ARRIVIDERCI ROMA

After a long, satisfying, and tiring day at Vatican City, we slept in and took it easy today.

Weather was great, as advertised: blue skies and temps in the low to mid 70s.

It was close to 1:30 pm before we headed out to catch a city bus. It must be time to leave Roma, because we have finally figured out so many things that we don't always look like bumbling tourists trying to find our way. Landmarks are now familiar. We walk like locals, sure of our steps, nonchalantly making our way up the metro stairs without wondering in which direction to go.

While staying at the Marriott Rome Park has been great in terms of amenities and facilities (how likely are we to be upgraded to a suite with two bathrooms?) its location in the suburbs has meant extra daily travel time. To me personally, that inconvenience was well worth it. Not because of the suite, but because it got us out of Rome's center where only the very well off Romans can live and the tourists stay. It enabled us to see how the vast majority of Romans make their way each day, the kind of places they live, the stores in which they buy produce, meat and all the daily essentials. It once again reinforces how lucky we are to have been born in the United States of America in the 20th Century. Repeating myself: Romans and Italians may enjoy a better quality of life (evident to me solely on the basis of how I see them work and play and spend time with their families), but Americans enjoy a higher/better standard of living.

We took our blue line metro train to Termini and transfered to the red line and got off at Piazza Republicca. On Via Orlando, we stopped i a Il Fratinelli, the Italian Barnes and Noble. You see these bookstores all over the city. We browsed the titles, all in Italian of course, and were excited when we found one of our favorite authors published with an Italian title and cover. Something I saw there for the first time are Smart Box. Perhaps they exist elsewhere, and in English, but it was an eye opener for me. For any where from 39 Euros and up, you get a full-color, glossy page guidebook with various options for bed and brakfast, agri-tourism, weekend getaways, bike tours, gourmet trips... And at least one, if not two nights, are then pre-paid for your vacation. Pretty neat concept, I thought.

From Il Fratinelli, we walked around the neighborhood, waiting for Santa Maria della Vittoria chiesa (church) to open. This little, out of the way church had a Bernini sculpture Andrea was dying to see. It depicts the the agony or the ecstasy of the barefoot nun. It's agreat little chapel, in this small, but rich church.

From there, we went in search of an espresso and gelato for Andrea (she has been jonesing for gelato for days because the freezer that contains gelato at the hotel has been on the "Fritz" if you get my meaning. Near Piazza Barberini, we found the perfect place; White (

Then we walked up the hill to Palazzo Barberini, which contains a unique collection of paintings and sculpture in this grand old palace of the famous Barberini clan. The ceiling frescoes in the rooms may be the best we've seen to date, and I encountered some new-to-me masters about whom I shan't bore you. Per usual, we closed the museum at 7:00 and like the rest of mostly working Rome, we hopped aboard a bus to take us cross town to a restaurant recommended by David and Ann Wilkins.

Da Constanza turned out to be the best meal so far, making up for Tuesday's meals turned terrors. It is located in the remains of Pompei's Theatre, in use during Julius Caesar's BC. The walls reveal the ancient brickwork, and the ceiling is curved, revealing the form of the old amphitheatre. Some Carpento chianti classico, San Pelligrino to drink. For antipasta, we had fried zuchinni, grilled eggplant, broiled peppers, sauteed mushrooms and the best little boiled onions. I ordered two oysters on the half shell (magnifico). For dinner, I ate turkey breast in the best mushroom and wine sauce I have had in years and a Jerusalem artichoke. Andrea had her usual mixed salad, but the dressing was perfecto. Her primary dish was the risotto verde, a green, pesto, cheese melange that was fantastico! For dessert, Andrea had a chamomille tea (it was nearly 9:30 pm, and you know she cannot have caffeine after 4:00 pm) with a heavenly, light, mousse zabglioni. Andrea thinks it had rum in it.

We then hopped the bus to the train station, and were home by 11:00 pm, to begin organizing to pack for Thursday's departure. Stupid Google. I didn't get to bed until 1:30 am because of the difficulties of uploading photos onto the blog

After some weird dreams that included my sister Leslie, her old high school friend Debbie Sher, my cousin Lila Beth, Aunto Dodo and Uncle Otto, among others way out of the blue, I could not sleep. So I got up and did some work, ordered our driver for the train station... Andrea awoke at 8:45 am.

While we arrived at the train station with plenty of time to spare, I made a near "fatal" mistake that "only cost 20€ to fix. We looked and looked on the departure board for our 12:15 train, but it never showed. Beginning to panic, I waited in a customer service line untol 12:05 when a hustler approached, asking who needed help. Per usual, his English was very good, and he told us we needed to stamp our tickets at a ticket stamping machine in order to see what track our train is on. Who knew? Obviously not me. We ran our butts off, and then had to go all the way down to the very end of the train, coach #1, to mount. After having arrived at the train station at 11:25, we barely made it and found room for our bags just as the train pulled away exactly at 12:15!

I am finishing writing this on the train, and the verdant, rolling, grape vineyard strewn landscape flows past our window. We are within 15 minutes of Florence...