It feels like we’ve been planning this trip forever, though in actuality, we’ve talked about it for about ten years and finally committed about 5 months ago. While I’ve been to Italy before, solo and with our mother, this is the first time my sister will be experiencing this beautiful country. I’m excited about showing her some of my favorite things (Piazza Navona, Pantheon, golden hillside views of Tuscany, all of Florence, and the world’s best gelato), while discovering things together that I’ve missed before (Siena, Milan, wine and cheese tasting in Chianti and the unexpected finds around every corner).



We’ve both had challenging times over the past several years (though I believe that’s really true for all of us). And while the last few weeks have made us question our timing on numerous occasions, the further we fly from home, the more I believe that this is divine timing — I am committing to exist in every sweet moment of this time, with my sister and with the country where I feel more “me” than anywhere else I’ve found.

Broad strokes of the trip: we’ll land in Rome and check into our Trastevere apartment for three nights; catch the train to Orvieto, pick up a car and head out to our house in Ulignano for four nights; up to Florence, where we’ll part with the car and enjoy four glorious nights in my most favorite city; and catch the final train to Milan for a few nights before heading home. So yes… planes, trains, and automobiles.

Welcome to all who’d like to come along for the ride!

I'm translating dolce fa niente as Sweet Fanny Adams, but perhaps that is overstating it.

Yes I'd like to sit in the back and watch

Mad rush to wrap things up at work on the day before our flight, but finally got to Little Tokyo for a “last night in town” family dinner before heading out to the Sonestra Hotel near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Since we’re on the first flight of the day, we decided to stay near the airport to avoid getting someone up before dawn to bring us to the airport. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. The hotel was clean, had comfy beds and a Keurig with all the supplies in our room - what more could we ask for? Oh - a 24 hour a day shuttle directly to the airport - done! It was relatively affordable and so close to the airport - once on the shuttle, it was less than 10 minutes to our terminal.



Since we were on a 7:10 am flight, getting checked in and through security was a breeze. Folks were all still in good spirits or too sleepy to be in a bad mood. I was impressed with how efficient the security screening has gotten at LAX (at least at terminal 3, anyways). Haven’t flown since the before-times (pre-pandemic) and this system was much preferable. Got some breakfast at Homeboy’s - decent egg and bacon sandwich and better than average coffee (if you like it strong - and I do) and popped in at a Hudson’s to get an airplane pillow (to add to the collection of pillows at home that I seemingly keep forgetting about). Everything is pretty much cashless in the terminal, which was a little bit of a bummer as I would have liked to spend down some unexpected cash that I ended up bringing with me, but a minor inconvenience. The terminal waiting area is really nice now, with electric outlets at every seat (no more hunting for a plug!), and even a bathroom for our four legged friends (which cracked me up, but when you think about it - so practical… makes me wonder what they were doing before).



We boarded our Delta flight and departed for Atlanta on time. I’m quite comfortable here in 21d, though I’m pretty short, so legroom is rarely an issue for me. We lucked out with a very nice seat mate which is always a relief. Once we were in the air, I finally got the chance to see “Past Lives,” which is as beautiful as I’ve heard - great piece of film-making. The one hiccup is that sister’s entertainment screen/computer wasn’t quite working as it should, but luckily she had downloaded some films on her iPad to watch. Truly uneventful flight, which is what I like, and we’re about to touch down in Atlanta to switch planes for our final flight into Rome. So - first flight in the after-times was a fairly good success!



It was easy enough to get from our first plane to the international terminal in Atlanta - perfect amount of time for a lay over. Just enough to freshen up, have a snack, check in with the Momma, and board our flight. Was too wound up to really sleep on the flight to Rome, so watched movies most of the way. Delta food was less than impressive, but it’s airline food, right? We landed in Rome quite a distance from the regular terminal, so by the time they bussed us over, our luggage was waiting for us and off we went to the train station. Once we got there, everything was familiar, though now you can buy tickets through a ticket machine. We hopped on a train for Trastevere and off we went!



I’m not sure why I thought walking to the luggage storage near our apartment would be a good idea, but I did. After about 30 minutes of lugging our bags down the street, we finally arrived in the heart of Trastevere. Because our apartment would not be ready until 3pm, we found a luggage storage and waited while the two older Italian women in front of us loaded up their locker. As luck would have it, they took the last available space, so before sis burst into tears, I quickly googled another place around the corner and we headed out once more. As it turned out, the second place was run by a very nice young man and at a more affordable price - thank you universe! At this point we were in dire need of a coffee and a snack, so off to the charming Bar San Calisto for danishes and coffee. It was lovely to sit out on the patio, people watching and enjoying the sunshine and joyful chatter of friends catching up all around us.



