Conquering the Monti

Two more still to go of the 'Seven Hills of Rome'. I got up early to do the final online check-in from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne which Etihad wouldn't allow me do until 7:30 a.m. this morning.

Finished last of packing and tidying up and had a leisurely morning till about 10 a.m. before saying goodbye to via Licinia and the AirBnB which has been home for the past 2 weeks and walking to Ostiense (again! - a well-worn track!).

Train to Termini and a long walk to main station for deposito bagagli (left luggage) which had the most amazingly lonnnnnng queue. It's good to see Termini has "cleaned up its act" and has police on patrol; previously it's been a collection point for ruffians hassling you to buy stuff, begging, wanting to "help" you buy your ticket for a monetary reward. Not pleasant.

Finally "done" after half an hour at the left-luggage. (Door through to the toilets is firmly shut!).

I have never really spent time in the Termini area before. It has previously just been a place to enter and leave - by train, bus. I walk alongside Termini in via Giovanni Giolitti; then through the Piazza del Cinquecento in the front of the station; then into the vast Piazza della Repubblica lined with expensive restaurants, hotels and boutiques. Down via del Viminale, I pass the Opera House in Piazza Beniamino Gigli with a stone plaque on the side wall in memory of Nureyev:

"In questo teatro ha espresso

la sua arte sublime

il teatro dell'opera lo ricorda" (Gennaio 1993)

I aim for Monte Viminale but am underwhelmed. I plan to come back later to work out why it doesn't please me. I move on as the adjacent streets look like they lead to more interesting areas. It is near Monte Esquiline which I walked the other day with Sophie and is meant to have a beaut Terme Museum here but I am not sure where and I am not likely to have time to do a museum today. 

The Baths of Diocletian are apparently worthwhile but I seem to be lacking my navigational skills today.

I move into via Nazionale - an enormous boulevard. Large building on left: the Palazzo delle Esposizione; people are sitting on the steps - I join them and finish off the cherry torta that the landlord bought us. 

It is now midday. I even manage to do some window-shopping as I go along via Nazionale. Can tick THAT box off now! I pass the Italy Bank and then at via Ventiquattro Maggio (24 May Street), I look up to the right and there is a hill - and a huge and interesting building is perched at the top. This is Monte Quirinale (not that these 'Seven Hills of Rome' are necessarily long or high; they are mostly just little "bumps"!; I've been up longer and steeper ones on my walks in Rome the past two weeks).

These 'Seven Hills of Rome' are all on the east of the Tiber in the heart of the ancient city and are said to be the origins of the empire. While Capitoline is the only distinct hill today, the Quirinale, Viminale, Esquiline and Caelian hills are really promontories of an ancient volcanic ridge.

At the end of 24 May Street, it opens into a spectacularly vast piazza where works to the central statue are taking place. Big fella this statue - like the famous Michelangelo David statue - all thighs and other manly bits!!! This is where the Royal Palace or Palazzo Quirinale, official home of the President of the Republic, overlooks the city.

With the 'Seven Hills of Rome' now "under my belt", I can relax which I am doing with a sit down in Giardino del Quirinale close by the Piazza Quirinale. I can't say it's peaceful but despite the constant flight of traffic outside the walls, one can actually hear birds here! There is a huge bronze statue in the centre of King Carlo Alberto of Savoy astride a horse - erected in 1900.

On the next intersection along, are four fountains - one on each corner (the Quattro Fontane); this reminds me of the one in Palermo - Quattro Canti - but is not nearly as impressive. 

Another fine-looking building: the Palazzo Barberini, which houses the National Gallery of Ancient Art, resides down the hill away from where I want to start heading back towards via Nazionale - and eventually Termini; so I venture no further in that direction as I need to start heading back.

I have worked out a time schedule allowing (hopefully) for all contingencies like long queues at the left-luggage, long walks to platforms, missed trains, cancelled trains, getting lost, etc. In fact, I over-compensate. Oh well.

Now back to tackle Monte Viminale - I am not satisfied I "nailed it" the first time. Then - I definitely found a hill. I hit via Panisperna and there it was at the far end - with the church of Santa Maria Maggiore perched on top. Huge. Just huge. Not beautiful - on the outside anyway - and it was fenced off with the door firmly shut so I can't see what it is like inside. (I am still not convinced this is Monte Viminale).

