This morning, we slept in longer than we expected, so we didn't head out until around noon. The Catacombes were closed from noon to 2:30, so after breakfast, we went down to the taxi stop at the Piazza Chiesa Nouva and took a cab to the Trevi fountain. It is either 1/2 hour walk from the apartment, or a 20 minute cab ride. With all the crazy, narrow streets, it takes a while to get anywhere. But we made it, and it is an amazing sight, sort of an incredible fountain stuffed behind a building in a small piazza, surrounded by Pizza shops and stores. And alot of tourists. Gracie and I threw a coin in for good luck. Gracie had pizza and pear juice. We then took out the map and decided to walk back toward our apartment, toward the Piazza Navona. Carefully following the map, we stumbled upon the Pantheon, now a church. It also holds the coffin of the painter Raphael. Incredible. Its huge and surrounded by outdoor eating places. By this time, it was around 2:30, so we grabbed a cab and headed to the Catacombes di Priscilla, a few miles away. Gracie fell asleep in the cab, but we soon arrived at the church, which is run by Benedictine nuns. A small nun behind a desk asked if we speak English (In Italian) and another told us to catch up with an English speaking tour. So we ended up trotting down a maze of underground caves, dark and a bit scary, until we caught up with the group. These catacombes have some of the oldest known pictures of Madonna and Child and still had graves from 1875 years years ago. Gracie woke up and she thought it was pretty neat and asking if there were bears in the cave. After the tour, we asked the guide to call us a cab, and the nun cooed over Gracie, and also warned us to be careful of the buses, which have many pick pockets. We then made it home, rested a bit, ate all the rest of the salami, and more cheese, tomatoes; made pasta for Gracie. Matthew came over and we decided to get something to eat. We all dressed up nicely - men in Jackets, I in a skirt and Gracie in a dress - so we looked pretty spiffy for Americans. We had three restuarants in mind. Tre Archi, Montevecchio and Osteria del Pegno. I had been looking for Tre Archi for several days, which I heard was a great "locals' place, and we found it again, and we read the menu posted outside and said great. We opened the door and it was half filled and the room stopped talking. We didn't see anyone to seat us, so we headed to a table. (Mind you we looked nice and didn't say a word in English. ) The owner approached us and said "reserved", Matthew said basically, OK in Italian and we turned and left. We then noticed a sign that said something like "locale climatize", like "local climate." We thought it meant "locals only", so we thought they didn't want us, . So basically we thought were kicked out for being tourists. I guess if they don't know you they don't want you then. But the next day, Matthew called us, from the airport, saying that the sign was just meaning it was climate controlled, not locals only. (So maybe they did require reservations, or it could've been we had Gracie (it looked nice, but not fancy), or maybe it was locals only. But its a good story and we're sticking to it. )
Anyway, being all dressed up and hungry, we trooped over to Montevecchio, (Recommended by Rick Steves) and got instantly seated by a cordial host. We had fried anchovies, fried Italian "tempura", a bottle of great wine, pasta with tuna and the guys had leg of lamb. We topped it off with a shared Tiramisu. Yum. Off we went to Gelateria de Teatro. Our 3rd trip. We then headed off to show Matthew the Piazza Navona, in a roundabout way. (It's easy to get lost, you have to backtrack to a place you know, then go from there). Matthew is leaving tomorrow, so we walked over to the cab stop at Chiesa Nouva -- said our goodbyes. Tomorrow David wants to walk over to Janiculum, for the views. We may get Pizza for lunch, but probably will end up packing. We also sent a message to our rental agent, asking him to confirm return car service, but he sent a curt email back telling us to contact Alina. Nice. More on our apartment agency after we get back. The apartment is fine, and its a fantastic location, and incredible views . But we will go with a more friendly rental service next time - and an apartment that has an elevator.
