SEVERE JETLAG
Even having gone to bed early after having dinner at the hotel, or at least early for us, we all woke up to some severe jetlag. It was torture to get going since each of us was in a foul mode. Not even the hotel's breakfast could pull us out of our funk.
Italian and virtually any European hotel breakfast is served with a great deal of pride; baked goods, fruits with yogurt, juices that go beyond the traditional orange, an array of meats along with a hot tray of scrambled eggs and bacon and most importantly cappuccinos and espressos with a hostess there at the ready to refill at a moment's notice.
It was almost noon before our moods changed sufficiently that we could face the day. JoHannah, Adam and Roby had set out first making it as far as the Trevi Fountain. We hadn't made it to a bank so none of us had a single coin to toss in to garauntee our return. This would be rectified.
The hotel had suggested a restaurant near the Trevi for lunch. I figured there were two things against this restaurant even before we got there.
One: recommendations from hotels are frequently done because of a kickback arrangement not because the food is particularly good, and two: restaurants near tourist attractions are usually traps with outrageous prices and mediocre cuisine.
I was wrong on both counts.
Il Chianti was the perfect choice for starting back out on the right foot. Rick had an Aperol spritzer, beautiful to photograph but a very bitter drink you need to acquire a taste for. The rest of us settled for a bottle of white wine.
Adam chose an appetizer of Prosciutto and buffalo di mozzarella but it was only the second best thing we ordered.
The best was a secondo piatto of pici al cacio e pepe, a true Tuscan dish and some of the best pasta I've ever tasted. I licked my plate.
After lunch we split up with Adam and Roby heading toward the Coliseum and JoHannah, Rick, Emmy and I chose the less touristy activity: shopping.
Along the way I got to do what I love best: photographing what makes Rome Roma.
From the Piazza Navona we retraced our steps from previous trips back into the less touristy district behind the Piazza Navona
where the streets are marred and less pristine but real and photogenic
and the shopping is unique and particular to Rome.
We wound our way back to Toko, a jewelry and clothing store the only way I can think of to describe it is it sits on the edge somewhere between trendy and rough. For the last few times we've come to Rome I left each time with a bracelet to commemorate our trip.
My wrist is now like a tree whose age is discovered by its inner rings. My bracelets are now my rings around my wrist that tell the time and age of our many stops in the eternal city.
I wasn't alone, Emmy walked out with her own memory talisman, a beautiful knotted ring. I hope it will have magical powers and bring her great luck and many returns to Italy.
With the evening we fell right into the Italian lifestyle making dinner reservations for nine, that's nine at night.
It was a return to one of our favorites, Nana, specializing in fish and we didn't hold back.
We started with toast points covered in melted pecorino and topped with anchovies and in addition we chose fried whole baby calamari.
Both were exceptional
As a main course four of us had the fish of the day baked in a salt crust laid on a bed of stewed tomatoes and green peppers.
Adam was the adventurer with roasted octopus dotted with a potato cream.
I can't exist without dessert so I dragged Adam and Roby once again past the Trevi Fountain where I made good tossing a coin in to guarantee our return
and then it was off to one of many gelaterias for cones served to look like flowers. I took the less drippy path with a dish of mascarpone and fig gelato. We all went to bed completely satisfied.
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