Third and Last Day in Rome

more subway mosaics

Fontana della Barcaccia ("Fountain of the ugly Boat"), built in 1627-29. The fountain at the base of the Spanish Steps

roasting chestnuts

Sheron threw her coin in as well as a coin for Frank into the Trevi Fountain

The name of the restaurant where we had lunch

Tonnarelli Cacio E Pepe

graffiti on the subway

another decaf Hag (latte)

the door to our hotel is really really short!

the name of our dinner restaurant

Goodbye Rome!

Today is our last day in Rome and for that matter, Italy. It was forecast to be a rainy day so we ladies decided that a day of shopping was in order and left the men to entertain themselves. We shopped (mostly looked) on the main shopping street for awhile after taking the subway to get there. We took Sheron to see the Spanish Steps and then the Trevi Fountain to throw her coin. She also threw one for Frank. We stopped for lunch at a wonderful little cafe and had pasta and wine. The rain lifted and we took the subway to another part of town a little closer to our hotel with cuter and less expensive shops! Sara Beth picked up a couple of cannolis that were stuffed with filling while you wait. We window shopped a little more and stopped for gelato and cappuccino. We walked back to the hotel as we were pretty close by then. While we were shopping, Danny and the men went to the National Roman Museum and the Baths of Diocletian and the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli . Its the same place that Danny and I went to yesterday morning, only they were able to figure out the museum part of the baths and see the ruins that we couldn't find. We had refreshments and reflection in the Howard's room before dinner, reflecting on our favorite parts of the trip. We unanimously agreed that the Tuscan wine tour while we were in Florence hands down was our favorite thing. We also agreed that Rome was our least favorite city simply because it is so large and almost overwhelming. We liked the accessibility of Florence better and Frank really liked the water aspect of Venice. We were also thrilled to have been able to spend time with Frank's family and see what we did of Vienna. Our best meal by far in Rome was our last one tonight. We ate at Ristorante Alessia located near our hotel. Everyone enjoyed their entrees which varied from steak with green peppercorn sauce to sea bass to ravioli to penne with vodka cream sauce and to steak with béarnaise. Our waiter listened to everything we ordered and recommended a red wine to us that was good and not too dry. We had planned an early dinner (7 p.m.) so that we could pack and get to bed early. We have a 5:15 date with a cab in the morning to go to the airport. This has been an amazing trip and I can't wait to go through all of my pictures and remember everything we have seen and done.