Our first whole day in Rome started well with a fantastic breakfast at our hotel.  Beautiful
outdoor courtyard with fountain, cobblestones, and bistro tables under umbrellas.  A fiat parked in the corner....how did that get in here?  Continental and English breakfast selections and a very clever coffee maker with espresso, cappucino, and my favorite, hot water.



We started walking to the metro and passed the Della Quattro Fontane, an intersection with a fabulous fountain at each corner and a motorcycle parked conveniently directly in
front of one.  Don't they have parking police here?  If they did, there would be little yellow tickets everywhere and a strong economy.

We took the train to the Colosseo, and stood agape at the magnificent ruin.  My my, words do not describe it.  We reminisced about gladiators and ersatz naval battles (right inside the arena), and even Italian plumbing.

We walked till our feet ached and sat down for a snack of prosciutto and melon for David (two orders! and no gluten) and a pizza della nonna for me.   Gotta love grannies!

Dinner at Berzitello, right across the street and we kept losing it anyway) was the most authentic and charming experience. The owner remembered me from my phone (Signore Mooker - another for the collection) call (I swear my Italian was perfetto, so just how did he know?) - very friendly. We sat down and soon were brought a glass each of Proseco, on the house, had a terrific meal (lamb chops for David, Osso Bucco for Mama Mia) and ended with an herbal liqueur, also on the house. Wonderful.

This is why I decided that archeology was not for me. It ain't all buried treasure. This guy was picking dirt out of a single crack with a spoon for half an hour.



Extreme technical difficulties have delayed posting photos, and have limited our ability to add new info when we think of something... pazienza (did I spell that correctly?), per piaccere.