After sleeping for 11 hours last night (with the time difference and -52hrs, I was zonked), I awoke to Julia knocking on my door. Surprise, surprise! Audric had told me she'd be arriving in the morning... I suppose I just didn't expect to get up so late. But Rome is an easy place to be lazy, especially when it's 90degF out and 80% humidity. That's why August is not a popular month to visit, and why my hotel room only cost 290Eu for seven nights (besides the fact that it's the exact shape and size of a closet).
Julia and I had a lovely time being mostly asleep, wandering around the city. It was hilarious, she kept mentioning that it all felt surreal, like she was in a dream. I had felt the same the day before, so I wasn't as comatose, though there were several times when I thought I'd lost her.
After lunch at a wee cafe, we sort of went searching for a skirt for me. Unfortunately, all I packed was business casual, so I've been panting like a dog for the past two days... hence skirt search-age. But alas, to no avail... it's hard to remember that I am simply freakishly huge, and the idea of a "tall" doesn't exist in Italy. Most of the sundresses wouldn't cover my derriere significantly. Such is life.
We found a couple of nice little back streets, as you are wont to do while roaming in Rome, and purposely avoided the most touristy places. And we fell in love with the misters- lots of outdoor cafes have fans that simultaneously blow and mist their customers under umbrellas. And as most cafes have outdoor seating in the street, it's easy enough to continue walking along the sidewalk to catch the edge of the mist plume.
After a nap, Audric arrived in town, and we headed out to dinner, via the Colosseum. The light was perfect for photos, so we had a good time with that... and then wandered around trying to find a place to have dinner. On the way we found one of Rome's famous public fountains- drinking fountains everywhere! with delicious cold water running! (this part scares me, env engr that I am). And beyond the typical fountain, this one had THREE spouts, so we all filled up simultaneously. It was hilarious, and I wish I had gotten a picture. And here we were, worrying about drinking tap water in Rome.
None of the places recommended in my Rough Guide were open, so we ended up at a little place called Restaurant Tempio di Mecenate, near the Vittorio Emanuele. The food was decent, prices about normal, though they had a heavy hand with the salt. Not too bad for walking in off the street. Dinner was followed by gelato at one of the oldest gelaterias in the city- Giovanni Fassi. It was actually a MASSIVE place, and filled with people (primarily tourists). But the gelato lived up to its name, so that's fortunate at least.
What a day. what a day.
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