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tcreath's Italy trip report....Umbria and Rome with a small slice of Tuscany

tcreath's Italy trip report....Umbria and Rome with a small slice of Tuscany

Old Apr 8th, 2006, 05:52 PM
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Welcome home, Tracy!
This is lovely, giving me warm Italian daydreams while I wait for dinner to cook, and wishing it were gnocchi
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Old Apr 8th, 2006, 05:58 PM
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From another cat lover and faan, thank you
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Old Apr 9th, 2006, 08:47 AM
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Thanks for continuing, Tracy. And for a non-foodie, I think you're doing an excellent job of describing the cuisine you experienced.

Looking forward to more.

Sincerely,
A confirmed Umbria and Rome lover
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Old Apr 10th, 2006, 05:47 AM
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Thanks everyone for your kind remarks!

Stu, I had to laugh at your Perugia description! I have heard many good things about Perugia on this board, and we both wanted to visit, but my husband was too apprehensive about driving through that mess so we passed on it. He gets a little freaked out when driving through the confusion that is Italy, and I certainly didn't feel like hearing his choice words as he tried to navigate, so we decided that skipping it would probably be best for both our sanities!

Cigale, as a cat lover you would understand my passion once I stumbled across Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary in Rome! How I missed this on our last two trips is beyond me, but I probably spent a good hour there, on two separate occassions, staring at all the kitties sunning themselves on the Roman ruins....delightful! Too bad I couldn't have taken home a little purring souvenir of Rome!

I should be adding to this later on today. Thanks again for reading!

Tracy
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Old Apr 10th, 2006, 07:18 AM
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Great report, Tracy - can't wait for the rest!
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Old Apr 10th, 2006, 07:20 AM
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Tracy, I am enjoying your trip report and don't worry about your writing ability...your information has helped us already. We changed our drop off location as a result of your experience so I can't wait to hear more. We are doing a similar itinerary but in reverse. We are starting out with a rental from the Rome airport and driving to Orvieto the first day...next day stopping in Siena on the way to S. Gimmy for a two night stay...3nts in Montalcino...3nts in Spoleto stopping enroute at Roccebegna Sorano, Pitigliano ala MaiTaiTom’s trip report and visiting Assisi, Spello, Trevi and Bevegna while in Spoleto. This trip board is so helpful when making decissions...keep up the good work and I look forward to reading the rest....you're doing a fine job!!
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Old Apr 10th, 2006, 07:29 AM
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Trevi, Deruta and the ruined Roman town of Carsulae….

After a quick breakfast at our apartment, we made our way to Trevi. Trevi was one of my favorite hill towns of the ones we visited. It’s not a very big town, but very fun and interesting to wander around. It’s also interesting to look at, as the town kind of spirals down the hill. It’s one of the only towns that my husband actually drove into, and that was because we couldn’t find any parking lots outside of the wall. Luckily there is a nice large parking lot right inside town. We parked and made our way through one of the many streets and managed to “lose” ourselves instantly. The town is very tightly compacted, and the “roads”, many just pedestrian paths only, were very narrow and enchanting. The sat in the small church for a little while, wandered around some more, and then stopped for delicious pastries and cappuccinos in Bar Rome, near the parking lot, where we chatted with some of the locals having their morning espressos before we left town.

Our next stop was Deruta. To be honest the town itself didn’t look too interesting but I wanted to visit some of the pottery shops. However, I was pleasantly surprised. While the town is small, there were several nice piazzas and lots of cats to occupy my time. The one downfall to visiting during off season and not having a lot of tourists around is that we got kind of hassled any time we went into a pottery shop. We went into one shop and the owner followed us everywhere talking about how wonderful the pottery was and then insisted on taking our picture for us inside the store. Of course, being the people pleasing person that I am, I felt obligated to buy something and I hate that feeling. I ended up buying one plate and a wine stopper, even though we was trying to get me to buy a whole place setting for 12! It was really annoying, although the plate I bought is lovely. I probably would have had better luck at some of the larger “strip mall” type pottery stores just outside of town, but it was more fun to walk around the old town.

We originally had plans to visit Spoleto, but after arriving there and seeing all the traffic we decided to skip it. It just lacked some of the charm of the other hill towns around the area, and had more of a trafficy suburban feel to it. We instead followed the map to Carsulae.

