How can our wonderful trip to Roma be over already?? We had four goals for our last day: shop, eat great food, enjoy more wine, and have gelato one more time. I’m happy to report that we achieved all four of our goals. We are such overachievers!

We started the day at the Campo de’ Fiori market. We went earlier in the week but got there just before the market closed – this time we went early and ready to shop! We tasted all kinds of jams, truffle spreads, olive oil, and cheese. Mom and Aunt Cindy both bought some ParmigianinoReggiano cheese and mom also got some chestnut honey. The honey is different than anything I’ve ever tasted – it’s wonderful but not very sweet which is odd for honey. I bought some fresh Roman artichokes which are all the rage this time of year in Rome. Seriously, they are EVERYWHERE – in every market stall and on every menu prepared a variety of ways. Apparently Rome is very famous for its artichokes -who knew! I bought a vacuum sealed pack of them, and the guy promised me that I could bring them back to the US. (This, it turns out, is not true. After being one of the lucky people selected to have their bag searched at US customs, my artichokes were confiscated. )

We all bought some great watercolor paintings in Piazza Navona. There were tons of people selling artwork there but only 3-4 of those were the actual painters of their artwork. We were lucky to buy from the actual painter. We got a great deal, but I’m sure the framing will cost about 5 times the amount we paid for the paintings! We hit up San Crispino, a gelato place that Julia our Tuscany tour guide recommended, for lunch. Gelato for lunch = vacation! This place had the best gelato we’ve had – they only use cream, sugar, and seasonal ingredients. We all had pistachio, Julia’s favorite and recommended flavor. It was different, delicious, and did not disappoint!

We confidently walked back to our apartment without the use of a map (we’ve been here a week, surely we can get home!) and got lost. It was astraight shot so I’m not sure how we ended up in the wrong place. One piece of advice – don’t believe Aunt Cindy when she brags about having a great sense of direction! (Jeffrey – she threw you under the bus many times about not having a sense of direction, but she doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Here’s your ammo if she says that again, and, if you need more, I’ve got it!)

We ended the day with two more great meals. We had pizza at Dar Poeta where we met a great family that used to live in Smyrna, GA and the dad’s parent’s live in Milledgeville. We told them we did a day trip to Tuscany and the mom said, “That sounds great, but that’s a trip that is better without the kids.” To which the teenage daughter replied, “Is that where the naked beaches are?” No, that’s where the wine is! We ended our last day in Rome at a restaurant on the Piazza di Santa Maria – “our” piazza! This piazza was in our neighborhood and was such a wonderful square – lively without being touristy and crowded. We ordered a delicious Roman chicken to share (a dead ringer for Giada’s Roman chicken, which is one of my favorite recipes) and capped off the night and the trip off with Tiramisu and limoncello!

Our driver picked us up from our apartment at 6:45 am the next morning and took us on our last drive through Rome to the airport. After chatting with him, we found out that he was going to Savannah, GA in October for his brother’s wedding. Such a small world we live in!

We all had a fantastic time in Rome. Even though it’s a huge city, its personality comes through: it’s lively, friendly, and has a great sense of community all while having a history that we can’t begin to imagine. What a great way to celebrate mom’s 60th birthday and Aunt Cindy and Uncle Don’s 34th anniversary!

Ciao!

Emily

Slideshow pics are below – iPad/iPhone users, click here.