4th January 2025

What a fun, fun day.

Started super early, like 4.30am early as we left the Thistle Hotel to go to Terminal 5 @ Heathrow.

The transport was none other than driverless pods.

That early in the morning, felt like I had woken in an alternate universe.

Pod excitement aside, we checked in for an easy 2 hour flight to Rome.

Dumped our gear in the apartment a went for a wander around and finding some lunch in the meantime.

As luck would have it, the Saturday markets are on at Fontana Di campo de Fiori, just around the corner.

There is something just so visually appealing about these markets, the colours of the fruits and vegetables and the oils and vinegars, the aroma of the fresh produce combined with the hunger inducing cheese and salamis…

I rarely buy anything, just take loads of photos.

We found a delightful little restaurant just near our place and settled in for the first, I hope of many pizzas. Though nearly empty when we arrived it soon filled with noisy families partaking Saturday afternoon lunch.

To waste a little more time before heading back to our apartment we continued to wander, finding ourselves at the very beautiful but incredibly crowded Piazza Navona which is about 5 minutes from where we are staying.

Very beautiful with the huge four rivers fountain ( Ganges, Danube,Rio de la Plata and the Nile )and there is also an Egyptian obelisk, apparently a Roman era fake. Impressive tho.

Packed with families, which is to be expected on a Saturday afternoon.

Back to the apartment to officially move in.

 It’s just gorgeous, it will be a lovely couple of days.

After a quick rest we start to walk through the small lanes and piazzas that are between us and the river ….

This area of Rome is just a labyrinth of alleys and lanes often ending up in little piazzas and often with a fountain too of course and a trattoria, or two.

It is an area of tremendous history ( like most of Rome, I guess) loads of public buildings and monuments, the area where Caesar was assainated! 

Like everywhere in Rome, there are signs of a very long history.

Speaking of which as we continue along the river, we can’t help but notice Castel sant’Angelo on the other side of the river.

Our mate Hadrian designed his massive circular tomb in 123-129AD.

It was a castle here for over 1000 years.

Of particular interest to Stuart and I as we walked his wall in the UK in 2023.

Getting a bit thirsty now so we duck into a bar that seems to have a nice ambiance for the afternoon Aperol spritz at Bistrot Coronari,

Very enjoyable before heading out again for dinner at a great restaurant “Polese”

Usual story, no one speaks the other’s language but you get along just fine. Wonderful food.

Home via the minimart for supplies of alcohol for the nightcaps this week.😁