Henry

Budman,
They rent by both the day and the week. I paid 145 euro a night for three nights.

Henry

Saturday we pack up and drive to Viterbo to return the car. The train from Viterbo to Rome is a commuter train and takes about an hour and forty-five minutes to get to Trastevere station where we get a cab to the apartment. The apartment was rented through Roman Reference and located on Vicolo del Bologna http://www.romanreference.com/book/info.php?ref=267 . The apartment was not a dump but it was headed that way. The apartment was not dirty but was not what I consider clean. The kitchen sideboard stuck out so there was less than 18 inches between it and the refrigerator, your walkway into the kitchen. The pots and pans needed a good scrubbing and the door under the sink was off its hinge. The sideboard had a tile top but many of the tiles were loose or cracked. The master bedroom had no door because there was no wall only a curtain between it and the hallway. Two pieces of furniture separated the bedroom from the hall with a very narrow space to get into the bedroom. You had to be careful entering the bedroom because there was a board fastened to the floor about one inch high that ran the length of the hall in front of the curtain. Stepping over this board you had to be careful not to step in the hole where a tile was missing and some substructure was removed. There was little place to put your clothes since the some of the drawers in the dresser were full and there was no closet or armoire to hang things.

On the positive side, the apartment was in a great location. One-minute walk to Santa Marie in Trastevere, two minute walk to Ponte Sisto, close to many restaurants, and just barely out of the noise and congestion of the historical center.

We missed lunch so we stop at Carlo Menta, a restaurant that serves 24 hours. We stroll around Trastevere, I check when pharmacies are open, and end up at Santa Maria in Trastevere. Lexi likes the piazza more than the church. We have a good dinner at Il Moro and hear that the pope has died. Back at the apartment we see an announcement that the pope died at 2137.

Sunday I go to the pharmacy at Santa Maria Scala to get the last of my medicine. We then take Lexi on a tour of the more famous spots. We walk across the Ponte Sisto and in five minutes we are at the Campo dei Fiori, another few minutes and we are at the Piazza Navona, then the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain. Lexi likes the street performers in Piazza Navona, and gets her picture done by one of the artisans in the Piazza to give to her mother on Mother’s day.

We call Nancy from the Slow Travel Talk message board to find out where the get together tonight is taking place. She tells us it will be at Taverna da Mercanti, in Piazza Mercanti. Since I don’t know where that is she tells me it is near Santa Cecelia church. We are the first ones to arrive at the restaurant, then Tony who runs Three Millennia Tours in Rome, http://www.threemillennia.com/ , then Nancy, Shannon, who wrote and eating and drinking guide to Venice, http://www.chowbellabooks.com/ , and her friend Eric who is a reporter in Rome, and finally Elisabeth who lives in Rome six months of the year. The food was good and there was plenty of wine. Pauline from Slow Traveler called to wish everyone well. We had a great time especially Lexi who was entertained by both Eric and the waiter. Lexi drew a picture of everyone at the get- together and Nancy says she will post it on the Slow Talk board. Lexi also makes plans to get together with Nancy to do water colors.

Monday we walk to Vatican City. Police and TV people are everywhere. Next to Castel Sant’Angelo is an area full of TV vans with satellite dishes on top. We decide to see how close we can get to St. Peters so Lexi can see at least the square. Surprisingly we get through security or at least Lexi did before they stopped allowing entry. We told the guard that our granddaughter was on the other side of security and they let us in. Barricades were going up in St. Peters so you could only get about 50 feet inside and after about fifteen minutes they made everyone leave.

We had lunch and called Nancy to arrange a meeting point for Lexi’s art session. We met Nancy at a little piazza near our apartment and Lexi and Nancy spent the afternoon painting. Lexi loved this. I really appreciate Nancy taking the time to make our little girl happy. Lexi talks about her time painting with a real artist to anyone who will listen. We had dinner with Nancy at La Tana dei Noantri. The fried vegetables were great.

Tuesday we took the bus to the Colosseum. We got in an English speaking tour that was supposed to be for the Colosseum and the Forum and while they did a good job on the Colosseum they only walked us over to the Forum and gave some directions. Lexi liked the Colosseum but was not impressed with the Forum. We walked back to the apartment and met Nancy for drinks in the Piazza Santa Maria and watched the ‘show’ in the piazza. We had a good dinner at La Scala.

Wednesday we walked to the Spanish Steps had lunch at McDonalds and walked through the Borghese gardens. Lexi rented a k-cart and had a great time pedaling around the gardens. On the way back we stopped at the Cappuccin Crypt. Lexi was neither scared nor impressed.

Thursday was spent wandering through the Campo dei Fiori and Piazza Navona and doing some shopping.

Friday we walked through a deserted Rome. Except for the police on every other corner there was almost no one on the streets. Services for the pope were being held. Lexi liked the Largo Argentina Ruins because of the cats. We packed up tonight since we will leave early tomorrow.

Saturday we are up at 0500 and call a cab at 0555. The cab arrives by 0600 and we are at the airport by 0645. Cost is 40 euro. We have an uneventful flight home.

awbaker

Thanks for another great report, Henry! I'm very interested in visiting Spoleto and/or Spello at some point, so I've bookmarked your apartment rental website -- it looks nice.

What a wonderful experience for Lexi -- and I can imagine what a huge impression it made for her to have spent an afternoon painting in Rome with an artist!

Are the pedal-carts easy to find in the Borghese Gardens? I know my sons will be interested in those when we visit this summer.

Henry

awbakewr,
The pedal cart vendor is on the side of the road just before you cross the bridge. Don't worry as yoy walk along the road you will see bicycles for two or four and pedal carts.