may

Food glorious food

Rome, Italy
Friday, May 19, 2006

Today was allocated as another lazy day. After the heat and exertion of the previous day we couldn't face another full-on tourist day, so instead we headed off to find some local clothing shops to get some jeans for the BOSS. For a culture that is supposed to be extremely fashion conscious and fussy about their attire, we couldn't find anything even close to suitable. We had been assured by our concierge that this area was where the locals shopped, however all we could find was cheap trash. At lunch time we sought some shade on the steps of a small church. After partaking of our usual 'stolen' buns and cheese, we snuck a peak inside the church which was surprisingly ornate and richly decorated. See photos as words in this situation are quite useless.

After fruitlessly wandering the streets in search of more clothes shops we headed back to the hotel and spent a lazy afternoon washing, reading and resting. The Boys and I planned the next part of our trip which will be a week on the Amalfi Coast. Never underestimate the value of unlimited wireless internet. It took us nearly three hours cruising dozens of websites to find an apartment and car hire for the week. This would have been very difficult if we had been paying four euros an hour in an internet cafe.

We have chosen an apartment with kitchen so that we can all save some money by cooking for ourselves and have access to a fridge (which has been a great frustration over the past week).

Stuart was dying to find a great lasagna for dinner so we once again visited the Reatina. This time our host greeted us like long lost friends and ignoring what we requested off the menu, he brought us what he thought we should be eating. Stuart missed out on his much coveted lasagna but the BOSS managed to flutter her eyelashes enough to get pizza. As our host did not speak any English, and as we did not speak any Italian, we paid the penalty for our lack of language skills. Instead of the BOSS and me sharing one pizza as intended, we were each served an enormous plate which could have fed an army. The BOSS made a valiant effort but in the end the pizza got the better of her (and me).