I read about this small ruined Roman city in an Umbrian guidebook a few months ago. DH and I are fans of ancient history so it was right up our alley. Unfortunately Carsulae was not the easiest to find. There was a sign for it as soon as we exited the main road, but after that they stopped and we got turned around several times before we found it. Actually it was kind of creepy. We parked in a huge parking lot for the ruins, but the only other vehicle there was a tour bus but no signs of life anywhere. We walked under an overpass and followed the path to the main entrance, where we finally saw some people in the ticket office/museum. Still, the only other people at the ruins were a small group of children on a field trip, and we hardly saw them. The fog was heavy and it was drizzly, which gave the ruins an eerie feel to them. Still, we greatly enjoyed walking around and taking everything in at our leisure, without masses of tourists around. For history buffs this town is more than worth the effort. The town is on the old Via Flaminia, one of the main roads into ancient Rome. There is an old church and a few other buildings that were in surprisingly good shape. Carsulae was one of the highlights of our trip.

After we were done exploring the ruins we were starving but of course we were in the middle of nowhere so we decided to get some small snacks from the snack bar at the ticket office before we left. The chocolate croissants were surprisingly good, and we enjoyed petting the two resident dogs that were vying for our attention….and our food.

We stopped at a roadside cafe for panini and chips before heading back to the apartment for our afternoon nap. Dinner this evening was in Montefalco again. We ate at a Pizzerie that I believe was actually owned by the same people who owned the Hotel Ristorante Righera Umbra that we ate at a few days earlier. This was the Enoteca Pizzeria Ringhiera Umbra and it was right next door. Again, we had free glasses of Prosecco before our meal. DH had a pizza with mozzarella and spicy sausage, and I went with the pizza margarita with onions. Both were divine. We were in the mood for a bottle of wine, so we asked the waitress to recommend a sweet red wine, and she brought out a non-labeled bottle of Montefalco Rosso that was just superb. It smelled heavenly and tasted even better. We finished our meal off with the free shots of limoncello and were on our way.

Next: Tuscany: Montepulciano, Pienza and San Quirico d’Orcia
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Old Apr 10th, 2006, 08:34 AM
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Tuscany: Montepulciano, Pienza and San Quirico d’Orcia

We debated back and forth for awhile on whether we should even do a daytrip to this area, as it took a little while to get to, but both determined that it was something we wanted to do so we decided to go for it.

We woke up bright and early to begin our day. After a light breakfast we headed out for Montepulciano. After a little while I was starving (the tiny yogurt wasn’t cutting it),so we stopped at the Auto Grill for something quick and easy. Montepulciano was easy to find, but unfortunately we arrived on a market day and it was very difficult to find a place to park. The vendors set up shop in a few of the parking lots near the bottom of town and there were people and cars everywhere. DH got so annoyed he wanted to leave! We finally found a space in a parking lot at the bottom of a hill, and we made our way to the information office nearby for some helpful maps. We hiked up to the top of Montepulciano and, as usual, just walked around for several hours. We went into a couple of gorgeous churches, sat on the church stairs for awhile, soaking in the atmosphere, and did some general sightseeing and a little bit of shopping. I bought a gorgeous handmade pitcher from a small pottery shop on the main street leading into town, and love it so much I wish I bought a few more!

We were still hungry after our light Auto Grill lunch, so we stopped in a small café, again on one of the main streets leading through town. I wish I remembered the name of this place! It was very Viennese-like in appearance, with its plush booths and heavy wood furniture, and it had a gorgeous picture windows with splendid views of the countryside. We got there a few minutes before lunch was to start, so I ordered a café Vienna that was just delicious, and DH had a hot chocolate and we sat and waited until it was time to order. I have a wonderful pecorino cheese omelet and a glass of white wine, and DH had lasagna that he thoroughly enjoyed.

We soon were on our way to Pienza, but not before we got lost and off-track! Because of the market and all the buzz that came with it, DH got confused and lost getting back onto the made road that was to take us to Pienze. Luckily we only drove about 10 km before we figured it out. I like to tell people that we took the scenic route, and scenic it was because the scenery in this area is just absolutely gorgeous. So we finally made our way to Pienza. It’s a very small town but a joy to walk through. As a cheese lover and Pienze being the home of pecorino, one of my favorites, I felt I was obligated to buy some cheese! We ate some fantastic gelato in a small gelateria, Gelateria San Quirico, filled with students on lunch break from school.

