I woke up very hungover.. as in, got sick in the middle of the night hungover.. I haven’t felt that cruddy in a long time. I was so beyond happy that we had nothing planned and we could sleep in today. Some time after noon, we finally got motivated to go find some food.
We stopped into a restaurant named “That’s Amore” and ordered a pizza. It was hot and stuffy inside, and hotter and muggier outside. Ah, when in Rome. We ate and made sure to order drinks with ice, that melted way too fast. Even the Italians were complaining that this is the hottest May they can remember, and we all know it’s only going to get hotter as the weeks pass.
We strolled through the busy roads, slowly thanks to me feeling crappy, and snapped so many pictures of this beautiful city. We just don’t have this type of ancient architecture back home, so of course we oooo and ahhh at every building with flowery vines roped across it. It’s impossible not to!
We passed the Trevi Fountain again, which was even more crowded than the first time we saw it, then headed directly towards the Pantheon. We could have signed up for a tour of it, but we both decided pictures of its outside and the piazza that it sits in would be enough for today. We strolled back towards the apartment and decided to stop at the little grocery store between the two restaurants on the ground floor.
The store was tiny but we couldn’t seem to find what we were looking for. The man behind the counter came to help us find the eggs (not refrigerated by the way), butter, cheese and bread.. plus some other snacky things. Mom asked him about the coffee maker in our apartment, seeing if he would be able to explain to her how to use it-which he did.. then he tells us that he will be working tonight until 10pm so if we can’t figure out the coffee maker or the stove, take pictures and come back down and he’d try to help us get it working. So so kind!
We put our new groceries away and then settled into the couch to watch movies. I googled how to logout of the Dutch Netflix account since I couldn’t tell what any of the words were, and then logged into my own. I also tried downloading Hulu to the TV, but it isn’t an app they “allow.” I guess no Chicago PD for us! We watched movies in the cool air conditioned paradise apartment until a little after 9pm.. it was fantastic!
We then decided to get dressed and go find somewhere to eat dinner, don’t we sound like legitimate Italians now? Ha! Originally the plan was to eat at one of the two restaurants right outside our door, but they were so busy and had no seats available. We walked up the hill towards the Spanish steps. A man in a suit told us about the rooftop restaurant right down the side street from where we were standing. He let us check out the menu and then off we went!
It was a beautiful rooftop terrace, and mom looked so beautiful in her new sunflower sundress. The food-was mediocre. I got mushroom and truffle risotto, but the rice wasn’t quite cooked to the soft smush it usually is, it still wasn’t terrible, but not nearly as good as it has been at other places. Mom got a steak and every bite she tried to take was gristle.. I thought she was exaggerating, but when I took a bite I couldn’t chew it either. She ate her sides though, and we planned on telling our waiter, but he never came back during the actual meal.
When he finally did come by, he was mortified that she didn’t like her steak and tried for awhile to talk her into something else, which she wasn’t having.. she was full from the sides and had already decided she wanted dessert from down the street. So, he took her food off the bill and apologized over and over. We did our best to make him realize we weren’t upset in any way, sometimes things just don’t turn out right, it was still an enjoyable dinner!
We took some pictures on the rooftop with the flowers and then carried on the to dessert place. We picked out some little pastries to take with us back to the room. I changed my clothes and did a very slow jog for my mile and accepted the fact that I’m 8 miles away from reaching the 50 mile goal for the month.. and only have 2 days to do it.. soooo, more than likely that’s not going to happen. And not to mention I’m now on day 1 of a new run streak.. Whatever, it is what it is.
I got showered and in my pjs and we settled in for another movie. I think we both needed this downtime. It’s felt so refreshing and relaxing to have no whee to be and nothing to do but escape the insufferable heat. Today felt more like living here than exploring here, which is a wonderful feeling.