We get to sleep in a bit today! We have the morning to ourselves and I have a ticket to go see the Pope in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican though I finally decide to not go. I'd have to get there early to stand in line with 10,000 other people. A few others in the group do go though and were near where the pope drives by to get to the stage. It's also the day Bridget heads back to England so we go have a leisurely buffet breakfast in the hotel and see her off. We don't have to be back until around 2:30 so Kathy and I head out to find Roman treasures on our own. We decide to walk this time instead of taking a taxi. There are motorcycles and Vespa's everywhere (if you watch Roman Holiday, a Vespa is the motorbike that Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck ride around on). I guess it's easier to get around the streets on these as well as to park. We quickly find the bridge over the Tiber River which is surprisingly close to our hotel. We cross that and find our way over to Piazza Navona where the artists hang out. It's really cool and we walk around to all the vendors selling their wares and watch some of the artists draw pencil portraits of people. These artists are great and Kathy decided to have hers done. Quite a crowd gathered as this guy drew this amazing picture of her--he did this so fast starting at the top of the page and working his way down. Amazing! We stop at an outdoor cafe for a cappucino and watch the sites for a while. Then we worked our way over to the marketplace (can't remember the name of it off the top of my head). These vendors are selling fresh fruit, flowers, olive oil, etc. Walked around for a bit more and went stopped at another outdoor cafe for lunch (geez, I hope I have this on the right day!!). I ordered a quattro formaggio pizza (4 cheese) and we got some white wine. The wine was fantastic so I peeled the label off so I could try to track this down at home--it's a Sicilian white wine and the label is Regaleali--I highly recommend it. Very nice. We head back to the hotel since we chose the Tivoli excursion.
We all meet at the front of the hotel to get on the bus and we are on our way. We drive past the Borghese Gardens which I had wanted to see but it's not that big of a deal. Though our guide tells us that the gigolo's hang out there all day and all night and are quite busy! How funny is that? The Borghese Gardens are named after Napoleon's sister Pauline Borghese. I forgot who it was that she married but... interesting anyway.
We head through the countryside North of Rome through the Olive groves and finally wind our way into Tivoli. We stop at our designated meeting place after being introduced to some of the vendors that our guide knows personally (she lives in Tivoli) and that will be giving us a huge discount when we come back to shop. But first, we go through Villa D'Este. It's funny because I do crossword puzzles all the time and there is always a clue that says "Famous Italian family" and the answer is always Este. This is them.
Here are some pics: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/visual_culture/projects/diva/deste.html
http://www.bergerfoundation.ch/Jardin/tivoli-intro_english.html
Since those links are clearer than what I could tell you, I won't go into more detail. Anyway, the steps and paths are steep but we make our way down and see the beautiful fountains and gardens. There are even Bay Leave bushes (not sure what they are really called but the leaves are actually Bay Leaves). We leave there and at the exit we see our first gypsy family. They are very dirty and poor and we hear that it is rare to see gypsies here in Tivoli. They do finally get chased away.
Time for shopping!! We get to where they have beautiful leather purses and I buy about 3 or 4 of them!! We did get our discounts though so that's good. Then we peek into another storefront and find all kinds of treasures. I bought a wood inlaid jewelry box that plays "Finiculi, Finicula" which reminds me of my days in summer camp when I was a kid. I also bought a beautiful heavy bud vase that is Venetian Murano glass. Most of it is clear except the inside is cobalt blue and a deep green. Of course, this is very heavy to carry around but, oh well. We finally meet up with the rest of the group again since it's time for dinner.
We go down the street just as the young people are beginning their promenade! I don't know if it's boredom or if this is something that Italians do but basically they walk up and down the streets just to see and be seen. (very similar to the Italian's in Boston at Revere Beach but that's another story). We arrive at the restaurant and they bring us into a big room where they welcome us and give us all a before dinner drink to toast the group. This is the champagne/orange juice/campari drink and we all are in love with this drink. It tastes like Sangria. The hostess, Manuela, is married to the owners son and shows us around as she explains about the restaurant. When they first bought it, it was a small one room restaurant that had about 5 tables in it. They kept noticing a breeze coming through the walls so one day the owner took a sledge hammer to the walls and discovered ancient Roman Baths behind there! They excavated over the years and found room after room and all kinds of ancient relics that they now have on display. They have 2 more rooms to excavate yet.
We go to the back of the restaurant where they show us how to make pasta. She makes it look so easy--15 tablespoons of self-rising flour and 2 eggs. Mix together and eventually form a ball. Let it rise for about 45 minutes (or in the fridge for 30 minutes--or is it vice versa??). Anyway, then roll it out like pie crust to get it as thin as possible. Then, roll it up like a ham roll and slice off thin slices (similar to a ham roll again). When done, fluff them out and you have linguini or fettucini!! Then boil in salted water for 5 minutes and serve. (note, I tried this at home and... well, it's better and less stressful to fly to Italy and have them cook up some pasta for you!! I highly recommend it!)
Anyway, now they take us to another room and they begin serving what becomes about a 5 course meal with wine and entertainment. Between courses, we get up and dance. They even made us do the chicken dance and that other silly dance that I can't think of what it is called.... not the hokey pokey--the newer one. The Macarena!
We get serenaded and one of the people in our group, Jay again, grabs the mike and starts singing. It was funny at first but eventually the paid entertainment starts to get a bit peeved since Jay doesn't want to give up the spotlight! Oh well. Seems we also had an after dinner drink as a digestive (they are very big on digestives!) but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was--maybe some kind of brandy? Anyway, time to head back to Rome where we head back to the bar there to meet up with Aldo and Bob. Aldo is the bartender and is just the greatest guy and Bob has become a fixture there for the week and seems to know everyone down there. I think he's from Chicago or Indiana. We also meet more people from the Boston area and eventually head back to the room for sleep since we have to get up early again tomorrow to head to Florence. Finally get to see David!