large obelisk which is right next to the church.... This was funny as she has been there before and should have remembered what it looked like and where we were.
This church was amazing and very beautiful. It was easy to see it as the seat of the pope.
After our visit to the basilica we walked back towards our hotel and stopped at a restaurant once we were almost back. We all ordered pizzas and they were delicious. A great last meal in Italy!
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