Rome, farewell Italy

It is our last day here in Rome. Things have changed a lot since we were here 6 weeks ago as the temperature is much warmer and hence much more bare skin is visible, shorts, tank tops and strapless dresses….. we look the same!

André has gotten a little more germy and as Tanya would say it’s all because of how much touchy , feely stuff we both do. I actually put it down to the fact of sharing a bedroom with him and passing it on. Anyway Tanya has got us washing hands before touching any of her stuff. She regrets greatly not having brought some Glen 20 spray with her. Her immunity is strong ( she probably gave the cold to us )  and is feeling well.

In the morning André would just like to see the Colosseum so we go there and circumnavigate the site. It’s early, pleasantly coolish and not too hectic, he gets a good feel for the place.  He will now stay back to rest up and Tanya and I head out to the large public Borghese gardens.

On the way we check out a number of potential gelato bars but none meets the criteria for our last gelato for this trip. It takes us several attempts before the right one evidenced by the presence of not one but three Labbies is the hit location.

The gelato does not disappoint and in addition we get a very generous serving, I get to pat the dogs and all is good.

It is getting hotter as we walk to the gardens, we are sticking to the shady side of the road. Once we arrive the panorama of Rome is fantastic. We will explore the many trails of the park , then have lunch. As we step in we see people on cute cycling contraptions and the penny drops this is our chance to do a pseudo Vespa experience!

I will be in charge of the breaks and steering, Tanya just has to join in with the pedaling when it’s uphill. We get our cycling legs around one side of the park then it’s time to cross the busy traffic roundabout to get across to the other side. Having this vehicle will let us visit a lot more of the park.

We wait till there is a break in the traffic and “ pedal hard” comes the command! I think I manage to scare Tanya a little but she quickly recovers her composure enough to start taking photos as we are pedaling. This thing does not have a good turning circle so doing an about turn requires planning and leaning strategically as if you were sailing to keep it on an even keel.

We wish someone could take an action shot of us zooming around. All in all we get to see a lot, manage not to run over small children in go carts and cross the busy roundabout unscathed 🙂

Its time for our final selfie from the top of the gardens. She is a pro now! We get the metro back as it is pretty steamy by now and join André for a late lunch. It’s time to pack as we are all leaving  early tomorrow, Tanya and André heading home and me to Poland for a couple of weeks.

We pick a nice seafood restaurant for our last dinner, literally 2 min walk from us. The Prosecco is ordered and out come the meals.

Tanya finishing with zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies for entree and a creamy pasta with bacon and garlic sauce.

I have the clams and scampi tonnatelli pasta and André has a spaghetti marinara.

All dishes full of garlic, we are going to beat this cold.

It’s time to go home and settle for our brief sleeps, this allows for  a final sampling of the homemade Limoncello our host provides and off to bed we go.

This is the end of the smiling, pouting duo till next time! Thanks for following our adventures.