Today we got to sleep in a bit, but of course, not too late. Just like kids on summer vacation--they can finally sleep in and they are awake earlier than usual on a school day. But, it was the day to go shopping!
Had the usual breakfast buffet and then were on our way. We decided to walk over to the Spanish Steps and have a capuccino. We strolled down our street and across the bridge and then down the Via Condotti, which is known for it's pricey designer shopping. Off to the left we saw "Alfredo's" restaurant--I've been to the one in Epcot Center which was designed and named after this one.
Walked in and out of several designer shops and then decided to get serious about shopping. Found a wallet to buy (and it matches one of the purses I bought in Tivoli, though I wouldn't discover this for several months when I finally decided to use them!), then decided I needed sunglasses. The woman at the store was very helpful and we all bought a pair of sunglasses. Found a shoe store and bought 2 pair of really cool shoes--they weren't Jimmy Choo's or Manolo Blahnik's but still cool.
Got down to the Spanish Steps and found a place to buy the capuccino. Interestingly, each of these little shops are filled with people that go in and order their capuccino or espresso or whatever and stand at the counter to drink it and then they leave. There are usually no seats around and they don't seem to take them with them. We decided to drink ours on the Steps--but, we soon found out there is a rule or law forbidding you to eat or drink on the Spanish Steps, with the exception of the first 2 steps. Why? I don't know and at that point I just didn't care. Walked along other streets doing some window shopping and trying to figure out the best attack for buying some cool stuff. Found a store with some great leather gloves and went upstairs to try some on. The stairs were a narrow, spiral staircase and while we were looking around, an elderly Chinese woman fell down almost the entire flight. Moved along and found another shoe store. These were a bit expensive but very different shoes--right up my alley. Had to think about it though so the owner wrote down the address of the store so we could find it again later. Moved along and passed Trevi Fountain again, and the Pantheon and wound our way through many different streets and shops. Went back through the Piazza Navona and had lunch and did some people watching for a bit.
Walked around some more and decided that I had to go back and buy that pair of shoes I saw earlier. Checked out the map and went on our way. And got lost. We just couldn't find the store or the street again. We found some policemen and asked them how to find that street. They pulled out their map and looked around since they had no idea (later we would find out that we were about 1 or 2 blocks away from it). They finally pointed us in some direction and we followed that and walked around and around and around and just couldn't find it. We kept asking store owners where that street was and nobody seemed to know. Somehow, some way, we fell upon it and bought the shoes. I can't remember how many pair I bought--I'll just say one!
We walked around some more and decided to head over to Alfredo's for dinner. Checked the map and began walking. And walking. And walking. Round and round and round. Finally figured out where we were and could see how to get back to Via Condotti where we knew we had seen the restaurant earlier in the day. We walked up and down Via Condotti and couldn't find it. We asked a bunch of people and nobody knew where it was. How can an entire famous restaurant just disappear?! At this point, it's dark and it's starting to rain and my feet are killing me! We decide to try one more time since we thought we knew approximately where it was. Ahhh! Finally find it. The neon lights that were on in the afternoon were not on anymore which is why we couldn't see it.
We got seated right away and ordered some wine and Fettucini Alfredo. They mix it together at your table and make a big production out of it. It was pretty good food and it was great to just relax for a while. Of course, we still had to walk back to the hotel which is about another mile or so away. (I reallly miss my car!) We make it back to the hotel and drop our purchases in our room and head back down to see Aldo in the bar.
Saturday