This morning was our last in beautiful Tuscany and we are heading for the craziness known as Rome. The ride in the car was about two hours and besides some rain and patches of heavy traffic, it was an easy trip from Cortona to the Rome airport. Why the airport? Because Guy was kind enough to let me return the car there vs. me having to drive in Rome. I've done it before and it isn't easy. Last night Guy hopped on his phone and booked us a car to pick us up. The cost is about the same as a cab, but you have the price from point A to point B in an email, and it's not as likely you will be taken advantage of. At the airport we returned the car to Sixt car rental on the 4th floor of a parking garage. That was interesting. It was a great little car and I enjoyed driving it. It was called an Opel. Guy thinks it is a German-made car. Anyway, it was returned without a scratch, but we sure did put some serious mileage on it! The car/limo company called us as the driver actually came up to the 4th floor to find us, but our email said to meet them outside, which we were. We hopped in the black Mercedes and headed for the old city.
The ride into Rome was about 30 minutes. That gave me time to catch up on Amanda's blog of the Herrin high school's European travelers. Her stories are always fun and it's like reading a well written novel. Her mom is with her as well as Tricia and Madeline Asbury from our church. I can't wait to hear their stories. - In Rome the cabbie got a bit lost but he wasn't too far off from our hotel, which he said is "Invisible" which is true. The tiny door of the Hotel Piazza Venezia is between a gelateria and a police station. Two nice things to have close! Entering the long tiny tunnel of a reception area, I was thinking how I couldn't work there as the entire space is claustrophobic to say the least! Our room is on the second floor and the stairs are nice and open. As we entered room #209, it is quite stunning inside with a beautifully decorated modernistic feel, air conditioning, marble floors, good size shower, shampoo and other fancy toiletries, free wifi, breakfast in the morning and best of all...slippers! And they are BLACK and quite fancy. This place officially gets high marks once I saw the slippers. Our only unpleasant surprise is scaffolding out our window. But even if it wasn't there, the view is of the building right next door. However, it does pass the fire test...I can hop out the window and shimmy down the scaffolding two floors to the ground. Ha Ha.
After settling in and freshening up, we head out and grab a sandwich and coke from a local bar and took it to the Coliseum to have a picnic. Well, more like a people watching adventure while sitting on a stone wall. It is packed with people and there are two military hummers/tanks with two guys with machine guns blocking the road from traffic. We haven't figured out why they were there just yet, but they were letting public busses go through and that is about it. Sadly, the Forum is officially blocked off and you have to buy a ticket to go inside. We aren't sure if it was totally fenced in two years ago, but the years before we could just walk through. The fencing is sad to see, but if it protects it for future generations, then I suppose it's ok. The giant stone arch by the Coliseum, which we once freely walked underneath, is now also fenced in. :(
We walked through the Victory Emmanuel which is just a block from our hotel and explored the military museum. We took some pictures with a friendly bird at the top and even managed a selfie with him. I think he is pretty well fed up there. Afterwards we came back to the room and decided to take a short nap. It is nearing 90 degrees today and if it wasn't for the overcast skies and fairly strong breeze, it would be on the verge of miserable. So we thought we'd cool off and head back out for an evening stroll or perhaps a tour of the city on the hop on hop off bus. We don't think we've done this in Rome before and since we aren't planning on any official tours this time, the bus will give plenty of insight to the area and we'll learn something new I'm sure. And if nothing else, the ticket is good for 24 hours and we can use it as our cab tomorrow when we plan on lengthier visits in our favorite areas.
After naps we suffered from a bit of "itis" (lazyitis) and we decided not to do the hop on, but instead eat at a recommended restaurant around the corner, then walk to the Trevi Fountain if it wasn't raining. So Dino, at the reception, told us about a great little restaurant around the corner called the La Cabana and he made us a reservation for 7:15. It literally was only 75 feet away. When we peeked inside it was totally adorable and they had our table waiting with our name on it. Our waiter spoke great English and was so nice to us. Everyone was. Most of the patrons were English speakers, but there were a few Italians there and one old fella that walked in that was clearly a regular. The waiters huddled around him when they weren't busy. So we both ordered starters. Guy had the fried cod and I had bruschetta. Both of us were a bit surprised because his plate was nearly big enough to be his meal and my bruschetta wasn't tomato, but mushrooms instead. They also brought us fresh-from-the-oven bread that they called focaccia, but I would call plain pizza bread with maybe some olive oil and salt. Very good. For our main entree Guy had veal with prosciutto and I had penne primavera. Guys was good but a bit salty and mine was good but I would have called it penne caprese. The pasta was hot, but it was topped with cold tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. I would have tossed it in a hot pan for a bit just to heat it all through, but I really enjoyed it as it was light and not too oily or buttery. Not much sauce at all. Very fresh. I enjoyed it.
We talked about walking to the Trevi Fountain for a gelato, but then we saw the dessert cart. There was no way you could say no. Seriously, even Guy got something, which is pretty unusual. I had the ricotta and chocolate tart and Guy had the apple pie. I also had a coffee, which was wonderful, and it was the end to a really fun meal. Guy spoke with the owner that sat at a little desk in the middle of the restaurant and told him what a nice time we had. The service was excellent and it was nice to be with such friendly people. While we were there, Dino (from our hotel) came in and got some food Togo. We laughed.
It wasn't raining, so to walk off our big fabulous meal we headed for the Trevi. Our hotel is a tiny thing, but is located in a pretty darn good spot! Only 7 minutes walk from the Trevi Fountain and maybe 10-15 to the coliseum. The Vatican is a bit further away, but I'm sure we'll get lots of walking in tomorrow. Guy wants to see the Pantheon tomorrow because you can't be this close and not go by. It, too, is just a short walk away. Now, back to the Trevi...we guessed there were 1000 people there, everyone with smiles. One young boy had just asked his girlfriend to marry him and she was crying and they were kissing. Good spot for "the big question". ;) Guy and I made our lame attempt at a selfie and I took several shots. My phone wasn't quite big enough to catch all of it, but we got several nice shots. It's about 8:45pm and the sky still has a bit of light. But the fountain is lit up beautifully. Two years ago, when the entire family came, it was all covered in scaffolding, so the kids didn't really get to see it. We've never seen it look so beautiful! Great job! Guy did a bit of research and there has been some kind of fountain with running water to this spot via viaduct for 2,000 years, but the fountain as we see it today has been there for 250 years. They gather up about 3,000 euros per day from the fountain and it goes to area charities/needy. Plus, lots of dreams are made here with a wish sent upwards with each coin that is tossed in. I hope they all come true.
We had a lovely stroll on the cobblestone streets as we headed back to the hotel. The ladies in their stilettos know to be on the sidewalks where the pavement is solid and flat. On this trip I've seen a lot of totally inappropriate footwear for strolling, but sometimes we must suffer for fashion. As we entered the hotel, Dino and the other fella at the desk wanted to know how our dinner was. We said great and we told them we even had dessert. The one guy asked Dino where his dessert was as he apparently was a recepient of the carry out Dino had picked up earlier. We all laughed. They are so nice here. They told us tomorrow afternoon they will be there and they will tell us of another great restaurant to go to. As we bid them a good night, we could hear them bantering back and forth about the best place to send us to tomorrow. It was hilarious.
Back in the room the hot shower will feel good after a long hot day of traveling and sight seeing. Guy has already had his and is sporting his fancy black slippers. I still have mine from the Excelsior, so I'm going to save mine for another trip. They are quite fabulous.
Not sure what tomorrow brings, but that is part of the fun! Good night from Rome.
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