home again in both places

It's blistering hot out today which is awesome because we are home and the water in the pool is the perfect temperature, cool but not cold. I had my first outdoor shower of the summer! Hurrah! It maybe wasn't so great for Carm as he started to tackle mowing the long grass… he got the front done, muscling the hand mower for over one and a half hours.

The last few days of the rally have melded into one reel of scattered memories. Tuesday night we joined everyone at a Bavarian restaurant for schnitzel and borscht - both were delicious. I think I skipped the campfire that night - I was mentally done! 

Wednesday morning we did the normal coffee gathering and from there I joined Candi, Fran, and Hazel for a little shopping trip to the outlet stores. It was a lot of fun! It was great having a few extra eyes to give feedback - Carm always says everything looks great - which I know is not true - so it's not the most helpful. These ladies gave awesome feedback! 

I tend to not join in to group activies… I'm not sure why, maybe slight shyness or awkwardness. Maybe slightly low self-esteem and the fear that I won't fit in. You'd think that with a childhood of moving schools every 2 years that I'd be good at developing friendships but I never learned that skill. I remember many times as a child standing at the edge of groups but being too anxious to join in. It's strange because in general I'm fairly self confident (or at least I think I am). I stepped outside my comfort zone more this trip and I'm so glad that I did. I got to know a few more people better which left me feeling that I'd missed out on knowing them all these years! It's a lesson to be learned!

I even joined the ‘games’ afternoon and had a blast! John had organized 5 games: bocci, corn hole (such a strange name!), ladder ball, ping pong into cups, and finally kicking a soccer ball through a maze. It was lots of fun even without alcohol and even though I was pathetic!

The crazy thing is, everyone is lovely and so inclusive!

Finally at the end of the day Wednesday, everyone piled into trucks for the farewell dinner at the Mandarin restaurant. It was a huge ‘Chinese’ food buffet - of course they had the regular stuff like chicken balls and fried rice (hard pass on both), but there were tons of stir fry type dishes, a decent General Tao chicken, and a myriad of shrimp dishes. There was also freshly carved roast beef. Oh, and a bit of sushi. I went up THREE times! We sat with Mark & Marilyn, and Terry & Hazel. We know Mark & Marilyn quite well but this was the first year that we'd spent much time with Terry & Hazel - they are so much fun!

Thursday we got up early and after a walk and a coffee started packing up. After our good-byes we were on the road towards Kirsten's at about 10:20, arriving there around 11:30. Carm backed the trailer into the driveway like a pro and then drove straight into our ‘spot’ hitting the exact place that puts us level! Even the satellite dish was easy. It's great to be there - it feels like home and I LOVE our coffee mornings with Kirsten! Mom, Dad, and Aunty Kristine arrived a few hours later for a visit, and then at dinner time we got together with Kirsten, Shawn, and Nissa for pizza before retiring for an early night.

Both Shawn and Carm picked up a tick somewhere on the laneway 😞 Freaked out a bit by that!

Now that we are home, it's time to get back on track with eating! We ate like crazy, and nothing particularly healthy - there was barely a vegetable to be seen!

Awesome!

“shopping with the girls”

“getting to Kirsten & Shawn's”

“seeing Aunt Kristine”

“a great slice of pizza”

“getting home”

lazy day

Today the summer sun is blazing in the sky - it's a warm high 20s - too hot for a really long afternoon walk but we did amble the lake loop, taking our time and pausing in the shade occasionally. The dogs didn't seem too bothered but I didn't want to stress them. 

We fed them early tonight as we were meeting up with everyone at a restaurant about 25 minutes from here - they’ll have a bit of time to digest and won't feel stressed by hunger while I lock them into the bedroom. They are really calming down - I think they are exhausted! But Lupa is still pretty interested in other dogs but passes some without too much excitement.

And Lupa does make some noise when we leave them :-(

This afternoon as we wandered down the back forty road I let myself be immersed in the moment. A breeze warmed by the sun caressed my bare arms. The smells and sounds of summer were heavy in the air. The fragrance of grass drying in the sun combined with the odd flowering shrub for a perfume that would sell millions if only it could be bottled up. Birds were lazily singing their songs of joy. I tried to soak up every ounce in the hopes that I can conjure up the experience on a day that isn't so wonderful.

