Doing as the Romans Do

Yesterday Colleen, Leise and myself set out to explore the city. We wandered from Ottaviano, a main shopping street, across the river into one of the most beautiful areas of the city I've encountered so far. It was one of the areas of the city where the street plans are left over from the medieval times, so they wind about between closely clustered houses, and make for great exploring. We window-shopped antique stores filled with replica roman statues and tables made out of old columns. Lights form Christmas are still strung over the cobble stone streets. We found a great trattoria for lunch and sat in their outdoor covered area under heat lamps. My antipasti included the best parmesan cheese I've ever had, and I've had a lot of parmesan cheese. We ate Roman style-split a bottle of wine and sat there for about three hours enjoying it. We didn't get up from our table until 4:30, and we weren't even the last table to finish up. We had passed a home-made gelateria earlier and wove our way back there, and I had apple-cinnamon and walnut gelato. I probably keep saying this, but it was the best gelato. The gelateria (which is hidden in the little alleyway pictured) had an array of creative flavors, and gluten-free cones. Needless to say, I'm going back soon and often.

Some more wandering took us through Piazza Novona and to the Pantheon, and eventually to a bridge across the Tiber River where we watched the lights of the Vatican turn on as night set in. It was the perfect time of night to just sit and enjoy Rome, and we did, for quite a while. Plans to meet up with friends from school eventually took us on a long but enjoyable walk past the end of Via XX Settembre, where our school is. An enjoyable night out at an Irish pub on Via Natzionale and finally a lot of sleep. Lazy day today exploring the neighborhood, and maybe some adventures with cooking dinner later...or maybe we'll just eat a block of cheese.