Once restored, we wandered through the Piazza di Santa Maria (the church was closed for a service, so we just peeked in at the door quickly) and then over to the Villa Farnese to enjoy the garden, the frescoes, and that beautiful staircase. Of course, gelato should be the next order of the day and we found the very excellent Gelateria Alla Scala. A cup of lemon for sis and a cone of a house special with a caramel swirl for me completely hit the spot. We sat on the steps at the Piazza Trilussa to people watch and enjoy our treat - neither disappointed. We strolled around the corner so I could show sis where we stayed when I came with our Momma, but about this time, we began to seriously wilt.



We finally broke down and messaged the owner to see if there was a possibility for an early check in and she happened to be on her way and suggested that we meet her in a half hour. We quickly picked up our bags, headed over to the apartment and met the owner’s agent there. While a little on the basic side, the apartment more than works for us and features a small patio with a large stone basin where the ladies of old would gather to do their washing.



After a much needed nap, we walked down to the Conad to pick up some staples, but not before checking out the very cute clothes on the first floor. We made our way back to the apartment doing some serious window shopping on the way. We quickly freshened up and popped out for dinner at Cacio e Pepe, just next door. The service was lovely and we had much entertainment from nearby street musicians. We started with carciofo alla guido which was as wonderful as I remembered, even if out of season. I had the namesake cacio e pepe and sis had an amazing pasta with more artichoke and guanciale - both were solid, but that guanciale- yum! We had a lovely white wine with dinner, an espresso martini for “dessert” and were treated to a limoncello from the very sweet waiters. More than either of us usually drink, but it was our first night in Italy, so a special occasion! Then some more window shopping, and we found a tiramisu - berry tiramisu for sis and the traditional for me - so yummy! But the best part of the night was the heart to heart talks that I got to enjoy with my big sis. While it was a long first day, I have to say it was quite a success!

Nice TR, enjoying travelling vicariously through you!

Lavandula

Welcome all - nice to have you along!

Woke up super early for a tour of the Vatican Gardens and Sistine Chapel, which is quite different from the previous tours I’ve done at the Vatican. While the bus made us a little bit late, we arrived just in time to jump into our group and head into the gardens. We had a wonderful guide, Chiara, who shared so much about the gardens, the sculpture, the buildings, and the history. It was early enough for the weather to be nice - sunny, but not too hot yet. The gardens are lovely and it was a really nice change to the very crowded museum. We saw three styles of garden - English, Italian, and French - no surprise that Italian was my favorite. The gardens are an interesting mix of the political and spiritual, from the tower where politicians sometimes stay and the house where Pope Benedict lived for the remainder of his life after retirement (displacing the nuns who previously lived there) to the many representations of Mary present in the sculptures. I would list the gardens among my top four experiences at the Vatican. Another is, of course, the Sistine Chapel. Chiara expertly slipped us in, past the tapestries and map room and straight on to the chapel. She reminded me of information that I’ve long forgotten and left us to wander and enjoy the chapel at our leisure. We could have gone back to the Rafael rooms (another of my top four) and waited in line to enter St. Peter’s to see the Pieta (the last of my top 4), but by now we had been walking for three hours and were more then ready for lunch.

We headed for a nearby sandwich shop, but all the seats were taken so we settled for the pizza restaurant next door, to at least sit down for a bit. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant, but it wasn’t really all that memorable- not, bad, just nothing special.

So, remember I mentioned challenges before? One of those challenges was that I had been in a car accident a few days before the trip and had a mild case of whiplash for which I was prescribed pain killers and muscle relaxants. I had taken them in the morning and by about this time was feeling some adverse reactions to my stomach and such. Add to that, I had barely slept for the past several days. So we went back to the apartment for a desperately needed nap.

Once we were up and mobile again, we decided to wander. So we crossed the bridge and found ourselves in the Campo di Fiore, but just as it was wrapping up for the day. Then we headed north to the Piazza Navona and my very favorite fountain - my sis was overwhelmed with how wonderful the whole piazza was. We peeked in the windows at the doll store and then headed to a local farmacia to deal with my still nagging stomach issues.

Next up was the Pantheon - I love the Pantheon, but was aghast at how many people were there in the courtyard - I’ve never seen it like that. I mean full, yes, but wow. I am wondering if it’s because now you have the lines for tickets and it just slows everything down, keeping folks there longer. We took the obligatory pics and then kept going on to the Trevi Fountain, which was on Sis’ must do list. There were the normal crowds here and to make things a little exciting, a few young girls (assuming they were cheerleaders) threw one of their friends into the air in front of the fountain for an action picture. They did it a second time and set up for a third try, but by then the police had caught on and shut down the photo op in no uncertain terms. We put in our coins to make sure we’d be back and decided it was time to head home.

