Roma - October 11

The Trevi Fountain where we threw the three coins in the fountain.
The Collosseum
A Centurion lost his helmet!
The beautiful ceiling at Basilica of St. Paul seen through an arch.
The malachite altar at St. Paul

This morning we arrived very early in Civitavecchia, the port for Rome. We were scheduled to take a private tour with some friends, but it was not to be. There had been a mix-up and the van could only hold 6 not 8, so we stayed behind. We were resigned to spending the day in the port. It turned out to be our lucky day though! At the entrance to the port we met Stefano, a delightful Roman driver. We negotiated a price and he whisked us off to Rome. Stefano drove a four door Ford Focus which turned out to be the perfect car for touring Rome. He whipped in and out of traffic and found parking spots so close to the places we stopped that he kept telling us it was his lucky day too.

The Pope was canonizing 5 saints today, so St. Peter’s was an impossibility. Stefano took us instead to the Basilica of St. Paul and the Basilica of Santa Croce de Gerusaleme. We hadn’t been to either one and they were beautiful! In the first one we saw the most magnificent altar made of malachite. The ceilings were as breathtaking in their own way as those of the Sistine Chapel.

The next stop was the Collosseum and the Forum. The place was mobbed so we didn’t go in (we had done that before). We walked around and took lots of photos . We met Stefano for lunch at a restaurant right across the street from the Collosseum. We had told him we would like a typical Roman lunch. On the surface it appeared that the restaurant LeGladiatore was a tourist place. But it turns out that Stefano and Franco (the owner/manager) are friends. So we were taken into a private room. No menus were produced just the most heavenly food. We started with a glass of prosecco, followed by two huge platters of antipasto with such an assortment of things they could have been a meal on their own. Next we had pasta with clams cooked perfectly and a house red wine which was light and very tasty. Finally, when we begged off any Dolci or cheese, we had the best cappuccino and amaretto I have ever tasted. Everything was accompanied by delicious crusty bread and a sort of foccacia. Stefano was our guest for lunch, but he drank no wine. I don’t normally write so much about the food but it was so good I just had to. We could see tourists sitting at tables outside and they had menus and their food didn’t look like ours when they got it. I think we got the locals food.

Finally we were off to the Trevi Fountain where once again Stefano found a spot to park a block away. We threw the obligatory coins in the fountain and then walked to the Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps. It was crowded but not as bad as the last time we were there.

Finally we returned to our car and headed back to Civitavecchia. We had walked 7.5 miles, eaten a great meal and had a fabulous time. Stefano’s English is not perfect, but we understood everything. I’ll be back in May and September and I’ll be contacting him again to take us in to the