TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN ROME

A ROMAN HOLIDAY

When you only have a day to spend in Rome, and by you I mean us, you pack an entire three days into one with precision scheduling. I'm the drill sergeant and my plebes do and did what I said

5:00pm July 31, 2019
Dropped off at our hotel, La Residenza, just off the Via Veneto by a pre-arranged driver. Two large bags two carry-ons and two personal items that are really the size of small suitcases always makes arranging for a driver the best way to navigate the journey from Fiumicino Airport into the city and directly to our hotel. An expenditure well worth every penny.

An air-conditioned room with a wonderful view, a quick shower and a short nap gave us a second wind and the will to do everything we could to make sure we didn't leave Rome with the taste of regret in our mouths

7:00pm
Cocktails were concocted and served by the ever-faithful Alessandro, mixologist at La Residenza,  who now knows us by name. Each time we come he finds a new way to create a special drink for the occasion of our return. This year it was an espresso martini that tickled the tongue of our welcoming first sip of Roman hospitality

Not to stop there, this was followed by a magnificent bruschetta with buffalo mazzorela as we waited for our friend, JoHannah, to arrive from San Francisco and join us in the Italian part of our rigorous non-relaxing respite in Rome

8:00pm-10:30pm
With Johannah in tow it was down to the hotel's restaurant and a dinner of fettuccini carbonara a Roman staple. This did us all in along with the travel; one airline transfer for us but two for Johannah with long stretches of wait time in between flights. It was all it took before one by one we crashed and were off to bed

9:00am
Breakfast of parmesan eggs and bacon, yogurt with peaches, an entire counter of sweets along with fresh pineapple juice and cappuccinos all served on plates or in cups with the hotel's emblem

10:30am
Now for what we came to Rome to see and do- shopping. Forget the Vatican or the Colosseum we headed right to the Spanish Steps and down the Via Condotti. Despite the ninety-degree heat, shopping is a sports event and you play the game rain or shine.

First stop - COS. I know they have this brand in both San Francisco and New York but there's something about picking out that piece with an Italian hang tag that makes it that more special. Not a one of us walked out that store without a bag with a COS label dangling from the crook of their arm.

12:00pm
Rome tradition has many shops closing during the noontime only to open again later in the afternoon. Didn't matter to us. It was after twelve meaning it was cocktail time somewhere. We went inside and sat down for drinks at Ginger  where it was cool both in temperature and atmosphere

1:00pm
Next up was a stroll through the Piazza Navona and then on to a funky district just beyond where most tourists fear to go.

The shops and sites in the area we went to can appear to be slightly dirty and slightly naughty. The shops can run cheap to expensive but they are always entertaining

2:00pm
Food, glorious food at Etabli. For anyone who has followed our past posts on our trips to Rome this might seem like a broken record. I'm not going to apologize. We have our favorites and we're sticking with them.

The menu: Johannah and I split an avocado salad

and fettuccini with bacon in a pomodoro sauce

while Rick had a tomato and mozzarella salad and a full plate of the same fettuccini as we had but he had it all to himself. He didn't gain a pound. Johannah and I, I'm sure, gained what he lost on only half of what he ate. I hope you're feeling our pain

3:30pm
Some final shopping where I picked up my second silver bracelet from TOKO. My first was a birthday present from Rick on last year's trip. It was my big indulgence and one I had been planning since we decided to make this trip. Rick, surprisingly, got in the jewelry game as well and purchased a ring. This was a big step on the far side for him but bravo to his boldness.

We topped off our shopping with a walk into Society, a housewares and clothing shop where we could look but not touch.

Fine linen was the name of the game with a color palette that was right up our alley. Tablecloths ran the gammet from very expensive to outrageously expensive. All we could afford was a dream and a business card.

4:30pm
This was about all my comrades could take. I put the wimpy duo of Rick and Johannah in a cab and sent them back to the hotel for an old folks nap

while I walked back doing some site-seeing on my own sneaking through passageways too narrow for cars with more than three wheels to squeeze through

Or alleys too dingy they scared away the least adventurous  too afraid to walk through a space hung with netting and shredded plastic art

There were more churches to explore with amazing domes

Including the Pantheon that I had been looking for and only stumbled on unexpectedly.

One could have only hoped to run into this guy unexpectedly or intentionally but as many places of God that I went into he never appeared

The last church I made it into before I ran out of steam was the Church of S. Ignazio di Loyola with its unbelievable ceiling

and statuary.

6:00pm
Back to the hotel for shower number two. Remember it was ninety degrees outside

7:30pm
Back out and into a cab to the Galleria Alberto Sordi

where Rick did a little business with Massimo Dutti at their 70% off sale

8:30pm
Dinner at Nana, another repeat for us for one of the best fish meals any of us had ever had.

Our waiter brought out a platter with the fish of the day and convinced us to select a branzino big enough to feed all three of us hungry souls.

The branzino was baked in a thick crust of sea salt along with a set of six prongs, two for each of us.

We ate like royalty and drank like sots.

10:30pm
Before we returned to the hotel we ambled around the corner from Nana's to throw a coin into the Trevi fountain insuring we'd once again come back to the ancient city of Rome.