Sabato a Roma

Sleeping later each day! The only challenge is that the street corner by our villa is where the municipal street cleaning trucks pull up to fill their tanks with water every morning......even on Saturday!  They show up between 7:00 and 7:15 AM.  We have no idea why they need to start so early!  Anyway, we usually fall back asleep.

We cannot believe how well the Red Sox are doing!  Tough to be away during this great start to the season.........what a start!

We are falling into a nice routine with a simple breakfast in the room and working out plans for the day.

Today was scheduled for a visit to St. Peter's and the Vatican area, but before heading out I walked around the corner to take some pictures of the Fontana dell'Acqua Paola........as it faces northeast and we usually walk by in the afternoon when it is in shadow.  It is really quite amazing......a pure stage set element that was built in front of several existing villas, including the backyard of the villa we are staying in.

 A VISIT TO ST. PETER'S

We decided to drive to St. Peter's as the walking route looked like it was at least a half an hour......and we wanted to conserve a bit of energy for the rest of the day.  The route was actually quite direct and we were there in 5 minutes.  We were also very lucky to find a parking spot in what is a very congested part of the city.  It was only a few minutes to get to Piazza San Pietro.  In order to get closer, however, we had to go through multiple screening stations.  At the first, they looked in Andrea's purse (in some detail).  In the second, we had to go through a metal detector station......just like in an airport.

If the polizia stations were not enough, there was the next layer of security, the Swiss Guards!

The sight we stumbled upon confirmed the rumors.......thousands of people line up every day to go through the Basilica San Pietro!  It was totally crazy.  I think we quickly deduced that our tours (once upon a time) were more than adequate!  It was so much easier in the past.  No way that we were going to wait for hours to get in!

I was trying to do a unicorn pose........but Andrea kept laughing about the phallic symbol!

After a rather strenuous march around St. Peter's and the Vatican neighborhood, we were ready for a change.  I was beautiful, but so compressed by all the people there.   We jumped in the car, planning to visit the Museum of the Ara Pacis (Italian: Museo dell'Ara Pacis) which belongs to the Sistema dei Musei in Comune of Rome. It houses the Ara Pacis of Augustus, an ancient monument that was initially inaugurated on January 30, 9 B.C.

Designed by the American architect Richard Meier and built in steel, travertine, glass and plaster, the museum is the first great architectural and urban intervention in the historic centre of Rome since the Fascist era.  It has been controversial since it was built in 2006.

We managed to get up close, but speeding by in our car.  The traffic (which had been much lighter than usual) suddenly became much more hectic.  In the end, we drove around the building a few times, but could not find a place to park.  We decided that we had seen enough in our "car tour" and opted to move on closer to Piazza del Popolo. In our circuitous driving, Andrea recognized one of the nice hotels of the area that she had read about through the British travel movies hosted by Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.  We ended up finding a parking space about 6 blocks away.......very lucky.

We decided to check the hotel out in more detail and ended up having lunch in their courtyard.  It was absolutely what we needed for some rest and relaxation.  The Hotel Locarno was an absolute gem.  We sat outside and had a wonderful lunch and a couple glasses of wine.......this place was a real find!

After lunch, we walked around Piazza del Popolo and checked out the sites.  It was crowded, but everyone seemed to be enjoying the great weather.  The outdoor cafes and restaurants were packed.  After a bit of exploring, we headed back to the car and made good time back to a well-deserved siesta......but not without stopping on the prow of the Janiculum to take a couple of photos.  It was such a beautiful day.

After a bit of a rest (and a needed shower to wake up!), we decided to go over to the gardens behind the main Academy building with a bottle of wine and some snacks.  It turned out to be an absolutely stunning evening and sunset.  We moved a couple of the teak chairs and a table into position to enjoy the late afternoon light........could not have been more relaxing.

We also stumbled upon the fact that there is a fireplace and grilling area in the back of the lawn, tucked into a patio area near the old walls.  A family with some young children were stoking a fire for their Saturday night dinner.  We are totally enthusiastic about this!  There is a good stack of dry firewood and we are definitely going to give this a chance in the next few days.

Dinner at Carpe Diem was perfect!