The Thursday of our trip to Rome was a quieter day, which we needed! We got up and had some breakfast, and then set out. We walked to the Pantheon where we had a cuppa in a cafe looking over it, which was very cool. I actually had a hot chocolate as I really wanted one while in Italy, and it was nice. It was just lovely to sit there soaking up the atmosphere! Rome is a really nice city - very clean, compact, and bustling with people. I liked it a lot.
We then went to Basilica di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva - yes I had to look that up as I couldn't remember it myself. It has a Michaelangelo statue inside and some Bernini stuff, and it's free and not that busy. We went in and wandered round but unfortunately they're doing a lot of building work in the back of it so the Michaelangelo isn't out to see, which is a shame. But the church is lovely anyway so we had a look. I lit some candles - one for my dad and one for my friend Tom - as I always do in churches if available. My dad would have been tickled that I was doing that in a Catholic church!
There is a Bernini statue outside with an elephant with an obelisk on its back, and that was really cool to see.
Then we walked to Torre Argentina. It's a really old part of Rome, they were starting to build on it but then they dug and found a ton of statues and old temples and stuff, so they couldn't build and now it's a monument. My friend Lolly had been to Rome just a few weeks before us and told us there was a feral cat colony there so we went. I got in for free, of course, and we went down into the ruins. There were a few cats around and my mum had brought some treats so she fed a few, but then one of the staff told us off. So we just looked at the monument and read all the information.
A member of staff had to come and help me get the lift back up to the top, and he told me that there was a cat sanctuary in the corner of the ruins and pointed out where to get in. Which was very cool! So we went round and down the steps and there was a low ceilinged door. A woman asked us to wait so we did. A French family turned up and we spoke to them - it turned out they had a black cat like my mum and I both do so that was cute. My mum speaks French then expects me to understand what they say back because she doesn't always catch it. It's a good job she's cute!
Finally we were allowed into the sanctuary. A woman told us about the charity; they trap, neuter and release feral cats, and they feed them all in the area so that you rarely see a feral cat in other parts of Rome. But there are some that can't be released and those live in the sanctuary. We could go in and look! There was a double door so no cats could escape and the French family came in with us and WE GOT TO PET CATS. It was so cute! The ginger one wanted to sit on anyone's knee, and there was a blind one that I stood and stroked for a while (she was black). We weren't in there for very long but it was very cute and I LOVE CATS.
It was free but we both left a donation for them. If you're in Rome and like cats, it's worth having a look.
It was lunchtime by this time so we went just across the road to a restaurant. We were under a canopy on the road and it was lovely to again be right in the hustle and bustle of the city! The vegetarian choices weren't great so I ended up having smoked salmon bruschetta with burrata on it. It was delicious! I do occasionally eat fish and I enjoyed it. We shared a bottle of prosecco and we sat there for ages just chilling and chatting.
We headed back to the hotel and on the way we stopped for ice cream. I got one of the lemon sorbet in a lemon thing, they are everywhere in Rome and quite overpriced but also it seems like you have to! So I did, and I really liked it. I also bought a cream bun type thing that I had seen all over too; I ended up eating that the next morning in the taxi back to the airport.
We rested again in the hotel - something which I really recommend if you're chronically ill or in pain like I am - and then ventured out for food. My mum wanted to go back to the restaurant we had been in the first night as she had liked it, and I was happy with that. I had a vegetarian pizza with mushrooms which was delicious, although I couldn't eat it all. I can't remember what my mum had.
Then we went into a bar directly opposite our hotel. There was someone making pasta which was fun to watch. My mum had prosecco but I had some kind of rum cocktail which was delicious. We had an early night though because we had to get up early the next morning!
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