Vesuivus and a cruise ship – Bay of Naples

Villa Borghese, the lake

Tiber Island – taken from Trastevere, Rome

I had grand plans to tackle the Catacombs today, but post my run around Villa Borghese this morning, I decided I would keep in local and save the out of town trip for a day when I had more energy. Turns out site seeing is hard work! Ok i’m kidding … I can hear you all laughing from here.

Instead I walked for about 5 hours! Following breakfast on the roof terrace of my hotel at Piazza Barberini, I headed down Via Tritone, past the Spanish Steps (popped in to a few shops in the hope of finding a 30th birthday party outfit but let’s just say this body is not is tip top condition for clothes shopping!), continued across the Tiber towards the Vatican, saw the crowd spilling down the steps and into the square and decided to save my visit for another day (and probably another trip), and wandered along the river until I made it to Trastevere, a cool and predominantly locals only area of Rome where the restaurants are filled with Romans, the streets are narrow, and the menus aren’t translated into English, German and French. Finally. And I wasn’t disappointed in the quality either. The typical buffet style lunch of 8 euros for a plate was delicious. The highlight being the eggplant and cod bake which sounds horrendous but was the best things i’ve tasted in Rome (ok, besides San Crispino gelato).

Post lunch, I wandered back across the Tiber viaIsola Tibernia,through the Jewish Ghetto where the trattorias were packed and Romans spilled out of the pasticcerias.

Tonight I’m heading to a very cool locals joint near Ponte Cavour/Spanish Steps for an appertivo and possibly dinner. It’s still hot here, but today a little overcast so fingers crossed the sun comes out for the rest of this week as I take of for Sardinia on Thursday morning and am very excited to see a familiar face of a great friend.