Port 4: Rome

My god! Why? Why do I have to be so dehydrated, out of shape and just exhausted all the time?

Today started well enough. I was able to get a few bites of bagel down, and knew I needed to eat more but couldn’t. I had no idea how disastrous that decision would be.

Anyhow, the day started off with a LONG wait for the excursion bus to pick us up. They called our number, we all walked out to the stall they said our bus was at – only it wasn’t. We stood outside for 1.5 hours waiting for this bus to show up. No one would tell us what was going on so we just stood there.

Finally the bus arrived, we piled on and took off for Rome. It took us almost 2 hours to get there due to traffic and an accident. When we finally got off the bus we met our tour guide and we were off. I could barely understand her so it made for a tough time paying attention.

Our first stop, The Spanish steps. This was the replacement stop for NOT going inside the coliseum. Yah not a good swap. There’s nothing interesting about the Spanish steps. 

Still we soldiered on to the Trevi Fountain. I’m starting to feel a bit weird by this point but kept going. I pulled out a protein bar hoping that would make me feel better. After she explained the Trevi fountain to us, we had some free time. I had to pee (or something else) so I went inside a gelato store, paid 1 euro and stood in line. After which, I just sat in a chair in the store.

My back was aching and my legs were feeling like logs. I was drinking as much water as I could and still wasn’t enough.

We started the trek to the coliseum which took us past the Roman Forum and some other ruins. She explained what they were but I wasn’t paying any attention. I hurt. All over. My back was starting to spasm a little and my right calf was trying to cramp with every step.

We left the forum and ended up in front of the colosseum. Such a magnificent building. I could stare at it all day and night. I marvel at how they were able to build that building without the technology we have today. I realize it was slave labor, but I’m talking more technical than that. So amazing. I was both sad and happy that we didn’t go into the building. By this time both calves were cramping and my shins were about to start to join the fun.

We walked a small distance for lunch in this amazing, kinda underground restaurant. I drank 9 glasses of water – NINE…and I still felt thirsty. And I didn’t pee a bit. I knew I was in trouble at this point for sure.

Our lunch was this yummy pasta in tomato sauce followed by veal, weed salad (that what I call a spring mix), and roasted potatoes. I’m not a fan of veal so I left that alone. Didn’t want to eat the salad because I didn’t want that to react to my already questionable gastro issues. The potatoes were good though.

We met our guide outside and we were off to find the bus that would then be taking us to St. Peter’s Basilica. Only, there was no way I was going to be able to walk that far. My legs were cramping all over the place. I asked our “assistant” tour guide if she could find a place for me to sit and it turned out the “grandma” on the trip and one other guest also wanted to sit. So where the bus dropped us off, she found us a little restaurant. We sat while the group went about there way. They had a pretty interesting bathroom.

When we made it back to the room, I was a complete mess. The gastro issues were back. Both legs were cramping at any given time. Trying to stretch one muscle almost always started another cramping. I was completely miserable. In fact, I only took 18 photos in Rome. EIGHTEEN!! That's so not like me.

I drank some electrolytes and a massive amount of water. I thought for sure that would fix my cramping issue and life could go on. Fingers crossed.