In the distance was a small flock of swans - floating white dots on a sea of blue. Yesterday I saw close to a hundred out farther on the lake! The giant family of Canada Geese must have moved on to another part of the lake but the evidence of their presence was still visible on the road!

Awesome!

“huge flocks of swans"

“a leisurely morning coffee with the dogs chilling out on the grass”

“a few quiet hours in the afternoon”

“our site is booked for next year”

under stormy skies

The days here in Kingston have been passing by quickly. Saturday we went back to the outlet stores with Marilyn and Mark - I left them with Carm at the Columbia store and I deekd off to spent a sack full of money at La Vie en Rose! Everyone else came out of the various stores with bags of dresses and shirts. Happy shoppers!

Storms were threatening the evening so Marilyn and Mark brought their supper over to ‘our place’ for a sharing supper - sort of an informal pot luck! Luckily we had kept tabs on the radar so we set up the table inside - we were toasty and warm while it bucketted rain outside. After the dishes were done, we played a fun game called ‘Mexican Train’. We'd never even heard of it before but it was great fun - we'll be purchasing a game when we get home! Perhaps I thought it was fun because I won 2 out of the 3 games 😉 Winning is always fun!

Sunday morning was still a bit drizzly so we took a quick walk first thing. By mid morning it was drier so we headed out on another walk. My mind is foggy though - I know we joined the coffee group for a while in the morning. Christine and I took the dogs on a one hour walk at noon. Then at some point we gathered again. Then it was time for a pre supper walk for the dogs (so many walks as Adia hadn't pooped yet! and never did yesterday…). Then it was time to get cooking for the pot luck supper. I brought Greek potatoes which are super easy to make. I pre-make the seasoning packet so just have to cut up some baby potatoes - no peeling - toss them with the seasonings, juice of a lemon, and some stock into the instant pot. Cook for 10 minutes, release pressure. Remove potatoes, add butter and reduce. Spoon sauce over potatoes. 

The supper gathering was a far cry from years past when the picnic tables would be lined up in a long row - there must have been more than 10 tables all those years ago. Last night there were 4 tables and one of them only had 2 people at it… But even with fewer people, there was a ton of food! And everyone is such a good cook! I ate so much that I barely had room for dessert and certainly no room for a bedtime snack!

The dogs have been steadily getting better. They are nowhere near being as good as the ‘old dogs’ were, but considering the time they've spent camping I think they've handled it very well! I think walking 15,000+ steps a day is helping them be a bit more calm 😉  I even brought them over to the gathering tent this morning where they eventually settled on the blanket that I laid out for them. They remembered a bit of ‘hop it up’ from a few years ago… still, a work in progress.

Today the sun is shining - it is an absolutely glorious day - clear blue sky, not too hot, not too much wind. Perfect for walking! Carm and I did the lake loop first thing this morning, then at 1 Christine and I took the dogs through the whole park for a good hour long walk! Everyone was dragging their feet when we got back - thankfully it’s not too hot. The dogs got another pre-dinner lake loop which is about a 20 minute walk at a slowish walking pace - I think it tracked at 2500 steps on my fitbit. And then of course a shorter bedtime walk. I'm certain that they will both crash for days when we get home! As it is, the walks are getting less and less exciting for them…

Marilyn and Mark joined us for supper again tonight - this time outside under the gorgeous blue sky. It was a perfect evening… until the mosquitoes started their onslaught! Still, I braved the ‘campfire’ till past 9:30.

Awesome!

“walking with Christine”

“supper with friends”

“Adia walking past the guinea fowl without too much trouble (much better than yesterday)”

“perfect morning”

“getting a nice compliment”

enchantless

Our property is no longer enchanted, at least where ticks are involved :-(

With shorter and warmer winters the ticks have been slowly moving into the area - at Kirsten's, just an hour away, the ticks are thick and it's not a surprise to pick one off a dog even though they have tick protection. Here at home though… I've seen one in all our years of living here… until a few days ago… Carm got in from cutting the grass with a little bugger just latching onto his leg. I got it off him right away so no chance to spread Lyme (we hope), but I've got it saved in a bag just in case.

