Rome, Ruins and Rooftops

 Time to take a little vacation!  After over 2 weeks mostly spent in my house, I need to get out...even if it is virtually!  I have been saving our trip to Italy for just this purpose and I'm going to spread it out over several posts to make it last even longer.  Come along with us if you like, the pizza and gelato were excellent.  We spent 9 days in Italy at the end of March (and it is very hard to imagine that was a month ago!) with our daughter, her husband and their three sons on their spring break.  I think I can safely say, "A good time was had by all!".

How much do I love this?
I could end the blog right here and feel like all the bases have been covered!
Being up there with Capri, David and candy is high praise!

TJ and I arrived in Rome a day earlier than my daughter's family because we have more time these days and wanted an extra day to acclimate...so we could keep up with the youngsters.  We arrived at 7 a.m. and could not check into our Airbnb until 4 p.m.  A minor inconvenience which resulted in us dragging our luggage back and forth over cobblestones for several blocks to the Luggage Storage facility.  That is one way to stay awake after 4 hours of airplane sleep, but I don't recommend it.  

Back and forth, clackety clack went the wheels.

We stayed in the Navona area, which is near Piazza Navona and the Pantheon with narrow, cobblestone streets.  It is probably considered one of the more "touristy" neighborhoods which was perfect for our multi-generational trip. Very picturesque and historic, full of small restaurants with sidewalk seating, cute shops, little food stores, near many major "thing to see and do" and peaceful enough at night to sleep well.  It was a perfect place to expose three young men to Italy.  "Cobblestones be damned!" said the lady with the torn ACL wearing the knee brace.  Our arrival day went as most arrival days go.  We just put one foot in front of the other and kept moving until we checked in, showered, went to dinner and collapsed!  

Here we sit with our cobblestone weary bags waiting to meet our host.

Dinner at Taverna Angelica
 We celebrated our 30th anniversary here, with good friends, many moons ago.

Traveling abroad after over 2 years of "lockdown" was so exciting.  We felt like our dreams for retirement actually may come true someday.  We were exhausted and giddy all at the same time.  There is something about ancient walls, beautiful historic buildings, sidewalk cafes, rooftop bars, something new around every corner and being surrounded by history that draws us in and keeps us wanting more.  It only took us a few hours and a good lunch to get our travel gears moving.  I pinched myself and smiled, because we were here!  One...or two things about dinner.  Being married to a sentimental pack-rat has its advantages at times.  TJ found the business card for Taverna Angelica, from a trip in 2008, and made reservations for arrival night.  Always good to have a plan for the first night because thinking and decision making are always compromised after a long travel day.  One advantage of being the first customers of the night (earliest available reservation in anticipation of jet lag) is that we received much personal attention from the owner.  She was super hospitable and we were treated to all the bells and whistles!  After dinner we strolled along the river and collapsed in bed when we made it back.

Amuse-bouche
the little taco looking one (duck pate) was AMAZING!!!

The walk home is always enchanting.

The rest of the crew arrived the next day and we treated them to our "first day survival system".  The day was not without dragging suitcases along cobblestones again...so glad I didn't buy a new suitcase for this trip.  There was pizza, lots of walking (10 miles), ancient ruins, great views, gelato, and a surprising dinner.  We found ourselves in the Jewish Ghetto neighborhood on our way "home" and ate dinner at a kosher...vegetarian restaurant.  Never saw that coming.  Luckily for John, Margherita pizza was on the menu.  Focaccia, artichokes, gnocchi, fish and pasta were enjoyed by all.

I must say, on this trip we lucked out on accommodations.  TJ and I stayed in a small Airbnb our first night and moved to the 4 bedroom house we rented for the entire group the next day.  They were across the street from each other...convenient, unless of course you count the 4 hours between check out and check in with no early...or late bag storage provided.  Luggage Storage and cobblestones again.  The Airbnb in Rome was large and light with its own courtyard and sauna.  Yeah...everyone needs a sauna, right?  The seven of us slept comfortably and we had 3 bathrooms...key.

"I didn't sleep much on the plane...you?"
"Nope"

Our days in Rome consisted of Arrival Days one and two, spent putting one foot in front of the other.  Day 3 was Ancient Rome Day when we visited the Coliseum, the Forum and the Trevi Fountain to name a few.  Day 4 was Vatican Day when we toured the Vatican gardens, the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica.  The adults in the group had seen some of these and so we geared activities towards the boys and their Roman education.  We all saw and learned new things in the process too!  They really liked Ancient Rome day, no surprise.  

Roman Holiday!

We really enjoyed the food in Rome!  Seriously, who doesn't love the food in Italy?  One entertaining lunch happened after our Coliseum visit.  We sought out a Rick Steves recommendation for lunch.  All the outside tables were occupied, so we sat inside.  The place was small and intimate...and the waiter unamused.  I felt like he belonged in NYC (no offense to anyone in NYC) but he had this "I don't have time for you people" attitude.  The place has been in business since 1945!  We managed to order lunch and drinks quick enough for our surly waiter, who little by little warmed up to us.  He was, after all, the only waiter working the tables, so I'll give him a little latitude.  The beer was cold, the food was authentic, the patrons were Italian, and the place did Rick proud.  One patron stopped and chatted with us as he paid his bill and said he lived right across the street and had been coming here for over 20 years.  Gotta love surly waiters, good food and local patrons.