Oh silly me! I was standing at the back end of the chiesa! I had decided to walk along the side and by chance I found myself at the front - much nicer view from here! And it was open! And in fact this is the church Sophie and I stopped by at the end of via Merulana when we were doing Bill's old "tramping grounds" the other day. 

It is in fact quite a spectacular church inside and I am so pleased it was open when I arrived. What a way to finish up in Roma!

It's hard for me to get my bearings here. I can see Termini not far away, but there are streets radiating out in all directions from this church so I feel like a wound-up spring by the time I walk around trying to match them with my map. They say all roads lead to Rome!

I have over-estimated the time to pick up luggage at Termini (the queue is nothing like it was this morning) and to catch the train back to Ostiense. I'm doing it this way rather than by direct train - although it's a bit of a bother - because I bought a ticket to the Airport at the same time as My Friend last week when he left and so I am committed to this plan or I forego my €8 (note to Kathryn: no, I couldn't use it in reverse on Wednesday morning when I returned from the airport with you). 

At Termini it was VERY useful to have my screen-shot of the timetable which listed train numbers so I could check this against the information board - yes, it was working. So the train I take is in fact the express to Pisa! It's a very nice train and my carriage is almost empty so I use the opportunity to change my shoes and socks, put what I don't need from my day bag into the suitcase and pull out what I need on the plane.

I do the transfer at Ostiense amazingly smoothly (I HAD rehearsed this in my mind having noted the platform when I passed through here earlier today) and emerge from the lift up to the platform with my bag just as the train to the airport arrives in. This is not the "flash" non-stop one but it is €8 as opposed to €14 if you can be bothered. I am down to my last few Euros and would prefer not to withdraw any now when I am so close to leaving. The exchange with the $A is not brilliant at the moment anyway.

So I arrive VERY early at the airport - about an hour earlier than planned. But I get a coffee - my last one in Italy - €1:50 (cheap compared to the €3 they charge once you have gone through the boarding gates!). I have foregone a coffee the past two days as I wanted to make sure I had enough Euros for any contingencies. So I pay my €1.50 for a nice cappuccino. I was very tempted to have another.

I have to say the newer parts of Fiumicino Airport are starting to look good where renovations have taken place. I liked the docking station for charging devices. 

Alitalia efficient so far. Check-in seems to have begun 4 hrs early - already there is a reasonable queue but it is moving along and most of the desks are manned. And the staff are pleasant. Still, it takes 40 minutes.

I go on through passport control and have exactly the money in Euros I need to buy some Toblerone for the boys from Duty-free. Phew! Glad I didn't have that second coffee.

Have still 3 hours to go. No Priority Pass lounge near Gate G to which I came via a shuttle service on a train. So I pass some time waiting for my phone to charge at a charging station, and looking at shops where I can't afford to buy anything. Up to 97% re-charged as I finish up on the blog. It is 8:00 p.m. (flight is 9:45 p.m.). One and three quarter hours to go. I could have done more shopping in the city! Still, it was good to navigate all the steps required to get out to the airport and another bonus was I missed peak-hour too on the trains.

Over the charging devices, I end up striking up a conversation with an Italian woman from Bologna travelling to Dubai for the weekend and for work next week. She practises her English on me as she has to do a presentation in English in Dubai and is feeling a bit rusty; and I practise my Italian on her. She told me a saying for the weather in Rome in October but I can't remember it - ottobrautunn .... ??? We board half an hour late which doesn't matter to me as I have a long wait at Abu Dhabi, so leaving later will make that transfer shorter! I'm really on the way home now!

Villa d'Este

No stroller to take up the flight of stairs!

I had a good sleep notwithstanding my head cold is now a chest cold also.

Meant to be away by 8:45 but it was 5 or so minutes later.