And now we are fully in tick land… we arrived at the Ti Rally just before 1pm yesterday after an uneventful drive. Even the 401 was okay with hardly any traffic. I stretched the preparations out over a week so there was no stressful last push, in fact, even the last minute fridge stuff was loaded on Wednesday so it was an easy morning with just the tires to check before we hitched up. Oh sure, there were little odds and sods, but there was enough time to relax with coffee and have a good breakfast.

The dogs were excited and a bit energetic on their leashes for the first walk around the lake loop, the second time out was better, this morning was great, and this afternoon in the heat was even better. However we didn't pass any other dogs this morning - that is our challenge with Lupa! She did stand around with another dog yesterday without making a fuss so I take that as a win! Neither dog has had any training or even leash work since last summer at Kirsten's and I don't feel that walking down their road is much of a challenge - there are rarely other dogs.

Of course it's great to be here after pretty much missing two years! The crowd has thinned noticably and there are only 2 titaniums so far - there used to be close to 40! Most people have traded in - some for class-B’s (easier for travelling), some for giant new trailers, and some for smaller more mobile units. The last year titaniums were built was 2010 (which is when ours was built) so they have pretty much aged out. Ours is still in pretty good shape but we do have some delamination (a leak in the wall) and it needs a really good cleaning. I hope it will be our villetta for many years yet!

We took a chance this morning and left the dogs locked in the bedroom while we ventured out for some retail therapy! Carm scored a nice summer shirt and another golf shirt. Oh, and some badly needed sandals. I got a totally unneeded bathing suit! Well, not totally unneeded 😉 I'll wear it on our November DR vacation! We might have to make one more trip to the outlet centre to check out the Laura store :-)

Last night everyone went to Raxx for ribs - I stayed behind as I wasn't sure about leaving the dogs just yet. Tonight I joined everyone at Raxx (again!) for their banger steak special! It seems to me that they have an excellent wing night on another night…. who knows, maybe all the food I packed will stay uneaten!

Awesome!

“getting here in one piece!”

“spending time in the villetta”

“visiting with everyone”

“a beautiful morning walk”

“giant flock of Canada Geese with dozens of little babies”

mornings

My mornings have started by stepping out the front door, into a virtual bowl of potpourie scented with lilac and honeysuckle. Some mornings I wander out with just a light sweater - this morning I put on my puffer coat! It's been blowing a gale for over 24 hours now! Yesterday though, I couldn't remember the last day that I had to put on a coat - how that can change in an instant! 

After a wander down the laneway to check out the apple blossoms (which are all gone now), I head back into the house for a coffee. I have been taking a detour to the back deck to check out all the little seedlings that we've planted.

I've been slowly dragging myself out of the pit I've been in… getting the garden planted and the deck outfitted with plants has given me a bit of a mental boost. Carm wrestled the plants from the living room and basement over a couple of days - some of those pots are big and heavy! The plants don’t look that great but a few weeks of real sunshine should perk them up. Last year I was pretty sure we should get new coleus, but all three plants made a miraculous recovery… I don't think that will happen this year so I'll keep my eyes open at the nursery!

Pat came for supper on Monday… she'll be back here for a week while we go to Kingston for the annual Ti Rally at the beginning of June. She'll take care of Grace and the plants. We've missed 2 years of the rally - 2024 because of my cancer surgery; in 2025 Mom was in the hospital. The dogs are out of practice being in social situations so it might be a bit challenging at times! I should be practicing ‘mat’ so they can sit outside with us without being a pain!

The trailer prep is going well but it seems as soon as I check something off my task list (hurrah for Google tasks), I add 2 more! Still, most of the work has been done… I did some cooking today, and there are a few odds and ends, but the important stuff is done. 

This morning I got up early so that I could get through the first part of my task list before my walk with June. So by 10:30 I'd made a rhubarb cake, airfried 3 blocks of tofu, made a giant pot of caramelised onions with red peppers & cherry tomatoes. When it started to ‘dry up’,  I tossed in some Thai basil and then put it in a few jars for the freezer. I'll be able to use it on pasta, with beans, or spread on naan for a pizza… After all of that I even managed to bath the dogs as well as a few other tasks! It was a busy day 😀 

The weather has been nice, but not particularly hot so pool use has been limited. We've been in a few times but it hasn't warmed up beyond 68F/20C… the other day when I went in it was 66F! That is a literal DIP, not swim! I did swim to the middle of the pool (not all the way across!), but then was out warming myself in the sun on my little deck chair.