We followed the gorgeous scenic road to San Quirico but unfortunately didn’t spend much time there because the sky was starting to turn a nasty shade of green and the wind had picked up so we decided to get out of town before we got drenched. A shame, because the town seemed lovely; I would love to explore it further.

In retrospect I think we would have skipped this daytrip. Although the area was just beautiful, and the towns were amazing, it made for a very long day. And in all honesty, by this point we were starting to get a little “hill towned out.” Yep, didn’t think it would ever happen, but somehow it did. All the towns we visited were amazing in their own right, but they all started looking the same after awhile. Fortunately for us we were leaving for Rome the next day.

Okay, tonights dinner is probably going to make a lot of foodies gasp with disbelief. I love Italian food, really I do, but it’s very heavy and to be honest we were a little tired of it. Neither of us were in the mood for a two hour meal, and we were craving something non-Italian for just one meal. So we did something I’m quite embarrassed to admit: we went to McDonalds. When we were in Assisi a few days before, we saw a sign on the bus station advertising McDonalds. We laughed at it at the time, about how tacky it was, so who would have thought…. Anyways, the funny part is that we spent a better part of an hour and a half looking for it. Yep, we trekked all over Assisi, passing up all of these wonderful Italian trattorias, before we realized that the McDonalds was in a small town below Assisi. I doubt many people would think that McDonald’s would be worth all the trouble, but I’m telling you that was the best Big Mac I’ve ever had! Sometimes you just crave a little bit of something from home….

Next: Train to Rome
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Old Apr 10th, 2006, 08:41 AM
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CRAZY4TRAVEL, your trip sounds fantastic! We were in Siena a few years ago and loved it, so I think it would make a wonderful addition to Umbria. And we would have loved to visit Montalcino, as we loved the other towns nearby, but we simply didn't have enough time.

Tracy
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Old Apr 10th, 2006, 09:06 AM
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Your trip report makes me miss Italy even more. There must be something about cats and women named Tracy. Looking forward to the rest.

And I can definitely relate to the Foligno experience. If it weren't for my Tracy's fine navigational skills, I might still be driving aimlessly trying to get out of that town!

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Old Apr 10th, 2006, 11:15 AM
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This report keeps getting better and better We too broke down and had McDonalds in Italy on one of our trips. I believe it was in Venice.
Can't wait for Rome!
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Old Apr 10th, 2006, 12:12 PM
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Hi Tracy, I am so enjoying your trip report.

And a confession. Way before McDonald's came to Italy (this was in the 1970') we were again having a wonderful Italian dinner in a very lovely restaurant in Rome. All of a sudden I almost got tears in my eyes as for some reason I, right there and then, wanted a BigMac, LOL. I ate the Italian dinner of course but I would have paid a fortune for a BigMac. And I am not a fan of McDonald's.
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Old Apr 10th, 2006, 12:21 PM
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LOL! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who craves a little Americana while in Italy! I'm not a huge McDonald's fan, and hardly ever eat fast food at home, but there is something about it that I craved....perhaps its because my Big Mac meal was about the opposite of anything else I could have gotten in Italy so it felt comforting to have it. I did feel guilty the whole time I was eating there though!

Tracy
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Old Apr 10th, 2006, 12:48 PM
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Tracy, I'm really enjoying your report. Don't feel guilty! Eat wherever you feel like eating!
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Old Apr 10th, 2006, 12:54 PM
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Off to Rome….

We had originally planned to spend the morning/early afternoon sightseeing some more, but we decided to get to the train station a little earlier and see if there were any earlier trains to Rome. We packed the night before so we were ready to go. Of course I paid the price of my pottery-buying when I had to lug the suitcase around, but now that I’m home and I get to look at all my pretty pieces I think it’s worth it. Because, I like to consider it a form of working out, especially after all the pastries and gelato I had been eating! Anyways, we paid Silvana and thanked her profusely for her hospitality and said arriverderci to Case Gialle. We drove up to Gualdo Cattaneo, the neighboring hill town, and did a little morning walk around town. I say little because it literally took about all of 15 minutes to walk around the whole town, and that was only because I found yet another cat to pet along the way. I think I’m a cat magnet. The town was very interesting; tiny but charming. After that we headed on over to Bevagna, which we had to pass through on our way to Foligno, and stopped for a pastry and cappuccino before we headed to the train station.