Fast walk to Ostiense station. Had to buy tickets and machines were out of order. Fortunately no queue at ticket window so was also able to check if there is a sciopero (strike) tomorrow when I need to go the airport. Also managed to successfully check which platform as what was on the indicator board to Tiburtina was different from what the ticket seller told me and I was able to catch the earlier train (this one was going to Tiburtina with the final destination being Fara Sabina but this wasn't obvious from the information board so I am grateful I got that advice). I need to change at Tiburtina to go to Tivoli.

Got mixed up finding the entry to the platforms but got there in the end - some workmen told me where the platform was. Dirty old train but at least I'm on my way! The weather is great - clear and sunny; not such good weather predicted for tomorrow.

Man! It was a crazy at Tiburtina. Who does Trenitalia pay to do its signage? I was looking for Platform 3Est but arrows pointed this way, that way, one way, then the other way - all within 50 m. I was going slightly crazy (I had only 10 minutes left to catch the next train to Tivoli and an hour to wait if I missed it; it takes an hour to travel there and I wanted to get there before the light became too harsh) so I took a chance that left and right arrows might signal UP since I was near an elevator. My suspicions were semi-confirmed when I saw binario 3Est was at the furtherest side away and two people running so I broke into a trot also. Down more stairs - no information on the indicator board on the platform but I took a chance that the young couple and I were headed in the same direction and jumped on with them.

Cleaner train. With Salone station behind us, we are out into the countryside. Just wonderful! (But I had to listen to a bunch of Germans who talked non-stop all the way!).

Villa d'Este in fact was easy to find from Tivoli station once one got into the centro; well I had some help from the farmacia where I stopped to get some lozenges (pastiglie) and practised my Italian.

Tivoli itself is quite a pleasant town. It has lovely fountains and a promenade with spectacular views over the plain back towards Rome.

And there is an ancient castle - the Rocca Pia.

Villa d'Este is an ornamental 16th century garden: one of the first guardini delle meraviglie; it was an early model for the development of European gardens. 

Built in 1550 for Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, the son of Lucrezia Borgia, around an earlier monastery, the building is lavishly decorated with frescoes, reliefs and internal fountains.

The most striking part of the Villa d'Este is its garden; a terraced extravaganza of shady trees and show-stopping fountains. Subsequent cardinals have added to the gardens, which after a period of decay, have been restored in recent decades.

The garden is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its significance in the history of garden design and its fountains are famous worldwide. The garden features in the opening sequence of the film "Three Coins in the Fountain".

The Villa is a photographer and gardener's delight. Just lovely. I had to pinch myself that I was here. Just have to wait while people practise their portraiture shots (‘selfies’). But I'm in no hurry.

There is a water organ that periodically plays music - as I wandered up, I was in time for this entertainment. I had a picnic lunch of the orange I have been dragging around since Sicilia plus some slices of the left-over cake that the landlord bought us - sorry Kathryn is not here to enjoy it too!

It was very relaxing and all super gorgeous but I eventually decide to return to the upper level - along paths and steps leading through the formal slopes, past more panoramas and fountains. I'm just about out-gardened.

And so to the Villa itself! I had had a wander through the various rooms when I arrived but had been aching to get out to the gardens. In fact I did not spend much more time here on my return. Multiple rooms lavishly frescoed - all very Renaissance. But the garden has been the highlight.

I needed to allow at least half an hour to walk to the station and in fact I take more than this as I meander through the old historic centre of Tivoli, past the (closed) duomo and wind down to the acropolis of the city, overlooking the falls of the Aniene river (which joins the Tiber just north of Rome) and where there are some temple ruins. These are the "Temple of Vesta", a Roman temple dating to the early 1st century BC.

Shops, apart from restaurants and bars, are shut for the afternoon siesta. A bunch of lycra pedal hard over the cobbles and look hot! I find signs to the station and climb the hill. The station master doesn't seem keen to sell tickets and when he IS there he turns people away. I'm glad I got a return ticket this morning.

The train is at the platform but I'll wait until it's closer to the departure time to get on. No aircon on train - and it is hot!!

I see what could be the Abruzzi looming over in the distance and several hilltop towns spilling like icing down the slopes. I always enjoy this - it's the outdoor Italy I like.

