1 July, 2019 - To Explore is a Great Adventure

July 1, 2019

AAAAAAAAAH! Here we are in the final days of our Mediterranean vacation. We know that we must go home (and we look forward to being back home with our children), and yet we don’t want to say goodbye to la Bella Italia! 

To begin the day, we went to look for a good pasticeria for some cornetti con crema. We found one really close to the Campo de’ Fiori last night online, so we headed there. After searching, we found one (though I’m not so sure it was the correct one). They only had chocolate-filled cornetti, so we ordered 2 of them to go. When we began eating them, we discovered that they must have been yesterday’s cornetti. They were stale and hard. The chocolate cream inside was good, though. Pazienza. 

At Campo de’ Fiori, we bought a cup of fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice (yes, we watched them squeeze it) and a cup of sliced strawberries and kiwi to finish off our breakfast. I really would like one of those juicers. Pomegranate juice is divine! Anyway, we strolled the market looking at the fresh fruits and vegetables and all of the oils and vinegars and spices they had available. It was a lot of fun. We were drawn in to a vendor that was doing a very entertaining job at demonstrating some little kitchen gadgets. In the end, we couldn’t say no, and we bought a set. We can’t wait to get home and try them out. 

Outside of the market and around the corner, we found a clothing stand (“Made iN India...very good quality). The whole time we’ve been here we have seen ladies wearing a certain style of pants that Sherry Ann really likes, so we’ve been looking for them everywhere. And this stand had some! Sherry Ann found a pair she liked, and we asked how much they cost. The man said, “25€.” We hesitated and he said, “for you a discount at 18€. Made in India...very good quality.” We asked for 15€, and he went down to 17€. We didn’t budge, and he finally accepted our offer of 15€ for the pants. Score! 

From there, we made our way to the Pantheon and went inside. It still amazes me how enormous the space is inside. We stayed there for about 45 minutes to an hour, but it didn’t even bother us. That building is just amazing. From there, we walked down the street and found a small souvenir for each of us, and went to the Rosso Pommodoro for lunch. I told Sherry Ann that she needed to order for us...in Italian. She did a great job! Sherry Ann had an amazing salad, and I had another lasagna. The real treat (no pun intended) was the dessert. It was Baccio (chocolate hazelnut) gelato, covered in magic shell and chopped hazelnuts. Cue the “Hallelujah Chorus”, please. It was AAAAAAAAH-MAZING! If it wasn’t made of gelato, we’d have ordered another to take back to the apartment. Then, we returned to the apartment for siesta time. 

At about 17:00, we connected with all of the kids via FB Messenger video chat. We were able to talk to them for nearly 2 hours before Mattina Ann needed to go to work, and AJ had to get going, too. So, we went out again. This time, I gave Sherry Ann the job of deciding where we were going, how to get there, and guide us. She found a chocolate factory and shop near Termini train station (kind of). We got off the metro and made our way south on Via Marsala to Via Tiburtina, then turned to the east to a little tiny alley. To be honest, thought the area was a little sketchy. It was dilapidated and not at all familiar. It was definitely an adventure. Sherry Ann decided that she wanted to buy 100% chocolate. As dark as dark can get. The lady looked at her and smirked, then asked if Sherry Ann was sure. Then she said maybe she could try it first. Okay, I do NOT recommend it at all. She ended up getting 72%. I got some milk chocolate with pistachios. 

At this point, Sherry Ann decided that she got us good and lost, it was up to me to find our way back to civilization. We hopped on a tram, then on the metro and ended up at Piazza Del Popolo. By the time we got off there, it was dark...21:45. We found a pizzeria nearby and enjoyed prosciutto and melon, and a margarita pizza. Then we walked back into the piazza and sat by the fountain for a few minutes before heading down the Via Del Corso to Piazza Venezia. By this time, it was 22:30. We have learned that the tram is pretty unreliable, so we decided to walk back to Trastevere from there. We made it back, got our gelato, and made it down the road and the tram still hadn’t made it to the station where we would have gotten off. Good thing we walked. 

It had been an adventure. But it was a lot of fun. The only problem with going to bed tonight is that there’s only one more full day in Rome before we go home on Wednesday.