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.
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”
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