Awesome!

“morning wander”

“lilacs”

“the grass is so green”

“fresh rhubarb”

“jars of rich tomato & peppers”

splash

Summer has been slowly creeping up on us… the other afternoon I was soaking in the tub and noticed for the first time this year the sun dappling through the leaves of the hawthorne tree just outside of the window. The greenish yellowish light brought on a ‘peaceful, easy feeling!’ I watched two bright yellow goldfinches flit around the purple cones of lilac flowers that brush up against the south window. It's weird though - I feel distanced from these sights as if it's happening on a screen and not real life.

And this afternoon, we had our first chilly dip into the pool for 2026 :-) The water was cold - just barely 68F/20C and very refreshing!

I've been dragging myself around mentally and physically for over a week now (or is it two weeks?)… every day is getting a bit easier, but I'm not running any marathons yet, nor am I even walking for an hour on the treadmill… I totally skipped 5 days last week and have now done a few 30 minute walks as I start to gear myself up. 

I think it's all a delayed jet lag reaction which triggered not only physical effects, but also my mood has been really crappy. I suppose it's the price that I have to pay for 8 fantastic nights in Rome! I think it's worth it!

Carm has been busy cutting grass and I've slowly been starting to get the camper ready for our trip to Kingston in a few weeks. I've only made the tiniest of starts but every little step is a step forward. When my brain is misbehaving, I find that I have to break down tasks into the smallest actions as anything else is just too overwhelming… 

Awesome!

“first swim of 2026!”

jet lag

It's been 2 weeks since we left on our adventure to Rome but only 5 days since we got back. The jet lag is still dragging me down but each day is a bit easier (or at least that's what I'm telling myself!). On our first full day back I'd had 3 strong coffees by 4:30 in my struggle to stay awake till evening… I'd woken up at 4am that morning which was weird, since I'd been waking up at 4 in Rome as well, but neither of them matched up with a time zone that I was actually in! My circadian rhythm is doing cartwheels!

We kept busy that first day doing loads and loads of laundry which felt good to get out of the way… The suitcases are waiting on the bed for me to fold up the clothes that we save for travel once they are fully dry. Not sure what our next destination will be!

The afternoons have been brutal. Thursday I could not stay awake during the day at all, and dozed on the sofa for much of the afternoon. I was like a comatose log…

Yesterday we met up with friends at the community centre in Trudie & Leo's neighbourhood. It was a small gathering, put together by Trudie's daughter Elenaor who is visiting from Australia. I was totally worn out by the time we got home… and in bed asleep by 8:30 pm! And I slept until past 7 this morning! I could have stayed asleep for the rest of the day but we had places to go and people to see!

Today we dropped into the funeral place where Carm's parents are buried for their annual Mother's Day lunch - it's a great time to catch up with his siblings! And then we dropped by Mom & Dad's to spend some time with Mom. No mice in cages for her this year!

Carm got the lawnmower fixed and running a few days ago - he was out cutting the grass the next day… and so it begins…

I haven't done any cooking since we've gotten back except to throw some tofu into the airfryer. Soup from the freezer fed us one night, just tofu another night, and sandwiches the last two nights! I treated myself to a big slice of whole grain sourdough bread with an avocado and egg salad piled on top. One night I sprinkled some pumpkin seeds on top, last night I splurged with 2 slices of proscuitto… both were delicious! Tonight I'll just have yogurt with some fruit and pumpkin seeds - it's honestly all I have energy for!

Awesome!

“sleeping in my own bed”

“a quiet morning”

“rays of sunshine breaking through the clouds”

last supper and home again

Tuesday sometime and somewhere over the Atlantic… Five more hours to go until we land in Montreal… this is always the worst part of travel… 8+ hours trapped in a little seat with no legroom. It's a small price to pay for such a great time!

I can't remember where I left off yesterday, perhaps after our quest for the pharmacy? Anyway, June and Anthony came back from their outing to the museum late afternoon, too early for supper and too late to go to the cafe around the corner so we all chilled until 6:30. 

