Friday morning brought the unenviable task of having to pull away from San Giovanni and Tuscany. We got on the A1 and drove the two and a half hours south, back to Fiumicino Airport to return our Fiat Grande Punto. Though it was a very uncomfortable car, it for some reason was a teary ( OK, not really ) goodbye as we left it in the parking lot at the airport.
We took a taxi to our short term rental in Rome at 80 Via Labicana. From the map, we knew we were close to the coliseum, but I don't think we were prepared for how close we actually were. Our drive in was harrowing, confirming what everyone has said about driving in Rome. It is Florence on steroids. The streets go every direction except straight, and the cars again just sort of drive where they want. The scooters are everywhere. We were really glad we had decided not to attempt driving in Roma Centro.
We got to our apartment, got our things up the lift ( the kids love the lift because it has a gate and two doors you have to close on your own ), and went to get lunch and explore Rome for a bit. We had some sandwiches at the tabaccheria right below our apartment, and it promptly started pouring rain. Apparently whenever we enter an Italian city, it must rain to welcome us. The rain persisted in varying strengths for a few hours, then about four or so it started to clear.
We made our way to Trestavere, a neat little neighborhood across the Tiber river from the rest of Rome. We had read about a gelateria there that was supposedly out of this world, Gelateria De La Scalla. We found it after getting a decent city map, and my oh my was it good. I had banana for the first time, and it was fabulous. Everyone agreed that this was our new favorite.
We took a walk back across the river and wandered through Piazza Navona and Campo Di Fiori. Piazza Navona was great because there were lots of things happening. The street performers were out in full force, and we enjoyed watching various musicians and performers do their thing.
We came back to the apartment after that and got dressed for dinner. We took a short cab ride back to Trestavere and La Lucia for some pasta. Shelley and Charlie had tortellini, Margaret had some fabulous pasta with panchetta in it, and I had some pasta that had a combination of crack cocaine and other fabulous ingredients. We sat outside and ate dinner till close to 11 o'clock. There were people everywhere as we wandered back to a main road and caught a cab back. Rome was just getting started as we were turning in.
The kids did a fabulous job of hanging in there for a very long day, and crashed as soon as we got back to the apartment. A day well spent.
Today we are going to the Vatican and St Peters. We can't wait.
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