Day 16: Rome

Alarm clock rang but we did not hear it. We decided to stay here until tomorrow, and then go to Pisa. Our lovely hostesses left us breakfast with a message, which we really enjoyed. Last night we forgot to have dinner while running away from the rain.

Today, Vatican was on the repertoire, that is, it would be if we didn’t have to wait in line for more than three hours. During this trip we do not have that much time. We walked to the Roman “Latin Quarter”, as we called it. Various colorful shops, small restaurants and secret passages. We got lost, but it did not matter to us. We were already hungry when we began to follow the scent of food instead of the map through the narrow streets. So we ended up in, we would say, something resembling a pub, called La Prosciutteria Firenze. We ordered twice a middle portion of appetizers served on a chopping board, with four kinds of various dry meat products, slices of bread with olive oil and a spicy, delicious spread. In addition to all that, there was cheese and a variety of fruit, kiwi and melon. And another serving of bread, just in case. And beer. Apart from being completely full, we were overwhelmed by the feeling of satisfaction because we tried something new, which brought us back where we had never been.

We continued a walk through the streets in search of vintage shops, and we came across several of them. We just looked around and moved from one pile to another because the prices were insane. The plan was to wait until the evening to see some more sights. Until then we tasted the best ice cream ever - Magnum. The whole thing is about choosing your own ice cream from the beginning to the end: vanilla or chocolate inside, white, milk or black chocolate on the outside, and various crumbs on top - from dried roses and cherries, pistachios, almonds and hazelnuts, to caramelized popcorn. Very good.

We hope to come across this perfection again. It was getting dark and Castel Sant’Angello was shining. We enjoyed on the bridge in front of it, watching the sunset and the reflection of the city on the surface of the river Tiber, and then we headed home. On our way back, we indulged in delicious amatriciana from an old shop that makes homemade Italian pasta.

That’s it. Now we pack, and tomorrow we head to Tuscany!