Italians have a knack for “Go big or go home”. I have the same philosophy of my travel.
No kidding! One year you're in Greece/Italy and the next you'll be in Australia. You're seeing the world!
there just aren’t cell phone stores on every corner or places to buy SIM cards.
This sounds like Alison's TR and her efforts to get her camera fixed. There aren't camera shops on every corner either.
Actually... there aren't that many camera shops in these parts either anymore, since everyone uses their phones for the most part now.
What I found was that typically they were only found near train stations, in airports, or other high tourist areas.
Makes sense. Everyone else lives there so no need.
I will say, now that I have the iPhone 15, it came WITH an eSIM and I can have it activated a bit more easily and I will spend some time trying to even get that set up before I travel at all. It may even work for my time in the Philippines and Bali too.
I've done a bit of reading on eSim and the list of countries where it's available was pretty widespread. So maybe?
Nevertheless, I did NOT have one when I set out so hoped that a long walk might prove useful in finding one.
I did not.
Well, poop.
Pasta heaven!
There's always time for pastries and lattes in the morning!
I'll go with the first half of that sentence.
I continued on and found myself at the Largo di Torre Argentina
I did a quick Google. Imagine my surprise that it's named after Strasbourg in France (the Latin name was Argentoratum)
Remember those CityPasses? I showed them what I had and was told that the document I had wasn’t what they needed. Great. Was I scammed? $100 down the toilet?
I did find one shop, and they weren’t open on Sundays.
Perfect.
Dejected, I turned towards “home” to collect my sleepy girl so we could head out to do some much needed “housekeeping”- laundry.
Yay.
Best part of any vacation!!!
Not.
(#1) Never Ever Pass Up an Opportunity to Doo Business, and (#2) Never Ever Wear Cute, But Completely Impractical, Shoes When a Lot of Walking Is Planned!
Those are good rules.
She tells me she’s learned her lesson well and will only be bringing sensible, tennie-like shoes to Australia.
I'm wondering if she'll still sneak in a pair or two of fancy shoes for IG.
Luckily, even though it was a very small little lavanderia, there were machines available. Had we shown up 15 minutes later, we’d have waited hours. 4 parties showed up within minutes after we did.
Good timing.
The afternoon would find us exploring the area of the Colosseum and Palatine Hill.
Never heard of Palatine Hill. Curious, but will wait for the next update.
a VERY long parade of tiny, antique Italian Fiats!!
Cool!
Everyone on the sidewalks stopped to watch and cheered and clapped as they snaked their way around the traffic circles. Such a happy happenstance spectacle we got to see!
asked where we could find a SIM card. The best answer was to take a quick taxi to the train station and buy one there.
Oy. But not surprising at this point.
Apparently, there was some small fee on there that was preventing its use, so I paid that and just like that, we instantly had the world at our fingertips again.
Finally! The relief must've been palpable.
Across the street we found a terrific little Middle Eastern fast-food place and loaded up on roasted chicken, rice, and naan. Honestly, it was a fantastic change from all the pasta we’d been eating.
That sounds good.
It must have been quite something to have been a spectator in its heyday; it’s truly an architectural wonder.
I hope to see it someday... but no plans at the moment.
Nice pic. Looks like it was a nice warm day.
A little lizard says good afternoon from the Colosseum:
Bright! Hi there, Mr. Lizard.