April 23, 2018 - Roma

We arrived yesterday afternoon and our driver was waiting to pick us up at Fiumicino.  The airport wasn’t nearly the zoo I remembered.  Going through passport control could have been bad because there must have been close to one thousand people in an endless queue.  Fortunately, we both had walking sticks and a very nice official lady pulled us out of the line and took us to a special desk where we went through in moments.  (I guess aging does have some benefits.)  Our luggage was going around the carousel by the time we got there.  We met our driver and we were off.  I had booked a car through Blacklane and I would have to highly recommend them.  The driver was excellent and the Mercedes van was spotless.

We’re staying at the Villa Spalletti Trivelli, a boutique hotel near the Quirinale Presidential Palace and only minutes from the Trevi Fountain and other sights in Rome.  Our room is large, well appointed, has an enormous bathroom, and perhaps most important, cool!  It’s hot here in Rome.

The Villa's main door behind all those cars

Our room

We were so tired last evening when we arrived that we didn’t go out.  The hotel has a complimentary open bar from 5 to 7 PM.  You fix your own drinks so we availed ourselves of that and sat outside in the garden just chilling out.  The hotel has a small menu that looked good. We had a light meal and a nice bottle of wine from the owner’s vineyard in Umbria.  Then it was time for some serious sleeping.

After a good night’s rest we got up feeling human again this morning.  Our room includes a very nice breakfast.  There are fruits, yogurts, breads, cold cuts and cakes and you can order eggs, sausages etc.  I had a wonderful cappuccino. That’s one of the things I love on vacations but am too lazy to make at home.  After breakfast we headed off to the Trevi Fountain.  The last time Al and I were there it was totally mobbed and half the people there were a group of Chinese Naval Academy cadets. It was funny seeing that group because they were in uniform, all exactly the same height and weight and it looked like an army of clones.  Anyway, today it was still crowded, not as much, and the fountain had been cleaned so it looked quite lovely. Of course I had to throw my coins in.

Trevi Fountain

Tossing a coin (that's me in the green)

Next we decided to take a Hop On-Hop Off bus.  It was interesting and we saw many of the places we’d visited on previous trips.  When we left the bus we headed to the Pantheon, which Al had never seen before. For those unfamiliar with it, the Pantheon was originally built around 27 B.C. as a temple to all the gods.  Between 120 and 124 AD it was rebuilt  by Emperor Hadrian after it suffered fire damage. The building is a circular structure, a rotunda, connected to a columned portico.  At the apex of the dome is an opening called an oculus which allows for light to shine in and illuminate the building.  Two thousand years after its construction the dome is still one of the largest in the world and specifically the largest built of unreinforced concrete.  Those Romans knew how to build, didn’t they?

Exterior of the Pantheon

The oculus

Main altar

On our way there we stopped at a small restaurant and had a nice pizza and a bottle of house wine.  As an aside we have found in our travels that house wines can be very good and very reasonable.  We also saw a palm reader who would tell you your fortune in English, Italian, Spanish or French. (We didn't avail ourselves of his services.) After that it was time to come back “home” for a little siesta.  I think it was the wine and the heat or perhaps it’s our age.  Maybe a little of both.

A multilingual palm reader

Tonight we’re eating at a little place around the corner that Katie and I had been to when we stayed here several years ago.  I’ll write about that next time.  For now buona sera!