Final day in Rome.....for our travel companions

Saturday, February 1, 2014

We have come to the last full day of Cheryl and Rheuame's stay with us in Rome.  It was a good day, the sun shone a bit, but more importantly, the rain held off.  So we spent the day revisiting some sites like the Spanish Steps, Via Del Corso and Campo di Fiori for a bit more retail therapy, although it was mostly the looking kind and not the spending kind.  We found three more churches to explore and listened to an amazing street musician.

A little of that "looking" retail therapy at Gucci.  Also visited were Bulgaria, Armani, Prada,
Valentino, Ferragamo, Dolce and Gabbana, Manolo Blanko, Tiffany, Benetton, Jimmy Choo,
Hermes, Cartier, Mont Blanc, Burberry, Swatch, Zara, Diesel, Disney, H&M, Fendi,
Versace to name drop just one or two.

Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso Basilica

painting behind the altar

Ceiling details

carvings

statuary

stained glass transom with Star of David 

Chapel dedicated to the martyred King of Norway, Saint Olav

A child's crypt - her name was Catherine and the inscription indicates
she was 1 yr, 3 months and 1 day when she died

Amazing singer in front of the church - Ray Charles like sound - jazz and blues

Interior of another little church we found - in a sad state of repair, much simpler than most we have been in

statue

carvings at the base of the pulpit

trough and fountain in the courtyard leading to this church

antique mailboxes in a wall - one for internal mail for the building, one for mail within the city,
and one for all other destinations

Final purchases were made, we went home for a nap, and then Bill and I treated Rheaume and Cheryl to their final supper in the city.

Our appetizers for our meal - starting in the upper left hand corner and going clockwise -
marinated octopus salad, moscardini (baby squid fried), marinated seafood salad
(squid, octopus, cuttlefish) and finally grilled vegetable that included peppers, eggplant,
zucchini and a vegetable fritata,  Yummmmm.

Then it was off to bed for an early start in the morning to the airport for Rheaume and Cheryl's journey back home.  I hope we have given them some good memories to take back.

Some of the things I think that they will remember are:
   saldi is not a brand name - it means "sale" in Italian;

   stairs, stairs, stairs and more stairs;

   churches;

   statues;

   paintings;

   mosaics;

   new foods and old foods prepared differently;

   cappuchino and coronettos for breakfast;

   bus schedules, numbers and routes;

   gypsy beggars;

   outdoor markets;

   rain, rain, rain and more rain;

   street vendors, their persistence to get you to buy, and bartering for a better price;

   dolce (sweets);

   wine;

   street performers;

   little buses, big buses, accordion buses, trams and metro lines;

   long lines at attractions;

   horns, sirens and traffic;

   insane driving, with no apparent rules (or if there are they aren't followed);

   tiny shops, huge buildings;

    ancient ruins wherever you look.

I am sure they have more to add to the list.