Day 3

I forgot to mention yesterday that in STL airport I realized I had forgotten my converter/adaptor. DOH! So while at the airport I was contemplating having to make my first purchase. The sales girl looked at me and said "Honey, with all that hair you are gonna need this", so I went ahead and purchased it. $42.  Gripes! Because the one I have at home that I bought at Walmart for $10 and have used in about 15 different countries works beautifully.  So I thought, ok...not all is lost, this one has a USB port and I can charge my iPad and iPhone at the same time. Well guess what. The USB part works, but the regular plug does not! It isn't brain surgery to use the crazy thing. The lights come on so I know it is getting power, but the plug was a no go. We tried several different things. My guess is a bad fuse, but no extras came with it. I've kept my receipt (shocker), but have a feeling the store will be closed when we come back through on our evening flight.  I'm not a happy girl this morning when I can't do anything with my hair. Luckily day three started out rainy and I just stuck my hat on. Guy didn't sleep as long as me and was surfing on the iPad while I tried to shake off a bad morning headache. We snacked on some Biscotti I had brought with us and tried to plan our day. Guy gave me a few more minutes to rest while he set out for some breakfast. He was looking for some bread and cheese and I was happy with any kind of sweet roll. He arrived back at the room with a few goodies and I had at least put my face on by this time. After breakfast we looked again at the radar and the rain was going to be passing through for another hour or so. So we settled into the living room of our fabulous room and took just a quick nap. I woke about 1pm and the rain had passed, so I got ready and we left shortly after.

We were unsure if we wanted to take the subway (yikes), cab or walk to the Coliseum. So we talked to the concierge and he said about 30 minutes on the subway or 40 by walking. We chose to walk since the weather had broken and the walk was well worth it. We passed a few familiar places, but to see it all again is still as fun as seeing it for the first time. We took a quick break at the Coliseum and took some pics, but it was still overcast. Photo op not the greatest, but I had to see it again while we were in town. It is my favorite place in Rome. As we continued on, we passed the Circus Maximus and headed toward our lunch destination, a new area of Rome we haven't visited called Trastevere. Trip Advisor recommended it, so we thought we'd take it in. We weren't sure how to pronounce it, so we shortened it to T-town and this pronunciation is working quite well for us. :) It is a less busy area and supposedly has more locals than tourists. We saw plenty of tourists, so we fit right in. Trip Advisor didn't have any specific restaurant that was supposed to be over-the-top, so we picked Grazie & Graziella. It was cute and packed, but they managed to wedge us in a seat in the covered, yet outdoor seating area. We ordered bruschetta and it came on a very hard bagel. Weird and Guy thought for a second he had broken a tooth, but I just soaked mine for a bit in some balsamic vinegar and gobbled it up. I was starving at this point, so I wasn't going to turn any kind of food away. So our entrees were a bit tastier. I had gnocchi with clams *delish* and Guy had carbonara with artichokes. I think mine was better. They brought out hot bread in a paper sack and it tasted like it had come from a wood burning oven. We could smell the wood from outside. WONDERFUL.

At this point the sun was popping out and we took a layer off and began to head back toward the Coliseum. I wanted to take a few more photos now that the sun was making its way out. We trekked back and I made a quick purchase from a street vendor. I managed to get him down half the price he was asking. It was probably an insult, but as I was walking away and he was hollering "madame" "madame" I figured he'd accepted my price. He did, but he looked grumpy as he took my money. :) We ventured over to a tiny island in the middle of the Tiber River and I took a quick video of an old man playing the accordion and dropped him a few coins and blew him a kiss for his patience while I took the video. We ventured on across the bridge and I got my second gelato of the trip. I ordered it in Italian, but she asked a question and I just stared. In perfect English she said "with whipped topping"? I polietly said no - as I had been busted out as being the stupid American. Guy helped some, but when I get it with coconut, he digs around that section to get to the chocolate.

Back at the Colesium the sun was PERFECT and we took several shots. No way around getting other tourists in the full view shots, so I try to be a bit creative and go around as many as I can. As we were walking away, I saw some flowers and got the best shot of the day. The one at the top of the page. It made our long trip back well worth it. From there we headed back and Guy is needing his map less and less. I window shopped and found a cute top that I bought. The lady in the store was nice and complained about some people who looked like they were trying to steal something. I think she was right, but she was on them like a hawk. I found an electronics store and viewed an adaptor they had. Only $12 but it didn't say converter, only adaptor...I melted a curling iron once with just an adaptor. So I told them I would think about it. When we got back to the hotel I called guest services to see if they happened to have one and they said yes. The one they brought up looks like an adaptor only. I'll give my flat iron a go with it and see how it works. If it starts smelling like an electrical fire I'll know that is the wrong kind.

Back in the room the rain has moved back in and this time with some thunder and lightening. Guy napped thru the storm and I downloaded pictures and started blogging. Getting ready to head out to get a bite for supper. It is about 8pm. Just need a little something before bed. We headed out and the concierge recommended a pizzeria called Pomodoros (like the tomato he says - ha ha) Three blocks up and two blocks over from the hotel. Off we go, not starving, but just needing a snack. Well Pomodoro's (il pomodorino to be exact) was PACKED. The tour bus had let out just before we got there. When we ordered our pizza, we got the finger wag and a "no" from the server. She said. "Pizza take long time, 70 pizza (as she pointed to the tour group) pasta ok, sandwich ok". So no pizza for us. We ordered a bruschetta with brie and walnuts, fettuccine pomodorino, and little brie and prosciutto sandwiches. Everything was delicious. Guy asked if we came back tomorrow night could we get pizza? She laughed and said "Yes, tomorrow pizza". This restaurant was off the beaten path, but was the busiest restaurant we passed...and we passed several. Guy figures it sat about 300 people. I added some pics from dinner and a photo I took with my iphone of the guy slicing the fresh prosciutto. It was a cool but loud place. As we walked back a different way to the hotel we were hoping for a bakery to get a little cookie or something, but nothing. So instead I ate a little mini bag of oreos when I got back to the room. WAY more food than I needed today, but hey...when in Rome...