we had breakfast in the back portion of the hotel lobby. it was VERY good- the succo di arancia wasn't as good as others but everything else tasted similar to what we have been having so far.
we headed to the fiumicino aeroporto to return our autonoleggio since we didn't do it last night. returning to roma via the treni i noticed that even in the city people grew citrus trees, olive trees, grape vines, tomatoes and plenty other tasty things- using every square inch they could. we took the treni to roma termina and got off. a nice man helped us figure out where we were and where to go. he had two accoustic guitars in cases slung on his back and his name was bogdan. he told us how to go to the coliseo and santa maria maggiore. we went to s. maria maggiore first and then to the coliseo. we shared my phone- with an earbud a piece under an umbrella- and listened to the free rick steve's coliseo podcast i downloaded before our flight.
whenever i try to take a autophoto(self pic) of us he does this laugh-huff-sniff with his nose. so in this pic i just started laughing about it- how he ALWAYS does it. what is he laughing-huffing-sniffing at? it's just too funny to not laugh at. and then he laughs at me- and we look like this.
he's nose huffing in this pic too- guaranteed.
after the tour we stopped at a bus/van/panini cart. i ordered a fungi and fromaggio panin and a frizzante- chris got a peroni. i was fed up with the rain and asked the panini-man "acua domani?" "rain tomorrow?"
he said- "acua domani? no." good! then he said "domani- no acua. doble domani, no acua." so i hope that means what i think it means- tomorrow and the day after- no rain! it rained ALL day today. despite the looks of disgust i got for wearing my chacos, i am glad i did. they will dry up fast. i am also glad i wore a skirt- no wet pant legs.
as we walked, chris talked about how it would be a good idea to buy a couple of those van/bus/panini cart things and just run a family business selling food at auburn games or taladega. he said we could save money by selling hot dogs. i said "absolutely not! the reason why you fell in love with the panini cart idea was because the food is so good! and the reason why the food is so good is because it is FRESH and LOCAL and NOT a hot dog!" but i still love that he thought of a business where he could spend more time with me and the kids.
we need to get another map from the front desk - ours is soggy and torn a bit. so after the coliseo we headed to s. giovani di laterano.
the floor of the church is quilted mosaic- i LOVE it! such a sewer's fantasy church!
and gigantic! after that i stopped a priest and asked "dove santa scala?" he pointed across the piazza toward a building with doors opening onto the street. i entered and said a rosary- ascending the staris on my knees. these stairs Jesus climbed when he was at pilate's palace. st. helen, emperor constantine's mom, brought them to roma in the 3rd or 4th century from jerusalem. they are covered with wood but there are long slits on the face of each step that you can reach through and touch- which i did, as well as touch the banister.
after that we found a lady from kansas who was looking for the metro. we joined her on teh search- meanwhile conversing. we hit the metro pretty close to the santa scala and headed toward our hotel. tired- wet- wanting some hot tub and some dinner- and needing to wash clothes. the day is wrapping up. the jacuzzi was just a cold pool with jets. what a downer!!! we did try out the roman bath- but didn't like it too much. afterwards we got dressed and headed out for dinner. we ate at a ristorante right next to the hotel- called ristorante di arturo alle aurelia antica. i had creme di pomodoro zuppa and lamb griglia. chris had some insalata mare and fettucine al ragu. we both shared a litre of rosso della casa. gian piero was our waiter and was so great at taking care of us, cracking jokes, and chatting us up. i told chris how usually when we are on vacation back in america i can't wait to stop going out to eat. it's the FIRST thing that gets old. i just want something homecooked. but here- in italy- i could eat out ALL THE TIME! eating at home would be a punishment!
after dinner gian piero treated us to fresh buffalo mozzaralla- it was THE most delicious thing i have EVER eaten. everyone told me "oh, when you go to italy, try the gelato"- i got SO many of those "head's up". but nobody warned me about the buffalo mozzarella. it was juicy and just SO fresh. i hope we eat here again tomorrow. i'm going to dream about that cheese!
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