The train delivered its small load of passengers at Tiburtina - somewhere! I followed a maze of corridors and up the escalators and could see I had Buckleys of getting the 16:01 but went to platform 5 anyway. No train. I knew there was another at 16:16 so I checked it was also going from this platform and sat down to wait - and watched the gesticulations of some guys on platform 4 who were remonstrating with the conductor (I think about the indicator boards not showing any information). I know how they feel.

On the way back from Ostiense station to my AirBnB, I decide to go up a flight of stairs I had noticed this morning on the way to the station. The late afternoon sun was striking the lovely palazzos above; I was sure this would be part of the San Saba area I had wandered through at the same time of day with Sophie. 

Indeed it was and the stairs entered into via Annia Faustina and I did a short circuit coming into the Piazza Bernini where again people were sitting around enjoying the early evening.

Walking down via San Saba brings you past the Chiesa San Saba which is an ancient basilica church: a monastery was established by Eastern monks coming from a community founded in Jerusalem by St. Saba and fleeing a Palestine troubled by wars, massacres and the expansion of Islam. Between the 8th and 9th centuries, San Saba was considered the most important monastery in Rome.

I got back in probably about 5:30 p.m.: a long enough day - and I need to pack. I fly home tomorrow.

Last neighbourhood photos - interestingly (to me: only because we went to Cuba on our last trip), the Cuban embassy is across the road from where I am staying.

Goodbyes - and time alone

So up at 1/4 past 4 in the morning to go to the airport. I don't think anyone slept much although Sophie is now soundly asleep! She didn't settle till late last night and it was after midnight when we got to bed.

Kathryn miraculously packed last night. Difficult enough for yourself let alone with a baby. Hope the taxi arrives! I have visions of myself running out onto the viale Aventino at 5:00 a.m. to hail one.

Anyway, it does arrive - early. I had already taken up the big (read "enormous") suitcase, plus stroller, small suitcase as carry-on, duffle bag, car seat. That left Mama - and Sophie in the carrier/"back" pack.

I made as best I could of conversation in Italian with the taxi driver while we waited for Kathryn to drag Sophie out of the cot.

We were underway and when we hit the autostrada to the airport, I can't say I was particularly happy with the 140km/hr speed.

The queue for check-in was huge and alarmingly slow but fortunately Sophie was very good.

We had just dismantled the stroller - wheels and all - and packed it in its transport bag (with car seat) when the check-in girl kindly told us we had to check it in at the oversize luggage counter! And no help or trolley offered from anyone (this would have been fun alone!) so I dragged the bag along the corridor, round the corner and down another corridor and heaved it up onto the scanning table. Great design isn't it to have an oversize scanner on a normal height bench?

All done plus a nappy change and through the gates and they disappear from view. Sad - even writing this brings a tear.

I look for the exit to the train and finally find it and in fact board the wrong train - to Termini; I want to go to Ostiense so am quickly put right by the conductor before the train leaves.

As I write this, it has just gone 7:30 a.m. and it is daylight as we head back into the city. I notice people are sniffling and sneezing; no wonder we all caught colds!

On a whim I got out at Trastevere it being so early; and I enjoyed a coffee (I am definitely sleep-deprived!) along viale di Trastevere then climbed the stairs up Scalea Ugo Bassi, savouring the use of the camera and relishing the freedom from the stroller but missing the girls when at 1/4 to 8 or thereabouts I thought of them boarding their plane.

Walked through various parks, some desultory in the Italian way - where people mostly walk their dogs it seems; but nevertheless delightfully peaceful from the traffic outside. These old parks even have their own street names (!) - and mosquitoes!

It is incredibly humid - it was last night too - and the sun is out intermittently with dark cloud; I am in and out of long sleeve tops. In and out of city walls also. I come to the Porta San Pancrazio at the top of via Garibaldi. On a park bench in texta is "Alessio and Cristine for ever"; I wonder if they are?

Nice-looking places around here, some of which I can get only tantalising glimpses through the fence - the top-end of town I would say - like Villa Spada; some are embassies I note.

And indeed I have climbed but alas this is not one of the 'Seven Hills of Rome', so it doesn't count. 

