After a decent night’s sleep (was soooo good to just lie flat!) and getting up after 8 am, we took our time this morning and were in no hurry. There is a Bialetti coffee maker that uses pods like a Keurig that was not cooperating, so John considered it a challenge to somehow make us coffee. They also have one cup Moka Express so John scooped the insides of the pods into that, and we had some success!
Breakfast consisted of yogurt, boiled eggs (the pans in the BNB are not the greatest as I’m sure most people that stay here don’t cook) and some chicken sausage. We didn’t have anything planned until our museum tour at 2 pm, so John did a little work, and I started downloading pictures and working on the blog.
Showers were taken and then we headed out about noon and walked around a bit. We decided to grab a bite to eat as the tour lasted two hours and we would be hungry. There was a little outside café (White Bar & Restaurant) we saw yesterday so we stopped there and John and I both had a panini, his a cotoletta (chicken cutlet, lettuce, tomato) and mine was a barberini (lettuce, tomato, mozzarella, prosciutto). The bread was amazing! The café was right across the street from where we were to meet our guide, so that was convenient and gave us a chance for people watching as well. We finished up, headed across the street to the Piazza Barberini and waited to meet up with our guide.
We met up with, Fabrizio, our guide, who was a pleasant young man that is an art history major and very passionate about what he does. We headed up the street to the Palazzo Barberini and that’s where the tour started. There was a lot of information given and there was no way either John or I could remember everything he told us, be we found the tour to be very informative and he made it interesting. We liked how he pointed out things about the architecture of the museum itself and when looking at certain pieces of art, the symbolisms and little tidbits of gossip that sometimes went with it. I recognized many of the artists’ names and one was Caravaggio. They had some of his works on exhibition, but the tour was sold out. Our tour also includes access to the Galleria Corsini, which we hope to do tomorrow after our Vatican tour. Fabrizio also told us about a place to go to known as the Orange Garden of Rome, which does have multiple orange trees, but is known for its stunning views over Rome and St. Peter’s dome.
After parting ways with Fabrizio, we headed to find me some shampoo/conditioner. I find it easier to just that kind of stuff here instead of packing it all and possibly having it leak or explode, lol! We found the store where we bought a suitcase the last time we were here in 2023, and I was able to find my hair products. As we were walking, we came across an outdoor café (one of thousands, lol!) and since it was 5 o’clock, we decided to stop and have our first Aperol spritz since landing. We were basically in an alleyway that led to the Trevi Fountain so it was another good opportunity to people watch. After our happy hour drink, we made a stop at the local grocery store to find some ground coffee, instead of using up all of the pods, and then make a quick stop to the BNB to drop off our goods and then headed back out the door.
John took us in the direction of the Orange Garden, which we did find, and it was strange to see all of these orange trees growing everywhere, but the views are great even though it was clouding up. We were noticing the clouds getting darker and knew that rain was expected so quickly made our way back to town and just barely missed stepping in somewhere when the bottom fell out. Luckily, we were able to get under the shelter of a building ledge until it slowed down enough for us to make a run for it to a café (Antica Roma) not far from where we were. We ordered a bottle of wine and John ordered the seafood pasta and I had the cacio e pepe (pasta with cheese and pepper), which is one of my favorites!!! We ended with another tiramisu, which was the more traditional kind and was very good!
By the time we finished, the rain had let up and we headed back to the BNB. Luckily, it was only a 15-minute walk, but we power walked (needed to after that dinner and eating so late, lol!) that we made it back sooner. It had a been a long day and we were both tired as we are still getting used to the time change and probably jet lag. Tomorrow is our Vatican tour and then whatever else we decide to do. Another good day in Rome – ciao!
