May 18, 2009
Day 2 a Roma, today was a whirlwind about Rome with Carlo and Luca, mostly from the car. So one thing about Romans, even though there is a great public transportation system in the city, they love to drive their cars, despite the insane traffic and inability to find parking.
We drove into Rome this morning, where we met Carlo, and took a walk to Parco Degli Aquadotti, to see the old Roman aquaducts, if you have been to our house you have seen the pictures from our previous trip in our dining room. We absolutely love the Aquadotti, it is very peaceful, you suddenly walk out of the hustle and bustle of Rome and it’s as if you find yourself in another time all together.
From here we took a looong car ride to several Roman churches…at some point they all run together, the part that really stuck out was the fact that we ran across 6 lanes of CRAZY Romans multiple times to get there. We also hopped out of the car at one point for the highlight of my day an antique Roman chocolate factory…unfortunately I did not get to spend enough time here, it was a very quick stop in a fun filled day.
Another car ride landed us on the Ponte Mille, an old bridge for lovers. There are multiple sets of chains on the bridge and lovers come and place a lock on the chains and throw the key into the river below to symbolize their love is locked in eternally. Richard and I signed our lock and placed it right in the center, and threw all three key into the river.
We had to stop for lunch at some point, and with Carlo, this is no small event. I ate more in the one meal than I usually do in an entire day. We started out with ostrica (raw oysters), and a pizza dough bread, followed by a fusilli with frutti di mare pesto (fruits of the sea, clams, mussels, and calamari), then we had a kobe beef steak the size of my head with potatoes and bruschetta…WOW! I was more full than on Thanksgiving!
One more car ride landed us near the old city, so just a short walk took us to piazza del popolo (which was my favorite piazza on our first trip). Today it was not my favorite because one of the twin churches was under construction, so it was covered with scaffolding and could not be seen. From here we strolled down the via Margutta (famous artists street) and then on to Piazza di Spanga, where the theme of the day became doppo la scuola (after school). Lining the road from the piazza di Spanga are very expensive shops, including Bulgari, Ferragamo, Jimmy Choo, Prada, Gucci, Cartier, etc… One last stop before heading to Carlo’s, Gelato!!! (2 for 2)
We retired to Carlo’s for dinner, drinks, and entertainment. By entertainment I am referring to his large Italian family, currently he has two daughters, a grand daughter, and a mother-in-law living with him, and they typify American stereotypes of an Italian family, it was wonderful. We also had our first pizzas of the trip, there is just no comparison to anything we have at home, they were wonderful.
Day 2 a Roma, today was a whirlwind about Rome with Carlo and Luca, mostly from the car. So one thing about Romans, even though there is a great public transportation system in the city, they love to drive their cars, despite the insane traffic and inability to find parking.
We drove into Rome this morning, where we met Carlo, and took a walk to Parco Degli Aquadotti, to see the old Roman aquaducts, if you have been to our house you have seen the pictures from our previous trip in our dining room. We absolutely love the Aquadotti, it is very peaceful, you suddenly walk out of the hustle and bustle of Rome and it’s as if you find yourself in another time all together.
From here we took a looong car ride to several Roman churches…at some point they all run together, the part that really stuck out was the fact that we ran across 6 lanes of CRAZY Romans multiple times to get there. We also hopped out of the car at one point for the highlight of my day an antique Roman chocolate factory…unfortunately I did not get to spend enough time here, it was a very quick stop in a fun filled day.
Another car ride landed us on the Ponte Mille, an old bridge for lovers. There are multiple sets of chains on the bridge and lovers come and place a lock on the chains and throw the key into the river below to symbolize their love is locked in eternally. Richard and I signed our lock and placed it right in the center, and threw all three key into the river.
We had to stop for lunch at some point, and with Carlo, this is no small event. I ate more in the one meal than I usually do in an entire day. We started out with ostrica (raw oysters), and a pizza dough bread, followed by a fusilli with frutti di mare pesto (fruits of the sea, clams, mussels, and calamari), then we had a kobe beef steak the size of my head with potatoes and bruschetta…WOW! I was more full than on Thanksgiving!
One more car ride landed us near the old city, so just a short walk took us to piazza del popolo (which was my favorite piazza on our first trip). Today it was not my favorite because one of the twin churches was under construction, so it was covered with scaffolding and could not be seen. From here we strolled down the via Margutta (famous artists street) and then on to Piazza di Spanga, where the theme of the day became doppo la scuola (after school). Lining the road from the piazza di Spanga are very expensive shops, including Bulgari, Ferragamo, Jimmy Choo, Prada, Gucci, Cartier, etc… One last stop before heading to Carlo’s, Gelato!!! (2 for 2)
We retired to Carlo’s for dinner, drinks, and entertainment. By entertainment I am referring to his large Italian family, currently he has two daughters, a grand daughter, and a mother-in-law living with him, and they typify American stereotypes of an Italian family, it was wonderful. We also had our first pizzas of the trip, there is just no comparison to anything we have at home, they were wonderful.
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