We (woops! "I") walk past the Porta San Pancrazio where it meets via Garibaldi, past the lovely Villa Aurelia (I peer through the gates) and into the Giancolense park.

Amazing views here. My Friend would be in his element here doing his panoramic shots. 

I pass one of the ubiquitous gelati/drink/junk stalls you find at every popular tourist stop and there are plastic bags of dummies - several to the bag. I think of Kathryn and Sophie - a long way to travel on your own. I don't envy them; I'm not looking forward to the flight back either but theirs is tougher. I feel a long way from anywhere up here at the Passieggata di Gianicolo; even a little disorientated.

I descend via the Rampa della Quercia; should have turned right into via di Sant'Onofrio but charge on straight and then down; and noticed on the map that I was quite "close" to the Vatican so I thought "Well, I should ..." even though it wasn't part of my "plan" (did I have one??).

So I head away from Trastevere from the bridge crossing the river (Ponte Pr. Am. Sav. Aosta) up Borgo San Spirito into the Vatican City.

And I duly spent an hour here moving in and out of the crowds. It is now very hot. I think the Pope is doing something in St Peter's Square. It is being shown on a big screen. There are lots of guys in purple robes and some in yellow and red clown suits (could be the Swiss Guards?). Maybe he does this every day? Yep, here it is: when he's in Rome, he gives a Papal Audience on Wednesdays. This is to give "pilgrims and visitors the chance to see the Pope and receive the Papal Blessing". Good to know ...

Up the Onofrio steps - why not?! In fact these don't give me the exit I expected so I have to come all the way back down. Uffa! 

Into Trastevere along Lungotevere in its variants then off into via Penitenzi which brings me back full circle out on the Lungotevere again - opposite the Palazzo Corsini which I have seen before.

It's really weird being able to walk where I want - no stroller! But sad too. I see that cheeky little face.







Into Trastevere proper - via the Porta Settimiana, past the church of Santa Maria della Scala. And then the sky blackened, the wind picked up; and the heavens opened. As luck would have it, I was near a gift shop so I spent the duration of the storm buying prezzies for Al's birthday.

I then found the cafeteria nearby that the gift shop people recommended and I think the rain has stopped? I sit there watching the staff of the shops waiting in their doorways for the tourist to return (the streets are deserted) - smoking ... I wonder how many a day they smoke here?; it seems incessant! 

Most expensive coffee so far - 2 Euros: tourist prices; what a ‘rip-off’.

Yes, the rain HAS stopped and it is back into hats and bright sunshine and blue sky. Things have freshened up immeasurably and it is a lovely afternoon.

On the way out of Trastevere, in via San Francesco a Ripa, I come across a tiny weeny pizzeria (I Suppli) full to the brim with people either eating in the street outside with their pizza balanced on whatever they can find (including vespas and cars) or taking away large portions wrapped in glossy paper. It is cut to the size you want and it is costed by weight: yummy (though it could have been hotter). I haven't eaten all day - including no breakfast. I could have eaten more but it has got even more crowded as I stand there - if that had been possible.

The only way out of Trastevere to Aventine, where the AirBnB place is, is across the river by one of two bridges: one would bring me back into Circo Massimo and the other is by way of Testaccio. 

Frankly I've walked "my socks off" and could do with just going direct but there is no choice so I opt for Testaccio and have a break in the piazza there (again). However, the seats are wet (!) but I use my newspaper and rest awhile.

I have been past E. Volpetti (a gourmet foodies' haven) in via Marmorata several times and it has either been closed or crowded; I don't really need anything as I still have food to use up. But if I was here longer I would be very tempted - the food looks wonderful.

Now back at the AirBnB having had a nice shower, washed hair, tidied kitchen, put on a load of washing, checked under the beds, cot etc. for anything left behind - all good it seems. And now enjoying left-over cheese and bikkies from the farmers market we went to on Sunday and some of the Sicilian red wine I bought in the supermarket and which we opened a few days ago. Boy, is it quiet here!

Had a wonderful time this afternoon after my sit-down in Piazza Testaccio; I visited the Cimitero Acattolico near the Piramide. I had popped my head into here the other day. Bill gave me the "heads-up" on actually paying a visit. Thanks, Bill. What a place. So beautiful - and the bonus was I got to go to the loo (too much information, I know! - but this was worth the donation entry fee alone!) and just an amazing place - and a close-up of Piramide as well.














