Bob on BAC Umbria - Rome to Assisi 2009

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Campo de Fiori

Tylenol PM did the trick – I got a solid night’s sleep. I was up at 6:15 and down to the restaurant for breakfast at the 7:00 opening time. It was a decent buffet with fresh fruit, bacon and eggs, strong coffee and lots of bread. (The melon was a little green). After breakfast, I walked around the hotel to get acclimated. Then it was off on the free shuttle to the drop-off near Capitol Hill.

My walk was from the drop-off to Campo de Fiori where the food vendors were fairly scarce. Maybe I was a little late or maybe the market isn't as popular any more for buying fresh produce. The lure of tourists into the various shops on the piazza could be too much for the vendors.

Then I walked to Piazza Navona and looked at the fountains. It was too early to have a tartufo (ice cream descibed as "death by chocolate"), but I did walk over to the apartment where we stayed the last time in Rome. The proprietor was in his T-shirt shop next door, but he didn’t recognize me.

The Pantheon

Next, I walked to the Pantheon where I listened to an excellent Rick Steves audio tour on my iPhone. I bought a granita di coffe at the Tazza d’Oro Casa del Caffe. It was as good as I remembered, especially the thick whipped cream on the top. In spite of the granita I was starting to get hungry for lunch. I walked over to a lunch restaurant recommended by Rick Steves but it was closed.

The Spanish Steps

I picked up the pace and walked past the hundreds of people at the Trevi Fountain and ended up at the Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps. Flowers were blooming on the steps – something I don’t remember from past visits. I had lunch near the steps at Ristorante alla Rampa – pasta with tuna and fresh tomatoes. I splurged on tiramisu.

Ferarri Bicycle

The weather was really nice – sunny and in the 70’s. This and the Italian celebration of the ending of its participation in WWII brought lots of people out to the streets. This was especially apparent on my way back to the shuttle drop-off. I decided to walk up to the Piazza del Popolo and then back on via del Corso. On the way, I stopped at a shop that was selling Ferarri paraphernalia. I am not a high-performance car fan. My tastes run to more pratical cars. But I went into the shop anyway because I saw I Ferarri bicycle.

The Grand Staircase

At the end of my return walk, I climbed the Grand Staircase to Capitol Hill and got a good view of the Forum. Then I went to the pick-up address for the shuttle back to the hotel. It didn’t show up so I had to take a taxi. I found out when I got back that the pick-up address changed and the website printout that I had was wrong. I let them know that I was unhappy.

I decided to go to a near-by restaurant tonight. Several other BAC people were already there and I got to meet them. The group included our leaders, Tom and Julie Leever. I needed some protein to go with my carbs and fat, so I ordered spaghetti carbonara along with a large salad and a medium beer. It was good and not very expensive.