Wow, breakfast came at 0445. We haven't been up that early since we didn't go to sleep the night before. (If you can follow that, you are more wide awake than I am. :^)). According to our disembarkation instructions, we were to get off the ship by 0730. Not a hope in hell but we wanted to be ready in case they tried to pull a United on us. As it turned out, we sauntered off the ship at 0900 after a leisurely second breakfast and a stroll down memory lane through the ship's public areas. We collected our luggage and were in place to meet our driver by 0915. So far everything had gone too smoothly. (No, that was not foreshadowing!). Our driver showed up at 1010, running towards us waving a floppy banner declaring my name and stopped in front of Carol (how can Kari be a guy?) and apologized profusely. Carol said he was late and that got his shorts in a knot which in turn got her knickers twisted and it was a quiet ride into Rome. It turns out he was bringing a group to the ship first and they delayed him so it was not really the driver's fault. By the time we hit Rome's suburbs we were all friendly and we got to our apartment in one piece. The host (ess) was waiting for us and gave a good briefing of all things relevant and left us on our own.
Carol crashed and I went for groceries.
Our apartment is really cool. It looks like it was originally two small apts combined into a larger one. 14 foot ceilings, frescoed in the living room.We look out onto small courtyards on three sides (no views but lots of cool breezes). One side has a fantastic wall of windows maybe 20 feet long and 14 feet high onto the largest courtyard. Two bedrooms, one of them ensuite, and another family bathroom for the rest of the apartment.
But even better is the location. It is literally three minutes from the Spanish Steps, less than ten minutes to the Trevi fountain and the main fancy shopping street (via del Corso).
Later in the evening we went for a stroll past the Spanish Steps and did some window shopping. Every few feet Carol would stop and say OMG we can't get that at home.
We had dinner at a nice outdoor cafe recommended by a lady we met at Toronto airport waiting for our flight and in the package at our apartment here. Pappardelle pasta with sausage and truffles, Chianti, coffee and tiramisu for dessert.
A nice stroll back to the apartment just as night fell. How perfect is that?
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