Good evening everyone,
First of all I must warn you....this blog isn't for the faint of heart (it's a long story today)! It's 7:30 pm as I'm writing this, and my feet are "cobble-stoned" out for the day. We started our day in the old Jewish quarter of Rome. Fascinating area of four square blocks where between 2,000-5,000 Jewish people once lived. We had a guided tour of the area and learned its sad, but fascinating history. On October 16, 1943, over 1000 Jewish people were rounded up here and sent to Auchwitz.
After our tour we went for a coffee and croissant at a place called Caffe del Portico. Ron went in to order and the guy said "Okay! Sit down! We were enjoying ourselves until we were suddenly swarmed by about 25 teenagers on a tour of some sort. They stood over our table bumping into us and dropping crumbs on us, so sadly we gulped down our coffee and left.
We went to Campo di Fiori and had freshly squeezed pomegranate juice which we have never had before. Delicious! We left there and proceeded to Piazza Navona to view the fountains and see the market. There is also a beautiful cathedral called St. Agnes in Agone which we went into. We were sternly warned "No photos", but Ron took some anyway and then was reprimanded by a nice lady. I sat on the back bench while Ron walked dutifully around feigning interest.
It was a warm, breezy day and these areas were quite busy and plagued by the tacky tourist junk paraphernalia you see in all famous places.
We had lunch at Ristorante Il Portico and were seated beside four loud Italians who were butting their cigarettes on the sidewalk, as there were no ashtrays around. Still fun to be there though! Pizza for me and fettuccini for Ron. I won't even say the food is delicious anymore (just assume it is unless one of us gets something crappy).
We also walked along the Tiber to St. Peter's. We noticed lots of shops selling Pope and Catholic souvenirs.
Alas, I am reminded of the fact you can never find a washroom unless you go and buy a drink in a cafe somewhere, which always seems to defeat the purpose. Sadly, the strong smell of urine wafts through stairwells and pools in corners...also I was reminded that in Rome the pedestrian is not well respected. It remains a challenge trying to cross the road (which is always a life threatening event - how to get across the road without getting your butt clipped.
Well, I'll say goodnight because we are going back out...I can hear bells in the distance. It's a beautiful, ancient city and we're loving it...
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