Italy: Rome, Thursday 3/21/24

We had just a little time in Florence this morning before our checkout and train ride to Rome. We took some pictures in front of the Duomo and Santa Croce, then had another breakfast at Forno Ghibellina. We dragged ourselves and our bags to the train station to catch our train to Rome. We'd chosen seats where four were situated around a table, and the girls and Mom and Dad had a gin tournament on the ride--a tradition they started during a train ride in Portugal last year. 

We got two taxis at the Rome train station to take us to our Air BnB. This apartment was gorgeous--murals on the ceilings, artwork everywhere, lots of portraits--but the bathrooms were ancient to the point of being almost unusable. And the beds were very very narrow. This is an important detail, but we won't realize that for another two nights.

Famished, we went right away to lunch at a place across from our apartment, Bistrot Navona. We squeezed around a table outside and had:

Drinks: glasses of prosecco (me and Mom), Fanta (Lucia), sparkling water (Dad), lemon soda (Greta), beer (Andrew)

Me: gnocchi

Andrew: polpette (meatballs)

Lucia: pizza amatriciana

Greta: gnocchi

Mom: tagliatelle polpette

Dad: gnocchi

The food was delicious. Starting out our Rome visit with gnocchi is a win.

Then we set out to explore Rome. We walked to Piazza Navona, and then to the Pantheon, where we joined the line to go inside. The line was long but went quickly, and then we were standing under the oculus. Amazing. We walked to Campo de Fiori and had Aperol spritzes at a cafe; the girls had mocktails. We then spent a little time in the apartment.

Then it was time for my favorite part of day: dinner. We had a reservation at Salimbuco. Our table wasn't quite ready, so we sat at the bar and began a bottle of chianti. Soon we were seated, and had yet another delicious meal:

Me: polpette (a bowl of meatballs)

Andrew: 

Lucia: fettucini with pesto and shrimp

Greta:

Mom:

Dad: gnocchi with pesto

The girls got a chocolate and almond cake for dessert. Andrew got a glass of grappa and struggled through it. We all got a shot of a cherry almond liquor (and could not drink it--like robitussin). It was an excellent meal all around.