Day 12: Rome to Madrid

Our second (and last) morning in Rome, we decided to repeat our delicious breakfast at the Beehive Cafe. We ordered two cinnamon apple pancakes, crepe-style (the menu changes every day). Once again, we were thoroughly pleased with the food our hotel had to offer. We didn't feel like taking the Metro again, since we only had a few hours left, so we wandered around the area near our hotel. We found a random Basilica (not THE Basilica) with some science exhibits about Galileo and his work inside the church. There was also a star map on the floor that (if you know how to read it) let you know which famous stars were overhead any time. Our last Rome lunch was wonderful - panini, a sandwich, and tomato/mozarella salad. We bought one last Italian gelato, then returned to our hotel to grab our things and say farewell to kitty Ingmar.

Back during our first day in Rome, we did some extensive research on transportation to the airport. We chose the train over the Metro, since it was cleaner and cheaper and less crowded. However, we ran into a slight problem. The train station was not actually next to the airport. Luckily, we improvised and managed to make the rest of our journey with a fairly inexpensive cab ride (the only taxi we took during our entire vacation). We were pleased to make it to the airport with time to spare, and even more pleased to be done with our last RyanAir flight. Avoid RyanAir, it is not an airline we recommend.

We arrived safely in Madrid, and it was nice to be back in a familiar city. We retrieved our extra suitcase that we had left in hotel storage, settled in, and searched for a good place to eat. We ended up eating at a restaurant we had eaten lunch at our first day in Madrid. The fixed price menu was inexpensive, tasty, and traditional, and the entire restaurant was filled with Spaniards. We tried Spanish cheesecake for dessert that night, mmm.