Saturday, July 10, 2010

La Casa di Rosy, Roma
1237 EET

We managed to hold out ’til 2000 before going to be and awake this morning at approximately 0500. We did not rise until later and had a bowl of cereal and pastry bread with jam and juice provided by the B&B. After delaying our departure because I started and finished my second airplane novel, we made our way about Roma. Our first stop was a park to look briefly at the ruins of a Roman fountain and Mom learned the proper way to drink from a noso – Italian for nose, like the shape of the drinking fountains.

Mom drinking from a noso fountain.

That we learned in discussion with the young Italian archaeologist at the Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale which had India, Korea, Iran, and Tibet exhibits and artefacts on display. There was also a small amount of text offered, but the items tended to speak for themselves as well as places names and dates being identifiable. In our discussion he recommended a visit to a church built over a cult centre of Minerva[Mithras?] which has some of the first artwork of Hell. In response to my query, he also recommended a good museum for Romans which is near the Termini and another connected to it which exhibits are good for his area of study.

Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale.

Street that Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale is on.

Lunch was a meal of cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and oil baked on a very nice bread for €7.00 [$9.1403] all together. Picking up some toothpaste and hats from street vendors at €7.00 [$9.1403] each, we returned to our rooms for an afternoon nap, which I am now going to indulge in.

Alanna with cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and oil baked on bread lunch.

La Casa di Rosy, Roma
1818 EET

After our afternoon nap, which I was very reluctant to wake up from as Mom will attest too, we departed our room to search out two inexpensive restaurants, the Monte Arci and Trimani Wine Bar, recommended in Fromer’s Italy 2010 which were found with out difficulty as they are located where their streets, Via Castelfirdardo and Via Cernaia intersect. The Trimani Wine Bar was closed so we made reservations for 1900 at Mont Arci. While progressing down Via XX Settembre our planned route to Foro Traniano the location of a tour meeting place, I overheard a couple mentioning the need to get money and provided directions to the termini to the Newfoundland pair.

La Casa di Rosy, Roma
2059 EET

We spent less than half and hour upon our return for a rest before departing for Monte Arci so I will return to this afternoon events. Continuing down Settembre onto Via del Quirinale where we came upon the Piazza del Qurininale and clear blue sky provided a view of Il Valicani and the dome of Basilica S. Pietro in particular. After correcting Mom’s assumption that the colonna in the piazza was not the Traniano, we continued down Via XXIV Maggio, which would be our first introduction to the hills of Roma.

View of Il Valicani and the dome of Basilica S. Pietro.

Fountain, statues, and pillar in Piazza del Qurininale.

Transverse-ing the pedestrian-staircase-road Via Magnanapol we came upon the Colonna Traiano, a gorgeous and humongous-ly tall white pillar. Then as we also wanted to find our second tour meeting location, we travelled the Via dei Fon Imperiali towards the Colosseo. We admired the ruins and monuments seen but did not linger and took other roads back to avoid the mass of tourists along the Imperiali and enjoyed the shade, quiet, and seeing more of the city.

Our first view of Colonna Traiano from Via Magnanapol.

Wee Alanna in front of Colonna Traiano and that's not even all of the pillar.

Along Via Cavour our selected route to Santa Maria Maggiore, we each got a cone of gelato at €2.00 [$2.6115] with my selected flavours being walnut and dark chocolate and Irish cream, the first time I in years I have eaten chocolate ice cream. We now know our route to both meeting locations and after less than half an hour in our room made our way to Monte Arci.

Alanna holding Monte Arci menu.

From their menu, I selected the Fromer’s recommended paglio e fiano al Monte Arci, which is a divine pasta dish with spinach, bacon, and cream sauce. It was so divine that I had to demand my plate back from Mom when we traded plates to exchange tastes; she was eating it all on me! My dish was €10.00 [$13.0576], as was Mom’s pasta dish of linguine with mushrooms and oil sauce, plus her purchase of a 354ml bottle of red vino to toast some friends back home who were/are getting married today (time difference and all that) and appetizers with tip brought the bill to €45.10 [$58.8897]. So an expensive meal for two back home, but not here, and very worth it.

Mom toasting her newlywed friends back in Saskatchewan.

On our wander back, through Piazzo della Reppubblica, which we had crossed through before and on one of the trips purchased a large slice of watermelon for €1.00 [$1.3058] each. Nearing our B&B we found one of the many souvenir shops was selling ten postcards for €3.50 [$4.5702], the best we’d seen so far so we purchased a selection. All that remains now is finding a post office and buying stamps.