As I mentioned in a post above, Foligno was a weird town. It sits in the valley and is not very charming to look and it was very confusing to drive around. I’m thinking its because the main road rings around the town, there was always lots of traffic, and we had to drive almost completely around the ring to get to the train station. DH was nervous about the whole dropping the car off thing, so one night before dinner we drove to Foligno to check things out. We found the train station easily enough by following the signs, and the Avis office is literally in the same building as the train station, just down a few doors. This made things very easy. We then parked and walked into the old city walls. While the historic center had some charm, and was filled with students, it wasn’t really my taste.

Anyways, because we already checked out the train station we knew exactly where the Avis office was. We dropped the car off very quickly and went inside the train station to purchase our tickets. There were trains to Rome almost hourly, and the next train was leaving in about 20 minutes. We bought tickets and then sat outside, near the tracks, and waited for our train. I just love riding the trains through Europe. It’s so nice and easy and we could sit back and enjoy the ride until we got to Rome. Unfortunately I took a Dramamine (trying to avoid motion sickness) and fell into a deep sleep about half way to Rome. DH had to wake me up and I was beyond groggy. We had about 5 hours before we were to meet our apartment owner at the apartment we rented, so we made our way to the back of the very long line at the luggage deposit. I will say, though, that the line moves fairly quickly and we only had to wait about half an hour. In a way standing in line was a good thing because my grogginess finally subsided and then came a sense of joy….we were back in Rome!

Rome is my very favorite city in Europe. I just love it. I love the liveliness, the history, the people, the chaoticness (although I really don’t think it’s as chaotic as many say it is), the piazzas and fountains… We had a list of places to visit that we hadn’t seen on our previous two trips, and our first stop was Santa Maria Maggiore. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and it definitely lived up to my expectations! We probably spent about a good hour in there, oohing and aahing at the magnificence of this beautiful church. We stopped in a tavola calda for a quick lunch of rotisserie chicken, spaghetti and bread and headed over to San Clemente. We were both anxious to see the catacombs under the church, but unfortunately it was closed for siesta and we never got back over there. We walked on over to the Colloseum and Forum. Although this was our third trip to Rome in about three years, I can’t seem to go without a visit to the Forum. I just find it positively fascinating. Unlucky for us it was about this time that it started to poor. The skies opened and the rain just came down. Lucky for us the umbrella guys came around selling their umbrellas. I just find this hilarious….where do these guys stash the umbrellas? As soon as it rains they come out in droves. DH bartered and got his umbrella for about 2 euro. I paid 5 for mine but I hate getting rained on so I would have gladly paid triple.

After hanging around the Forum for awhile, and checking out Trajans Market, we started heading back for Termini. We never really walked around Termini too much, so we stopped and checked out the Baths of Diocletian and then went into S. Maria Degli Angeli. We sat down for awhile to rest our feet (walking around the cobblestones in Rome can be torturous after awhile!) and take in the beauty of the church before we decided to get back to Termini. We called my friend/dog sitter at home to check on Rufus Joe, I bought an overpriced book at the book store, and then we went downstairs to get our luggage. We hopped on a taxi and found our apartment fairly easily.

I just loved the location of our apartment! It was near Piazza Navona, but far enough away to be very quiet. It was actually really neat…we had to meander our way through a small maze of streets to find it. The apartment was small, just a large room with a bed, TV, dresser, a kitchenette, and a small makeshift bathroom. The bathroom was dreadful. It was absolutely tiny, and the shower stall was too low so every time we took a shower water got everywhere. Still, at 90 euro a night the location was unbeatable.

Our apartment owner arrived right on time, we paid the money, and we took a nap before dinner. Dinner was at a restaurant near the Pantheon called Pummarola. It was okay, but kind of touristy. We were hungry and the food smelled good so we went for it. My favorite part of the meal were these little fried dough ball things that we had for an appetizer. I had gnocci with four cheeses and DH had lasagna, we shared a liter of the house white wine, and split a cheese platter for desert. The food was just okay, but the ambience was terrific. There was a band playing nearby, and it just added to the atmosphere. Many of the meals I have in Rome would be mediocre elsewhere but just the sheer fact that we are eating outside in Rome usually makes up for it. We sat in Piazza Navona for awhile, just enjoying the scenery, and then found a gelato place. I so wish I remembered the name because it had some of the best gelato I had ever had. One of the flavors, a vanilla with real cherry sauce, was just incredible, and the fruit di bosci (I hope I have that right…mixed fruit, I believe) was divine.

