Final Day in Rome

We enjoy breakfast one last time on the ship, then disembark from the ship right on time, and our private transport is right outside the ship to meet us. Luggage is readily available. We face a little confusion as our actual driver has not brought his port ID card and authorities won't allow him into the ship area to pick us up.  A friend of the on-sight coordinator loaded all our luggage in his van and took us outside the port to meet our driver.  After another hair raising drive ( not 100 mph, though ) from the port to the center of the city, we arrive at our hotel.  We marvel at all the sites that we can recognize after our previous 4 days touring Rome.  Our hotel is a tiny, boutique one with 23 rooms, and it is as charming as can be. HOTEL MODIGLIANO. We are midway between the Spanish Steps and the Barberini metro stop and near the Villa Borgese park.  This is a view of the outdoor patio where we enjoyed a glass of wine after our afternoon walk through Rome--taken from our balcony window.

Only Lydia and Jerry's room is ready, so they move in and our luggage is stored until later that afternoon.  We head out to tackle Rome one last time.  Today is much cooler and is quite comfortable in the shade and we love walking the streets up toward the Spanish Steps.  When we finally arrive, we find that we are actually at the top of the steps and can look down to the bottom of the stairs and the square. Bob and Jerry make a trip down the stairs for photos from that view. Joyce and Lydia decide to rest on the wall at the top. We attempt to make our way into the Villa Borgese Park, but cannot find a gate. Lydia and Jerry have had enough and make their way back to the hotel. 

Joyce and Bob are not to be beaten in their attempt to find the Villa Borgese Park and start off in a different direction. Eventually, they do find the park, but are too tired to go very far into the park.  They walk back through the fashionable section of Via Victorio Veneto. Our feet cheer when we arrive at our hotel. The hotel has a very large, comfortable parlor area with FREE INTERNET!  Yeah.  We all eagerly connect with our devices and finally check e-mail as well as stroll through several Google Earth sites to see where we have been.

Soon it is time for Francesca to pick us up for our Rome at Night Tour.  Traffic is totally nuts as it is still rush hour at 7:00 PM.  She navigates with the ease of the native that she is, and we cringe as one more moped, car or bus comes too close. She ignores Jerry when he asks her who taught her how to drive.  She shows is a little car about the size of a Smart Car and tells us that 14 year olds can drive that little car.  It doesn't go very fast, but still is a vehicle. We head out past the Castle St. Angelo near the Vatican.  This building played a feature  role  in Angels and Demons movie from the Dan Brown Book.  As a tour guide and personal assistant, she worked for a month for various personalities who were filming Angels and Demons.  Of course, she had lots of stories to tell. 

We are soon in the Trastevere section as she climbs higher and higher to her favorite lookout point atop a hill to see Rome at night. She surprises us with a bottle of sparkling wine and we all  toast to a fabulous time in the Mediterranean and to Rome in particular. Photos really weren't that impressive so we just basked in the glow of the city. We told her we wanted some pizza--where she would go as a native of Rome.  We were treated to a wonderful experience at a tiny little restaurant near the Coliseum called FORNA.  It was filled with locals and we were grateful for Francesca's help to navigate the choices.  We ate fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with mozzarella cheese, another dish of fried balls of rice, tomato sauce and cheese and several different pizzas. Some of were surprised that we like the pizza with egg plant (aubergine).  Everything was fresh and hot from the oven. We met the owner,Milvio, had our photo taken with him and felt like we were family.  We never would have found this place without Francesca, much less negotiated the language challenges.     

She asked us what else we wanted to see or do andn  we mentioned many of the sites where we had toured including the Forum, St. Peter's Basilica, the Parthenon, Trevi Fountain, and of course, the Coliseum.  As it turns out, many of the areas aren't really lighted that well or you couldn't get a good shot, so the Coliseum becomes our goal as Francesca says we can get a good shot.  We all mess with our camera to set for the night shot and success was marginal for some of us.  Francesca thought she could assist Jerry.     

It is nearly 10:00 and we know we have to get up early the next day for our plane trips, so we reluctantly return to our hotel, tired, but happy for one more remarkable experience.