If It's Sunday This Must Be Roma

Greetings. They were due to arrive, we thought, at 10 AM and then work their way to the train station where we could fine tune a plan. Somewhere would be a phone call. After checking Aer Lingus’ website it became clear that the earliest flight would be a little after 11 AM. Finally at 12:30 after a couple of calls to their hotel which was one block down from Hotel Eugenio Principe it was decided to go to their hotel and ambush them there.

This worked. At a little after one there’s Geoff hauling his suitcase up the stairs followed by his lovely bride Linda. This hotel, though inexpensive, had the look and feel of a good place. As a survival strategy Italian coffee was immediately produced and downed.

Temple Minerva restaurant from the day before seemed like a good choice again. It was close and the food was good.

A short walk brought us to the Metro where we took on the automatic ticket machines and wangled 4 twenty four hour passes. This brought us to Barberini again where we headed for tourist central, the Trevi:

Such a lovely couple recreating their Roman honeymoon magic from 30 years ago. Not quite so hungover as last time as the uncommon denominator.

A rare sight to see these two smiling:

Coins were tossed and then the next destination was targeted, the Pantheon.

Our literary and cultural references got crossed similar to the end of Blazing Saddles as we encountered an attractive duo:

Pancho? Cisco? Don? Sancho? Chi lo sa?

And then again there is the legend of the lonely tourist:

Even though the excuse was for finding an ATM, the group wended and wended along many small streets dedicated to separating a tourist from their money. An inexpensive umbrella was purchased in anticipation of tomorrow’s sun at Pompeii.

The major destination of the day was soon reached, Piazza Navona.

This Roman gathering place is also famous for its fountains:

The ambience was heightened by music:

And phenomena:

Linda had researched an article describing not only the many offerings of the Piazza but also of the attractive nature of the nearby neighborhoods. She was quite astute to have done this as we found ourselves seeking out many of the narrow streets until we found ourselves at the Tiber River on the other side from the Vatican.

A perfect time for gelato and rest. At this point Geoff and Linda thought it was 39 o’clock and Geoff had not even napped for over 24 hours. Bravely we continued on.

Cute and fun:

We found a wonderful café to order spritzes and coffee. It was an incredible setting:

This is the last recorded evidence of either Geoff or Linda being even close to vertical on that day:

Gini and Chris bid them a’ dopo and had a nice intimate (sharing a table with six other people) dinner at Taverna Antica. It was a 12 Euro dinner complete with lasagna, veal covered with prosciutto and a good glass of wine. Rest now because domani Pompeii awaits. Ciao.