Earlier they had walked through an area we hadn't been to with lots of restaurants without the crazy crowds that swarmed around Piazza Navona and since it was only a 15 minute walk - doable with our aching feet - we wound our way there. They made a great pick!

It was in a cute little alley just off the pedestrian way - so pretty and full of ambience. I had Osso bucco, Carm had a veal/prosciutto dish that has a name that I just cannot think of. Brain is fuzzy with altitude! June and Anthony had fish. We ended with a fairly average tiramisu. Sadly we didn't wait to have a gelato from the shop next door - Anthony had skipped dessert at the restaurant and had a gelato which was apparently the best yet!

A final wander down picturesque streets brought us back to the apartment with lots of time to pack before turning in early for what we hoped was a restful sleep… ha ha… for some! I slept well until just before 6am - Carm tossed and turned wondering where we had tucked the car keys… 😱

I got up to start looking and frantically tore apart the suitcases… they were nowhere to be found! Finally after the third time of looking in my backpack we found them… safely tucked in the proverbial safe place. Next time we will make a note!

By then it was time to get up and get ready. We showered ourselves while Nature showered the streets with light rain - perfectly timed for our departure! June and Anthony got up especially to see us off. Then it was time to descend the slippery marble steps for the last time. Our Uber was picking us up at the end of the alley - it would be impossible to call it a road even though it had a name - only the tiniest vehicle could make the tight turns - we had an overhang into a convent to shelter from the rain while we waited. The Uber was a few minutes early which made me happy!

It was a hair-raising trip to the airport… Italians drive like maniacs and the traffic was heavy. But we made it, found the Air Canada desk, checked in, dropped off our suitcase, made it through security, through passport control, walked miles, were diverted to a bus, more walking and finally reached the gate. I'd hate to have a short connection in Rome! All in all it was 4500 steps from the apartment to our seats on the plane.

Boarding was easy with lots of room for our carry-ons… just walked up and down the aisle… lots of empty seats… we should book the window and aisle in the hope that there is no one in the middle! Some people are even lying down!!! I'm stuck in the middle, Carm got the aisle. This has happened before.

We killed a bit of time counting steps and miles to distract ourselves from the cramped quarters:

  153,967 steps

  43.92 miles / 70.27km

Not bad! I don't know if June and Anthony were expecting to be strong armed into a marathon but they did well. I'm sure that they are knackered from the forced exercise - they were good sports! It was fun travelling together.

While I am sad for our trip to be over, I'm looking forward to being home.

I don't have the brain cycles to summarize our trip except to say that the weather was perfect, our Airbnb was great with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, separated with the living room and kitchen, the location was fabulous and the surroundings were amazing. Home is going to seem so beige after the embellishments of Italian craftsmen.

I can't decide what was my favourite day - maybe the Villa Borghese and lunch in the garden. The day we went to the Bernini exhibit was the most emotional for me - my eyes tear with the memory. Our walk on the Appian way was unforgettable - I got lost in the pastoral landscapes steeped in history. St. Peter's Basilica blew me away. And I can't forget our meal at Bistro 64!

Overall the food was good although I did have a few disappointing dishes. Last night was great and surprisingly lunch at a tourist spot on our first day with June and Anthony had the best pasta.

We ate so many carbs - pastries, bread and pasta - not so many vegetables. I'm craving some fresh vegetables and even tofu! Tonight I am looking forward to some fruit before bed!

Wednesday morning… We finally made it home at about 6:30 last night after a long flight delay from Montreal. My head was spinning and my back muscles were spasming so I was pretty miserable, but nonetheless, glad to be home! After a quick unpack and an even easier supper (egg salad sandwiches), I crawled into a hot bath to relax my muscles and clean the grime of I'm not sure how many hours of travel (18 hours I think). I was treated to a spectacular sunset that I could see from the hot bubble bath! A great way to welcome us home. 😀 

Ciao!

Awesome!

“everything everywhere!”

