Today started with a tour of the heart of Ancient Rome. Our guide is an American I found online. Daniella graduated from UNC Chapel Hill so when I told her that is where Kaitlyn was born, she liked us immediately. She doesn’t have a tour that is specifically kid oriented, but this is the one she suggested for us. And she seemed to make an effort to include Kaitlyn and point things out to her just for her.
She started us off at the Spanish Steps then walked us over to Trevi Fountain. I liked both a lot more in the day without being harassed! Daniella showed Kaitlyn how you can actually drink the water out of the fountain at the bottom of the Spanish Steps… and how to drink out of the drinking fountains along Rome’s streets. When I tried, I managed to spray water all over, including on Bill’s camera.
Daniella took us into the Pantheon, which was great. We had wandered in on Sunday, since it is across from our hotel, and it was far more meaningful with her explanations. Around then Kaitlyn started begging for gelato (she’d gone maybe 12 hours without having any!). So Bill and Kaitlyn went to find some and Daniella took me into a great coffee shop right by our hotel. I’m glad she took me in because I would never have figured out the whole order at the cash register then take your receipt to the barrista (is a man a barristo?) thing. She also pointed out another coffee shop around the corner she said is worth a try. The nice thing is both seemed to attract as many locals as tourists, if not more.
I was right, Piazza Navona was part of the Tuesday tour with her. She pointed out different things, though. Then she took us to a talking statue.
We ended up having to pay her with a check, because we are limited on how much cash we can take out of other banks every 7 days… and we feared that giving her cash would leave us euro-less by the time we leave. So we wrote her a check. It’s in euros which should make it easier. But when I turned to Bill for help spelling the numbers out in French she said oh, just write it in English. I hope it’s ok!
For lunch we returned to the first restaurant we’d eaten at in Rome. I wasn’t so impressed with it the first time (remember, I got full-bodied shrimp) but Salvidore said they had good pizza so we went back to try it. I ordered a white pizza with broccoli. But it ended up to be the part of the broccoli I don’t like stems and leaves. I tried to eat it but just didn’t like it. During our meal, a kid who couldn’t have been more than 15 started to play his accordion on the street. When he came around the restaurant holding out his hat, I gave him a euro. I felt bad for him. Plus, every time I hear an accordion, I think of my dad and my Grandma Murphy. She’d have loved Rome because you hear accordions all the time.
Kaitlyn woke up grumpy so Bill and I decided after lunch to let her take a long nap. I set out to do some shopping. I didn’t want to stray too far from the hotel, since I’m so lousy with directions. I got some postcards (and a pen) then sat at the second coffee shop Daniella recommended and drank some very delicious coffee and wrote some cards. I am never ever going to be able to drink coffee at Starbucks again. Luckily, I have a Tassimo machine at home or I’d have to give up coffee entirely after drinking really incredible coffee like that in Rome! I didn’t buy anything else. I just can’t seem to find the perfect souvenir.
For dinner, we walked to a place near the Spanish Steps a friend in North Carolina recommended. She said it is near the Disney store, so we went there first. We bought Kaitlyn a new nightgown and she picked out a stuffed doll. It is Wendy from Peter Pan, which she has never seen, but she knew who Wendy is. I don’t know how.
Dinner was ok. I skipped the shrimp, but Bill didn’t. Tonight, he was the one stuck performing surgery to eat. I went with roast chicken which was good, although a little heavy on the lemon for me. When he brought Bill the credit card receipt to sign, the waiter told Bill there’s no place to write in a tip, we’d have to pay him in cash. Then he hovered over us so we couldn’t discuss it. We both thought we’d seen on the menu a note that a 15% service charge was included. So we left there feeling ripped off.
Kaitlyn had to have some gelato, so we got some at the place next door to our hotel. Then we went into the hotel bar to have some hot tea, because Bill was starting to feel sick. The bartender was great. He made a special cocktail just for Kaitlyn (it tasted like Hawaiian Punch). He fussed over her. She laughed. It was nice. He isn’t the only one at the hotel making a big deal over Kaitlyn. Everyone at the front desk addresses her whenever we come or go. The bellhop who helped us to our room Sunday is going out of his way to try to befriend her. Italians do seem to really love children. (It’s a nice change of pace)
I’m envious…have fun!