The next morning we grabbed our still wet shoes from the radiator and went to the bar. We had our usual. We enjoyed our breakfast outside and the sun was shining.
For our last day we had booked the Scavi Tour in Vatican City. I had heard that it was a great tour but we really didn’t know what to expect. We got to St. Peter’s early and took some more pictures before going through security. We were there very early so there was no wait for security. We were able to walk right up to the front and through security. We went to the left of St. Peter’s Basilica where we were let through the gates by the Swiss Guard. Once again, we had a great tour guide who spoke excellent English. The Scavi Tour takes you underneath St. Peter’s Basilica to a church built 2,000 years ago. We learned a lot of history on the tour, and were amazed at how old the structure was. Despite its age the structure was in excellent condition. I won’t go into any more detail about this but I definitely recommend taking the Scavi Tour if you have any interest in history. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed on the tour.
After leaving St. Peter’s we headed to Castel Santangelo. Cliff took a few pictures and we continued walking across the bridge and to Piazza Navona. We wanted to eat lunch at the same restaurant that Cliff had that great gnocchi but it was closed so we headed to the Pantheon area.
We ate lunch at a small family run trattoria. We ordered garlic and oil bruschetta to split. Cliff had an individual pizza and I had ravioli with a tomato cream sauce. It was excellent.
After lunch we went to try to visit the Pantheon again. Luckily it was open this time. The Pantheon was at one time a Pagan Temple, but was converted to a Catholic church eventually. I found it very interesting that the oculus at the top of the dome is not covered, and it rains in the Pantheon. Can you guess where we went after the Pantheon?
We went to Della Palma for gelato of course!! My favorite. This time I ordered mint chocolate chip and Nutella gelato. Excellent again! After the gelato we headed back to the apartment.
After a quick nap we decided to try to get those night pictures of the Colosseo again. It was our last chance since we were leaving in the morning. We took the metro to Colosseo and got some great pictures.
Next, we walked towards the Pantheon area and did a little shopping. I picked up a few scarves and other souveniers. We wanted to try to find the restaurant we ate at on the first night. After wandering around for a little while, we stumbled upon it once again.
Cliff ordered the “Grande Birra.” The waiter asked “Grande”? And held his hands very far apart, and Cliff said, “si, grande.” The birra he got was bigger than his whole head! I ordered the hot chocolate and we got the garlic and oil bruschetta and an olive bruschetta. The olive bruschetta did not look appetizing to me but Cliff liked it. For our dinner Cliff ordered penne arrabiata and I had the ravioli that Cliff had the fist night. Cliff said the penne was the best meal he had on our whole trip. I knew I must recreate it when we got home.
After dinner we decided to get gelato one more time!!! Who knows when we will make it back to Italy! On our way to Della Palma we passed the restaurant we had lunch at earlier that day. The owner remembered us and said “Buona Notte.” The people in Rome were so friendly. When we got to Della Palma they were out of lemon gelato. How could I leave Rome without getting lemon gelato one last time? So I asked if they had more and he said yes. Phew!!!!! When I went to pay the guy at the counter said, “back again?” Ummm, that’s not a good sign when the cashier remembers you!
After enjoying our last gelato we headed back to the apartment. The cab was picking us up bright and early the next day. We really enjoyed our trip and we will definitely make it back to Italy. If for no other reason than to eat gelato, pizza, pasta and hot chocolate.