“a last dinner”

“farewell raindrops that mirrored the ones in my eyes”a good sleep”

“lots of food”

“high and low streets of Rome”

“embelishments everywhere you look”

wandering the streets

After we all woke up from our well deserved naps yesterday we decided we needed the refreshment of virgin mojitos from the little corner cafe. Sitting in an outdoor cafe in Rome, sipping sparkling water enhanced with tons of fresh mint is a great way to rehydrate! It was slightly cool and I was having intermittent hot flashes so my shirt was on and off dozens of times!

We'd not eaten there before, aside from the giant bowl of olives that's provided with drinks, so we decided to eat there. Everyone was happy with their meal - I had the worst carbonara that I've ever had! So much for failsafe pasta in Rome!

After we paid our bill, we crossed the street to the little gelato place where Carm and June sweetened their palates. Carm had a deep blue fruit mix and a scoop of peach, both delicious! I was still full from supper but Carm is generous enough to share a few bites.

It was barely 7pm so we made the trek through hordes of people to the other side of the Piazza Navona where we ate the night before (remember the tripe!)... we'd walked past a little costume jewellery shop with everything at 15 euros - June wanted something for a niece, and I hoped to find a nice necklace to add to my collection. Everything sparkled and shone with colour - I saw a bunch that I liked - I was overwhelmed with choices… I did settle on a pair of cute earrings with shiny black rimmed in tiny bright rhinestones 😀 

A pit stop at the coop for a few shopping bags and another few cold beers and we were on our way ‘home’ for a relaxing evening. Bedtime came early after such a full day! We'd walked just over 20,000 steps so it's no wonder we were all a bit tired!

I actually slept for most of the night and didn't wake up until 6:45 - a bit of a lie in compared to previous 4am starts! My body seems to have decided that I am neither on Rome time or home time, settling somewhere in the middle!

This morning our adventure started a little bit later, but we were still out on the streets by 8:45. First a stop for a coffee and maritozzo. I had asked ChatGPT the best route to the train station's food market and told it that I wanted to pass by some interesting things. It created a route for us in google maps that took us a bit off the beaten path, past several points of interest, including a few more churches! It was all a bit uphill but we made it by 10:45 which wasn't too bad after a long day yesterday.

The food market was filled with stalls selling all sorts of Italian food (with one selling burgers!). Carm and I shared a plate of chicken & potatoes, as well as two supli which are rice balls stuffed with meat. To end the meal we tried another maritozzo - probably our last one of the trip 😞 A visit to the bathroom to wash off all the cream on our hands and faces was a must.

From there June & Anthony headed back on the bus, while I got AI to map us an interesting route back to our apartment. It didn't disappoint, winding us through neighbourhoods and past sights that we would not have seen without its help. We walked into one building with a glass ceiling that was filled with decoration. 

I didn't realize before our trip how useful AI would be… I feel guilty using so many resources, but will curtail its use once we get home. 

We had a little rest when we got home and then headed out on another quest - this time for the pharmacy that we'd been in days ago… it’s a maze of roads here which makes it almost impossible to remember where we once were! Not almost impossible but truly impossible! 

There are pharmacies everywhere, all carrying a range of high end products, but even though we mapped a bunch, I never did find where we purchased a ‘value’ (ha ha ha) package of Nuxe huile prodigieuse… but we did find one that had a bigger bottle that I settled on. It will have to do!

The dry oil was suggested in a post about shopping in Italy which I decided would be nice to try. I purchased some on our first or second day and I've been using it since. I love the feel of it on my skin and the fragrance is heavenly! My skin feels so soft and nourished.

As with any good quest, it took us up and down streets that we've never been  😀 We discovered a lot of Rome today - some neighbourhoods that ‘regular’ people would live, and this afternoon an area of high shops with brands like Fendi, Gucci, Prada, Armani, and many others that I can't recall. If I had pockets, no make that giant buckets of money, I could have spent a fortune! Everything was so beautiful. The clothes, scarves, shoes, jewellery - exquisite! Our wander brought us close to the Spanish Steps which we descended on our way from the Villa Borghese 5 days ago. 

How is it possible that our trip is almost over? Tomorrow morning we have an Uber booked for 7:30 to take us to the airport 😞  Eight nights in Rome gave us enough time to see some major sites, but also some time to explore off the beaten path. Tonight we'll find somewhere local for supper - there are no lack of restaurants!

Ciao!

Awesome!

