Day: 13 September 2011

Rome, Italy

The trip from Singapore to Frankfurt is best forgotten!

We arrived in Rome yesterday 12th September, feeling exhausted. We waited 45 minutes before our luggage appeared – 10 flights per carousel, so imagine the crowds!! Hopped onto the train to Termini station with several hundreds of others. Temperature – 32 degrees.

Our hotel is absolutely delightful in a quiet street surrounded by excellent eateries. The pescare is to die for! Last night we enjoyed dinner at Mamma Angela’s which is about 20 metres away.

I had a seafood risotto and Gray, a lasagne. I gather I have to work on my version of lasagne if it is to equal what he ate!
Streets are lined with motorbikes – far too many Japanese bikes, but did spot a good old Vespa.

We slept like logs.

After breakfast we headed off on the Metro to the Colosseum – such intrepid travellers. We went in the wrong direction only once!
I was suddenly in my latin class of 1959 as we stepped out onto the road from Colesseo Station – quite overwhelming!

There are still truckloads, actually busloads, of tourists about.

After lunch where we were given a complimentary grappo,

we walked down to the Bocca bella Verita in true Audrey and Gregory style. As you can see Gray passed the test! He still has his hand.

We are loving the coffee and feel insulted when offered Cafe Americana!

Rome, Italy

Oh dear, when you are offered free lemonccello at the end of a meal you know you have spent lots of money – but it was so worth it!!

We set off for the Trevi fountain at about 6pm when it was slightly cooler. Gray was navigator, planning the trip whilst I had a teeny tiny Nana nap back at the hotel.
After a short trip we came up out of the Metro to see a fountain! Not where we had expected it to be, and almost no-one around it. Perhaps this was real luck? But some intense map checking proved it was the wrong one!

However, all was sorted when he found the right one.

The crowds were still quite large and I wasn’t keen to push through them to get down to the edge.

I guessed that none of them would have understood that I’d been waiting to throw my coins in since I was about 12 years old. Gray had them ready in his pocket.

In the end it was enough to savour the moment and enjoy the atmosphere.
We decided to find a trattoria on the way back to the station to have our dinner.

In true Clayton fashion we found an amazing restorante and spent a wonderful time appreciating excellent food and wine. Anyone going to Rome, I’d certainly recommend Il Vineto restaurant.

Back at our little hotel, we feel relaxed, ready to face packing up and heading to Firenze tomorrow.

Arrivederci Roma