Well, it actually *is* winter!

We woke up to a cloudy day – after Jim finished his PT, we loaded up for the day and headed out. We weren’t too sure if we should take our rain jackets but decided what the heck, let’s take ’em. Spoiler alert: it rained pretty much all day.

First stop was a local bakery recommended by our host. We had a couple of cappucinos and cornettos (croissants). When we left our VRBO, some poor tourist loaded with luggage was standing at the bus stop; the driver didn’t see her but also didn’t bother to slow down. We had a couple of tips up our sleeve (she was actually on the wrong side of the road and taking a long way around) – so if she crossed the road she could still get the same bus. I bet she ran across the taxi stand and opted for that route. I would have. On top of that, she did not speak a lick of English and I did not speak a lick of her language (not sure where she was from – she was Asian). We did a lot of pointing and gesturing.

As we enjoyed our coffee and treats, we mapped out our way to Piazza Navona. We are doing a Rick Steves “Heart of Rome” audio tour today. We are using his app and have downloaded the tour. We had to change buses but it was quite easy to get there. The bus system here is fantastic. They have a “tap and go” system. You get on the bus, tap a machine with your credit card, and you are charged 1 Euro 50 for the ride. If you ride quite a few buses during the day, the computer figures out the best rate for your day and charges you that. Amazing. If the ticket police come on board to check tickets, you just hand them your card and they scan it. The only drawback is you each have to have your own credit card. You can’t tap it twice for two tickets. The ticket police are quite proactive here in Rome; it is funny (disheartening?) how many people try to ride for free.

We enjoyed our audio tour, but pro tip. If you are going to do an audio tour with someone, just share one set of earbuds, that way you are listening to the same thing. We kept getting out of sync; it finally dawned on us. Oh, duh.

My favorite tidbit of the tour was this one – Rick Steves told us a story about the fountain called the “Four Rivers”. It was designed by Bernini. There is a church right next to the fountain and that church was designed by Borromini. Even though Borromini was Bernini’s former student, they became great rivals. Now for the funny part: one of the river gods on the fountain appears to be looking at the church and tumbling backward in horror. That tickled my funny bone. Unfortunately, it is not true. Borromini didn’t even start the church until well after the fountain was finished, so Bernini couldn’t possibly be insulting Borromini’s church via the river god. Oh, well. It does make for a funny story.

Our tour included some must-see sights – the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. It is off season and boy howdy was that fountain crowded. I can’t imagine during peak season. We are going to get up early tomorrow morning and go enjoy the fountain without the hordes.

We had a fantastic lunch, hopped on a bus to sightsee out of the rain for a bit, and then went to Via Del Corso for the passeggiata. (evening stroll – folks get dressed to the nines and stroll from around 5 -7 pm. Especially on Friday and Saturday nights). Even though it was rainy, folks were out in droves.

We people watched for a bit, then hopped on the bus to head home. We did a little grocery shopping. Our items included a couple of rolls and a pear. The clerk said we needed the number. I ran back to get the number on the bin. Meanwhile, he kept trying to tell Jim that he needed the balance. We all laughed when we finally figured out that we needed to weigh our item on a machine in the produce department, put in the product number and it spit out a sticker that had the price of the item. The cashier does not have a scale. Who sells rolls by weight? Evidently, Italians do! We suggested he use the word “scale” next time!

Well, the evening flew by! It is already time for bed!

parleremo presto