A mellow Tuesday in Rome

I slept until 10;00 and Cam slept until noon , and yet he has been mellow, quiet all day. I caught him many times just sitting and staring at the Colesseum whether it was when we first walked up or while we were inside.

So once he woke up but was still in zombie mode, I went down to Cafe Tazza D'oro which is just below our hotel. It is a traditional Italian coffee shop in that you order at the register and then take your receipt the the bar where they whip up your drink . I ordered a cappuccino because my new best friend, Rick Steves, says it's the closest to a latte. It was fantastic especially after I added a packet of sugar. An older gentlemen standing next to me started to talk to me in Italian so I told him I couldn't speak it but wish I could. Then, I threw out my only phrase, "Il vino rossa de la casa por favour" and he loved it! He said that basically that phrase and cappucino was all I needed to know:) What a fun experience!

My fab cappuccinoMy fab cappucino! Check this link to find out the difference between a cappuccino and a latte..http://www.diffen.com/difference/Cappuccino_vs_Latte

We started with lunch because duh, we skipped breakfast. We walked past the Colesseum to a Rick rec of PIzzaria Luzzi. It was fantastic, especially with the 5 older Italian men sitting by us just yapping! Quite entertaining!

Off to the Colosseo as they call it...

Tip of the day: Buy your Colessium reservation ahead of time. I'm sure the line we bypassed had to have been 2-3 hours long. We waited less than 5 minutes to collect our tickets. We wandered and read for about 2 hours. There is so much to see and learn inside. Check out http://www.unrv.com/culture/colosseum.php   for more information! 

Hanging out on a corinthian pillar.

Our famous "compromise selfie"!!!

The leftover marble from the Colesseo

We went through the Roman Forum  (http://www.italyguides.it/us/roma/rome/ancient_roman_empire/roman_forum.htm) were getting weary so we stopped and got a water and sat by a man playing acoustic guitar. He was so good. Cam laid back and rested for a few. We gave the man a few euro and were on our way. I honestly think Cam would like to find him again and buy his CD he was selling. I think he was legit so maybe we will.

Roman Forum

Had to have another gelato and then back to the hotel for a rest and shower.

We followed a Rick rec and went to a place called Cul De Sac close to Piazza Nirvana. I had seen this place mentioned in other websites as well. I loved the atmosphere but was very disappointed to walk in an see them microwaving the food...the surprised me that Rick would recommend this without at least mentioning that you might see that.

So we left.

It didn't take long to find a nice wine bar restaurant down the street with even better atmosphere. We sat by a young American couple. It took a while, but eventually we struck up conversation and ended up sitting and talking for an hour! Turns out that the young , newly married girl, is a middle school ancient history teacher! They are from Seattle. So we exchanged info thinking we might try to start some kind of correspondence with our students.

True, I'd rather find someone in another country but this may work too. I'd love for my students to collaborate with other kids from somewhere other than Missouri.

This was there last day in Rome and they had been to Florence. So they shared some tips and gave us a paper that had their favorite restaurants on it. That is golden!

View at dinner towards the inside

Yum

Where we decided to eat!

The USA/Belgium game was on TV's in many of the restaurants as we walked back to the hotel and although I would have loved to stop and have a glass of wine and watch the game outside with people, Cam wanted to come back and have some gelato.....so our compromise was that I got to go to a market and get some wine.

A new adventure... couldn't find much open but this one little place that Rick recommends just across from our hotel. I was looking and looking at wines and this worker comes up and I try to communicate with him and the next thing you know he's taking me to the back room with LOTS of wine!!

He helped me find something I wanted and was able to uncork it for me at the register and give me to cups. (See picture below) This place is GREAT for gathering picnic supplies for a long day out which Cam and I intend to do tomorrow before leave for the Vatican.

Our fave gelato place

Gelato!

Two gelatos a day!

This guy helped me find a wine from the back room and uncorked it for me so I could have some while watching the USA/Belgium soccer game. He taught me how to say a few words correctly in Italian....