The following information comes from http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/rome/cemetery.html:
Keats (1795-1821) lies in a quiet corner in the oldest part of the Cemetery, his simple tombstone graced by a sad and bitter epitaph:

"This Grave contains all that was Mortal of a YOUNG ENGLISH POET, Who on his Death Bed, in the Bitterness of his Heart at the Malicious Power of his Enemies, Desired these Words to be engraven on his Tomb Stone. Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water. Feb 24th 1821."

Next to Keats's tomb is that of the artist Joseph Severn (1793-1879). Severn was a close friend of Keats, and was with him in Rome when the poet died. He was responsible for the design of his friend's grave. Later in life Severn held the post of British Consul in Rome.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) spent the last few years of his life travelling around Italy with his wife, the author Mary Shelley. On the 8th July 1822, while living at Lerici (near La Spezia), Shelley drowned in a sailing accident. After his cremation on the beach, Shelley's ashes were brought to Rome for burial. The Shelleys' son is also buried in the Cemetery, which Shelley had described as a spot so beautiful "it might make one in love with death, to be buried in so sweet a place".

This photo is for you, Al (but I don't think you are reading my blog?)

Cats stroll in the shade of cypresses, where gravestones remember, among hundreds of others, Shelley's friend Trelawney, Goethe's son Julius, R.M. Ballantyne and Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci.

A lot of British and US expats buried here. I noticed graves of relatives of William Wordsworth.
















This one is for you, Bill - you mentioned it in your email!

La passeggiata di Bill

Grumpy bambina and grumpy Nonna this morning. Nonna does not like having a cold.

Currently it is 12:30 p.m and Nonna has "called it quits" (at least for the morning) and has succumbed to a Campari Spritz at which the young woman behind the counter at the bar on "our" corner looked at me somewhat quizzically until I said "Nonna è stanca" (which translates as "granny is stuffed"). I feel like I'm the only person in the country drinking at midday - but tough!

And I get the chips and curry nuts with it like we have had in the evenings. Go girl! (Great, especially as I didn't get breakfast this morning!).

Anyway, Sophie has been handed over to Mama for a feed. Kathryn is having a meeting with a staff member in the bar. They have been at it since 9:00 a.m. - no doubt having coffee rather than Campari Spritzes!

So, earlier, we (Sophie and I that is) attempted to pursue the old tramping grounds of Bill (my Italiano teacher). And it gives me a chance to "knock off" one more of those 'Seven Hills of Rome'!

Bill tells me he used to live off via Merulana. This is down near the Colosseum - so off we tramp again but via my favourite track hidden behind the oleanders from the monastery San Gregorio at the base of Monte Celio. This skirts along a tram/bus/taxi track above via San Gregorio to the Colosseum from the FAO near where we are staying, a track that has become well-worn by me now.

By this time, Sophie is asleep 10:10 a.m. Go Nonna!

I skirt along two "sides" of the Colosseum at a distance and then at the third (if that's possible with a circle!) I head off up via Nicola Salvi (who designed the Trevi Fountain) away from via Labicana which joins with via Merulana; great views of the Colosseum from here. I am taking a triangular route so as to go up Monte Esquilino (one of the ‘Seven Hills’).

Great views of the Colosseum up here but the Parco Oppio and ruins are very underwhelming; it is unkempt and frequented by unsavoury types.

As we emerge from the park area, the basilica of Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti is nice; and then we are "spat out" into the busy via Merulana. We walk to the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (one of four papal churches) at one end of via Merulana - it is super imposing; quite attractive. It has a tall column in the piazza in front of the church.

I know Sophie is bound to wake soon - as she does - and she'll (possibly) take her time to get fully awake but I won't have long before I have to intervene so I "hot foot it" aiming to reach the other end of via Merulana which I find to be quite an interesting street. We pass the intersection with via Labicana enroute.

We do in fact reach the very large (but not so attractive, to my eye at least) San Giovanni in Laterano church at the other end of via Merulana. The light is bright and it is now that Sophie is getting tetchy.