Next up: Attempting to go to the Vatican, the Mausoleum of Augustus, and the discovery of the cat sanctuary….
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Old Apr 10th, 2006, 12:56 PM
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LOL maitaitom...I remember thinking similar thoughts while reading your trip report!

I want to say thank you, by the way! It was your trip report that planted the Umbria seed in our heads. I just loved reading your report and it made me long to be there.

Tracy
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Old Apr 11th, 2006, 04:10 AM
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Tracy, I am really enjoying your report. I too am a cat (and dog) lover and have photos of feline friends from many lands. My favorite one from Provence of a beautiful siamese cat sunning herself on a window sill...I had it enlarged and framed. Rome is one of my favorite cities and we had not planned to be back there so soon. We were originally looking at the Dordogne but with all that was happening in France the past 6-8 months decided to head back to Italy. I have been to Rome twice before and your reasons for loving it are the same as mine...every corner of the city has something interesting to see. I love to just sit in the squares and people watch. The history is so facinating and there are remnants of it everywhere...exposed to see. We will only have a day in Rome on the end of this very short Tuscany and Umbria adventure...but I am looking forward to just wandering around with no real agenda...we have seen most of the sites before so we can just soak up the atmosphere. I am really sad when I hear that someone hated Rome...I feel that perhaps they missed the essence of the place. One person said that there was grafitti everywhere and they liked the pizza better in NYC. Grafitti is a worldwide problem and one that has been around since before the Roman Empire. I don't want to compare the pizza in NYC and Rome...I simply want to enjoy the place and moment. I am looking forward to the next installment.
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Old Apr 11th, 2006, 05:03 AM
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CRAZY4TRAVEL, I love the idea of blowing up pictures of cats! I think I must have a trained eye for spotting cats because I seem to find them everywhere I go! One of my favorites was a little tan and white kitty I found in Cesky Krumlov, CR....I just wanted to take him home!

And I'm always happy to find a fellow Rome lover! I too am dissapointed when I see that someone didn't enjoy Rome. To each their own, but I find the city just magical. And your right...I've seen graffiti in every major city I've been to in Europe, and there have been plenty, so Rome shouldn't be singled out for that reason. And whoever said the pizza in NY is better than in Rome has obviously never been to Da Baffetto! Although I don't think I've met a Roman pizza I didn't like...

Tracy
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Old Apr 11th, 2006, 06:04 AM
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Attempting to go to the Vatican, the Mausoleum of Augustus, and the discovery of the cat sanctuary….

We wake up all refreshed and ready to go. Our first stop on our itinerary is the Vatican. Now we’ve both been to St. Peters and we’ve done the Scavi tour, but we have yet to do the Vatican Museums. The first time we were in Rome we got there on a Saturday and didn’t have time before the museum closed. Our plan was to make our way to the top of the dome, and then head on over to the Vatican Museums. So we are walking towards the Vatican and we see people everywhere and newscasters reporting some story. When we go through the security line we learn that everything is closed off to the public. I’m not sure what was going on, but we just assumed that the Pope would be speaking. Disappointed (how can you go to Rome 3 times and NOT see the Sistine chapel??), we left to find some breakfast. We just started walked and ended up near the Villa Borghese, and stopped at the Dami Café for some chocolate pastries and cappuccinos.

After a bit of window shopping we stumbled across the Mausoleum of Augustus. Now, I will start by saying how surprised we were that this doesn’t get more attention given it’s the burial of one of ancient Rome’s greatest emperors. Anyways, there isn’t much there to look at. We walked around it a few times and then decided to start walking towards Trastevere.

We have both wanted to visit Trastevere, an area that we missed on our other two trips. By this time my feet started to really hurt. I am fairly young and in decent physical shape, and I was wearing a nice pair of Clark’s walking shoes, but the cobblestone and uneven streets of Rome wear my feet down pretty quickly and I could feel the blisters everywhere. I love Rome, and I love walking around Rome, but I always have this problem when I am there. We had been walking around in circles and I was tired and hungry and aggravated because the Vatican was closed and I just needed to sit and, well, whine for a moment. So we are sitting at the stairs to the footbridge leading to Castle Sant Angelo, and right in the middle of my whining one of those men start approaching me with an armload of fake handbags. Now, you think he’d take one look at my face and tell that I am not in the mood to be “enticed” by a fake handbag but oh no…he starts sticking a “Prada” in my face and wouldn’t take no for an answer. I was so frustrated I just screamed for him to leave me alone, in not so polite words, nearly in tears and ran off. My poor husband, sweet as can be, just stared at me in disbelief. I am never like that, and I never cause a scene, but I guess I just reached my breaking point. After I stomped off for a few minutes I realized how ridiculous I was being (after all, I’m in Rome!) and we both started laughing at my behavior.