4e 4'Otto
That's our table on the right!

TJ and I have now visited Rome three times.  Each time I like it more.  The first time was in 2008 with a large group of friends from Georgia.  We had a guide and our pastor, who was very familiar with Rome.  I remember being overwhelmed and awed at the same time with Rome on that trip.  We saw all of the "must-see" places, but it was such a short stop it left me feeling like we had only scratched the surface.  Our next trip was in 2018, with our "anniversary friends".  This time I felt like we really got to know Rome on our own terms.  We planned it ourselves and followed our noses where they led us and were rewarded.  After that trip, I felt like I finally experienced Rome.  This time we wanted to see Rome for the first time again, through our grandsons' eyes.  

Everyone knows how much I love a good sunset so it will come as no surprise that the place we went not once but twice for late afternoon cocktails was on the rooftop of the Hotel Atlante Star near the Vatican.  Roof Garden Les Etoiles is worth two visits!  We were not exactly blessed with the perfect sunset but the 360 view from the top and the amazing flowers are worth a repeat visit in my book.  We went on our first night, alone and had to share the experience with the rest of the family.  The boys really appreciated the "free" snacks provided with drinks on the terrace.

The entire terrace is surrounded by this amazingness!

It was very chilly up top....somebody had to borrow my sweater!

Worth a repeat visit!

The view is always the best at the top!

I could post hundreds of photos from our time in Rome, and probably did on FB and Instagram, so no need here.  Suffice it to say, the time in Rome was well spent and after the first three days, the boys are embracing their Italian Spring Break.  Arrivederci Roma.

March Madness

I am not talking about basketball here....

Have you missed me?  I missed you!  Things have been a bit dead here on the blog for the last two weeks, sorry.  It is not that I haven't had some great thoughts running through my head, it is just that I haven't written about them or when I tried to they seem to have escaped my steel trap mind.  Where was all this activity back in icky, dreary, boring, long January when I would have happily entertained guests, traveled to interesting places (Ok, I did travel to two great places in January), played golf 3 days a week and had to carve out time to do mundane things like laundry?  It is feast or famine and right now it is a feast!

One thing that was suggested in my writing class was to find a great book of quotations to use in our writing.  I admit, quotes are a good tool to spark the brain, give you direction or support a point.  It is also nice to have someone else say what you want to say... and say it better.  I call it cheating!  Pardon me if I cheat a little.

 "I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine." by Caskie Stinnett. 

What would life be like if I woke up every day looking at this?  Wow!  Would it become routine?  This is only one of the panoramas I was blessed to see over the last week, far from my daily routine view of flat land covered by cement and retail spaces!  I found myself saying over and over, "I could really get used to living out here in sunny, dry, beautiful California!".  Do they know how lucky they are?  Maybe, maybe not.  They are all too busy driving their convertibles, letting their hair blow in the breeze and then sitting outside eating lunch with a glass of wine. I could get used to that too!

Speaking of wine...we tasted a lot of it on our visit to Sonoma.  Just so you know, it is possible to have too much of a good thing but that did not stop us!   I dare say we sent home enough wine to keep us pickled for a few months.  I look forward to reliving our Sonoma wine tour at home when the goods arrive.

On our first morning, we left early...at least for me and headed to an off the beaten path winery.  We drove up, up, up on Barf-a-lot Road, climbing back and forth through the mountains to a very beautiful winery.  I was just a little green and dizzy by the time we arrived. 

My view looked a lot like this....

instead of this....

The winery was well worth the long and winding road and we found some beautiful flowers at the top too!

After we tasted all the wine in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys we went down to San Diego so TJ could network with a few thousand other people who work in the oil and refining business.  I went along... because I could!  The last time this conference was in San Diego I was a little less than 100% so I was really looking forward to experiencing San Diego with both arms and both legs in working order. The first thing I did was go for a run along the water... because I could!  San Diego is another one of those places that is just too beautiful for it's own good.  It's just not fair! 

One highlight of the time in San Diego was a tour of Balboa Park with a professional photographer.  He gave us a lot of history of the park and a few photography tips along the way.  I showed up like a dork with my pocket size digital camera, that I personally think takes some pretty good pictures sometimes.  Almost all the other women on the tour showed up with bazookas.  They had some serious ammunition to take their pictures with, I was using a cap gun compared to some of them.  So for your viewing pleasure....here are some nice pictures of Balboa Park through the eye of my cap gun.

gnarly

yes, the entire car is covered with beads!

The cap gun did a good job!
I really enjoyed San Diego...until the second to last night...well it was more like 4 a.m. when the food poisoning hit me!  I was down for the count, every part of my body ached for about 8 hours.  It was very bad timing too because I did not want to miss my lunch date with George W. Bush.  You remember him, the former President of the United States of America!  I drug my tired, aching  body out of bed, showered, dressed and hobbled to the luncheon.  I prayed that everything that was left inside my body would just stay there for at least the next two hours.  It did and the speech was very good, he even pronounced all the words correctly.  I am glad I made it.  Now I can check that off my bucket list....be in the same room as a former President of the United States.

This post has gone on too long and there is still so much to say.  Looks like spring break will take up more than one blog post again this year!  Adios gang until next week!