One taxi ride later, we freshened up and strolled over to the nearby Otello. This was really for Sis as I was feeling it by now and was in no mood for food. She had an amazing roast chicken in tomato sauce with whipped potatoes, that looked quite good - she was very happy with it. I opted for some plain bread and melone e prosciutto (more for the melon than anything), much to the consternation of my waiter, particularly when I couldn’t even eat a whole slice of melon or a whole slice of bread. But I wouldn’t mind coming back to this place another time when I’m feeling better.

Decided it was going to be an early night, so we went back home and I was tucked in bed by 10pm. Praying the stomach meds kicked in by morning!

We decided to sleep in and see if that helped both of us to shake off the jet lag and my lingering tummy issues. Sleep, a hot shower and some ginger tea later, I was feeling well enough to venture out for a little food. We found a little place called Mammo, with the tagline “American skill, Italian style”, which would normally not interest me, but they had yogurt with fruit and granola, and bagels which I could get plain, so it met the momentary needs. It’s just near Trilussa Plaza, so mostly college students. We were momentarily distressed, because all but a reserved table were taken, but a very kind employee walked over, removed the reserved sign and motioned us to sit down, in the best seat of the house by the window. I could see the front door of the apartment I rented with our Momma in 2014 from where I sat! Sis had a chicken wrap and reported that it hit the spot. So all in all, not a bad start to the day.

We jumped in a taxi and motored over to the colosseum to wander around a bit. I have a mixed reaction to this particular site. I’ve done the tour once, and while the architecture and views are impressive, I didn’t find myself engaged with it. Of course, Sis wanted to at least see it, though not necessarily tour it. I realized as we approached the site that for all the immensity and history and architecture of it, it was in essence a place built to kill people and animals for entertainment. Just puts a damper on the whole thing for me. But I was a good sport and we walked around as much as Sis liked, including over to see some of the ruins in the Forum. We briefly contemplated a tour, but the line was a little too intimidating.

Instead, we decided on a colosseum of a different sort… jumped onto the metro to the Pirimide station and navigated the labyrinth under the train station to find the four story tall Eataly! (I have a soft spot for this particular Eataly - on my first visit to Italy, I was “stranded” in Rome for an extra 5 days (hurricane Sandy) and was taken in by a friend of a friend who was taking cooking classes there, so I was able to tag along. Such a fun memory!) Luckily, the bar was open, so we sat down for some little snacks and a glass of wine for Sis and fizzy water for me and my poor tummy. Once restored, we wandered the aisles with very big eyes and somehow restrained ourselves from buying everything in sight. We settled on purchasing an assortment of very delicious looking chocolates. We ended our visit with a caffe for me and a cappuccino for Sis, along with some fun people watching, as we seemed to get there just ahead of a mad rush.

Another taxi ride later and we were back to Trastevere to send emails and such, catching up with family and friends for a bit. After a nice rest and chatting at the apartment we decided on dinner at another local place - Il Duca, just across from the apartment. We sat out on the street, so we could continue to people watch… though seemed to be an over abundance of rowdy college boys (who honestly looked like they were about 15!) But we sat next to a delightful Momma and teen daughter who only spoke Italian, so we all just smiled and shrugged at the youthful chanting of the boys. I was feeling up to trying actual food tonight, but decided to play it safe with roast chicken and roasted potatoes, with a glass of red wine. The chicken was so crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. Perfect intro back to food, though I could still only eat about half of it (but even that was an improvement!) Sis had a pasta with a cingale ragu and a glass of rose. She loved the pasta - neither of us were that thrilled with the wine, but also not really wanting to complain about them. Overall, I’d return for the food, but do a bit more questioning on the wine.

Since it was still early, we decided to walk down to the Ponte Sant’Angelo as I firmly believed Sus needed a good dash of evening awe. It was a bit longer walk than I remembered, but so worth it. Those beautiful angels! And then a little turn to the left and there is St. Peter’s… tons of pictures later, we headed back and ran right into a nighttime film crew (which, coming from Los Angeles, is not a new thing for either of us). But with filming completely halted at home, it was nice to see.

As we approached Trilusa Plaza, we could hear the music and a huge crowd - there was basically a rock concert going on with the band in the middle of the mosh pit! So much joy as the crowd sang along with the band and everyone was dancing and jumping up and down. Sis kept exclaiming - this is Tuesday?! And took videos for her concert loving sons.

Such a perfect ending to our last night in Rome… tomorrow- off we go on an early morning train.

Just popping on a comment in the hope the OP comes back to finish.

Yes, please come back to finish!

Enjoying your TR!