“Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.” Matthew 21:12 NIV
I had forgotten the beautiful Umbrella Pines of Rome.
The Rome airport hotel had a driver who drove us to the Coliseum from our outlying hotel. The lines stretched long and winding for those who needed to buy tickets, but I had purchased ours in advance online. “Skip the Line”, meant scalper tickets and those scalpers wore shirts that said “Staff” which confused tourists. The were staff – but not Coliseum staff.
People were selling umbrellas, chargers for cell phones, and prints of the Coliseum, selfies sticks and water. We walked through the hawking and selling madness across from the Roman Forum looking for places to eat as we had not eaten breakfast. The touristy places looked full and expensive so we kept walking.
The restaurant we found was on a busy street, unlike this one, and we ate at the sidewalk tables. The first Roman meal was a meat and cheese platter with olives, pistachios, kiwi, and mozzarella balls as an appetizer. We ordered lasagna and risotto and skipped desert. We were fortified for the day’s exploits at the Coliseum.
What research do you do before vacation? How do you stop your life at home in order to experience an adventure? Do you plan every night’s stay and every meal?