Here I make my first navigational error since arriving. We walk down the very long via Dell'Amba Aradam and then turn along via Druso - or so I thought. In fact it was via Gallia, which apart from being wrong, has to be THE most unpleasant street in Rome: the footpath was full of pothole; cracks and bumps from tree roots; there was garbage; also poles in unhelpful places - you name it! A stroller pusher's nightmare.

We were forced onto the road which was unrelentingly busy and I had an increasingly tetchy Sophie.

I stopped to check my bearings as things didn't seem right; no wonder I couldn't find via Apulia on the map - I was way off-course. 

A couple of helpful Italian donnas pointed me back in the general direction of where I should be headed. 

I pulled Sophie out of the pram and carried her on one hip while pushing the pram with my one free hand (I didn't want her in the carrier today close to my face as I have a cold and I think hers is improving).

We stop along via della Ferratella in Laterano for a drink of water from her cup which she willingly accepts today. She even treats me to a show of holding the cup with two hands and helping herself - which mum says has been a work-in-progress until now - so, almost a new milestone on show for Nonna.

And I did in fact end up in via Druso after passing through the old city walls at Porta Metronio and down to the busy Piazzale Numa Pompilio and back via the dreaded viale delle Terme di Caracalla with its makeshift homes of cardboard and today even a tent. Mind you, it is indeed a reality check that, as a tourist, one crosses the path of the homeless; sure Rome has its sights (a ruin at every corner it seems) but real life continues irrespective of the tourists and it's not all "beer and skittles" - although it probably IS all beer for some.

So we stagger on Sophie and I - it's a long journey back past the Terme and the FAO and down viale Aventino with Sophie on my hip and pushing the stroller. She is crying for sure when we get to the bar on "our" corner and I happily throw her into the arms of Mama.

I have drained every drop of my Campari Spritz and am looking forward now to my just-ordered cappuccino and slice of torta marmellata.

All is good with the world. But I still have the afternoon to go!

Kathryn has a unit meeting in the early afternoon with the ‘head honcho’ in the U.S. plus her local team (two of whom come to the house for the link-up) and staff in the U.K. and Senegal.

Afterwards, she has a lonnnnnng meeting with Tania. 

I depart after 4 p.m. with a tetchy Sophie who falls asleep in the pram. We walk past the Terme (again!) because I had seen as we were coming back from our lost-and-found morning mission that the Celio parklands extend into more parklands beyond the busy Piazzale Numa Pompilio into via Claudio Marcello.

In fact this is a lovely area: a school, lovely trees and a climb up to a park - although there were mozzies so I had to cover Sophie so she didn't get "eaten" like I was. I think this is the Parco Scipioni (not sure).

When we came back down, school was out - kids and parents everywhere. We crossed the road to Parco Egerio but couldn't find a way in. There seemed some nice establishments here but dogs with bared teeth patrolled the fence line - fortunately on the other side; but the barking woke Sophie.

She was as dark as the clouds looming over the Terme as we went past it (again) and the FAO (again) but by the viale Aventino she was asleep once more. We did a few laps of the viale until I couldn't stand doing the same walk any longer and I called into a bar and had a drink. Kathryn finally turned up about 6:30 p.m. Long days!

Apparently our landlord has called in with focaccia and cake. So we ate in. The cakes are from Forno Campo de' Fiori and they are amazing! (Eat your heart out, Tracey!).

BIG packing night tonight! Kathryn and Sophie and I need to go to the airport in the morning - early. Taxi is (finally) ordered for 5 a.m.

Sophie wants to play tonight - as if she knows something is going on! She doesn't want to settle. We eat with many interruptions from Miss Sophie - a very haphazard meal tonight. Kathryn gets packed - amazing under the circumstances. I help where possible. Very tired! ALL of us.

NEWS JUST IN: Monte Celio IS one of the 'Seven Hills of Rome'! I hadn't realised its other name is "Caelian" hill. In Imperial times, the Celio developed into an exclusive area where rich families lived in large villas with gardens.
So that means I have "done" Aventino, Celio/Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline. And I have sort of "done" the Palatino.