“everything everywhere!”

“a good sleep”

“lots of food”

“high and low streets of Rome”

“embelishments everywhere you look”

along the way

I'll start where I left off yesterday after my nap! We did go for a gelato - I had mango and chocolate which was rich with flavour. It was getting close to supper so we skipped the patio and came back here to get ready for dinner. We went to a little hole in the wall about a 15 minute walk from here with some traditional Italian dishes on the menu.

Carm had spezzatino which was veal & peas - he loved it! June had a much enjoyed beef dish with arugula. Anthony had stewed rabbit which was moist and flavourful. I had… wait for it… TRIPE! It was on my list of things to try so I can cross it out and never have to eat it again! The taste was fine but I found it incredibly rich and faced with a giant plate over-flowing with food was a bit overwhelming. I ate about half. Plus we shared a plate of cacio pepe - third time having it here, this one was the best.

Back at the apartment I got some snacks ready for our picnic while Carm cracked open a bottle of prosecco to celebrate the anniversary of our first date! We scandalized June and Anthony with the story of our beginnings and had a lot of laughs 😉  

We tried to have an early night as today was another crack of dawn morning, but I didn't have a lot of luck with sleep again… I eventually fell asleep but was wide awake at 4am. My sleep schedule is totally f'd and all these sleepless nights are eventually going to crash my mental health but there’s not much I can do - missing my sleep aid from home!

So awake at 4… stay in bed until 6… get up and out the door by 6:45am… final destination: the Appian Way! The coffee shop that we were aiming for wasn't open so we continued on to the bus stop, passing an open cafe on our way. Carm and I missed seeing the cream puff things (I'm not even going to try to remember the name of it as I'm still groggy from a long nap), so had an Italian style croissant which of course has some other name.

We ended up waiting for the bus in the wrong spot so missed the first one… found the right stop and waited 20 minutes for the next bus. It was a quick bus ride to the start of the Appian Way - we got out right at the beginning, walking down a narrow and somewhat busy road with high stone walls for what seemed like ages, before the traffic died down and the walls shrunk.

As we walked, the landscape started opening up in front of us. We passed wide open fields with the city in the distance and the mountains on the horizon. The path was dotted with ancient ruins. It was bucolic. We mostly walked on uneven cobblestones but there were stretches of huge rocks that required a lot of attention to avoid twisting an ankle - why didn't I take a photo?

There were private estates dotted along the road with high gates, set in acres of land. I wonder how many billions of dollars you'd need to live in this amazing spot! As the day wore on, more and more bicycles whizzed by, and we were even passed by a few horses!

The weather was perfect, slightly cool with not a cloud in the sky! Perfect for a 5.5km walk following the path of the Roman legions from years gone by. The air was thick with history and the scent of flowering hedges. Wild poppies dotted the fields with red, perhaps representative of the blood of soldiers.

We walked on and on until we hit the road where we could catch a bus back - sadly the bus stop was over a km down a narrow and busy road, but we made it in one piece. Actually, there were lots of times where I flattened myself against the high wall to avoid being crushed by a speeding car.

Carm was happy to have made the journey - we almost skipped doing the walk, which would have been a shame as that's partially why we chose Rome for this trip! It was on his bucket list! I enjoyed myself immensely, often walking ahead of everyone, lost in the atmosphere. My brain was busy watching my step and taking it all in, no space for the distraction of conversation. I find that's often the way for me - I don't have the brain cycles for everything all at once! Not to mention, in much of the walk it was very much single file, praying to not be hit by a car!

The early start got us ahead of the crowds and the heat. Our way to the bus was peaceful with hardly any tourists - on our walk back we had to press through thick crowds to get from the bus to our apartment. We made a quick stop into a little grocery store for a few things for lunch, making it back around noon! It's been a good strategy for us and even June & Anthony have been onboard with our pre-dawn alarms!

We all made our little lunches and then disbursed to our rooms. I may have been asleep before my head hit the pillow… I vaguely remember the noise of passing pedestrians under our window… I was asleep for almost 2 hours!

We haven't decided on a plan for tonight - I don't think we'll venture very far!

Ciao!

Awesome!

“everything everywhere!”

“the Apian Way!”

“another day with incredible weather”