Okay, so after walking for a bit we finally find Trastevere. We sat on the steps across from the river and just people watched for a little while. The sun came out and the weather was just gorgeous. We pulled out our trusty little Streetwise Rome map and followed the directions until we found Santa Maria in Trastevere. Now, I’ve seen some beautiful churches in Rome but this one was spectacular. Definitely one of my favorites. The gold overlay everywhere is just phenomenal. There was a service going on so we quietly took a seat in the very back pew and sat and listed for awhile as we took everything in. I remember a post awhile back about how tourists can be so rude when they walk inside a church and start taking pictures and talking loudly while a service was going on, and now I saw this first hand. I couldn’t believe how loud and obnoxious some people are! The church was certainly beautiful but you don’t have to be so loud as you take it all in.

Okay, here is the kind of funny part. There were only about 15 people sitting up front for the service. My DH actually made a joke about how wouldn’t it be weird if it was a funeral and we were sitting inside observing it. So sure enough, we quietly make our way outside and there, sitting in front of the church, is a hearse with its back door open and nothing inside. I find this utterly ridiculous! Surely the church should be closed to the public for such events. So now we have a videotape of someone’s funeral. As terrible as this may sound, it actually makes for a funny story.

We walked over to the Spanish steps, did some more window shopping, and stopped at Pasticeria D’Angelo on Via Della Croce for a simple lunch of pasta, bread and water. The food was fine, but the inside of this place is just gorgeous. It had almost a “shabby chic” look to it, with beautiful sconces and chandeliers with rose-colored crystal adornments. Just splendid. We then walked to the top of the steps, where I was suckered into buying one of those paintings from one of the guys who sits up there (and there are plenty of them). Now in my defense the painting is actually a lovely picture of the Vatican and Castle Sant Angelo taken from across the Tiber during the fall with orange leaves on the trees.

We took a city bus that let us off near Torre Argentina. At the time I didn’t know what this was, only that it was the nearest we could get to our apartment on that particular city bus. When we got off we immediately saw some ruined columns sticking up in the street and had to take a look. After gawking at the ruins for a bit, and my DH giving me a history lesson on what we were looking at (I always tell him that he should have been a history professor) I started noticing all the cats. We were standing opposite the entrance so I didn’t see the sign for the cat sanctuary, but it just struck me where I heard of Torre Argentina and I gasped and told my DH that we were at the cat sanctuary! He knows about the sanctuary because I found a link about it awhile back and sent it to him and told him we had to go next time we were in Rome, but then we both forgot about it until we came across it. Now as you probably figured out, I just love cats. I could have stayed there all afternoon. We walked around the whole perimeter of the sanctuary, with me pointing to just about every cat. “Look there’s another one…”! I think DH was starting to get a little tired of hearing that so after about an hour we headed back to our apartment for our afternoon nap.

After a nice long nap we had plans to go to Da Baffetto. I see raves about this place all the time, and I was dying to try it. We got there promptly at 6:30, when they open, and we both ordered pizza margharitas and a beer. The pizza definitely didn’t disappoint…it was delicious! My only regret is that I didn’t get to try the tartufo that was recommended to me by another poster on this board. We were both too full after our meal to even consider it! Of course after walking around for a bit we found room for some gelato from Giolitti, which was delicious.

Next up: The Baths of Caracalla and the mess that was the Rome Marathon…
tcreath is offline  
Old Apr 11th, 2006, 02:31 PM
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This was just like being back in Rome... thank you Tracy! My husband and I do Rome the same way y'all do - lots of meandering and LOTS of time at the cat sanctuary watching all the kitties. There is a little deli in one of the perimeter shops where they sell meat by weight. We bought several slices of ham when we were last there in 2004 and attracted quite the feline following ;-)
TexasAggie is offline  

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