5/13 Monday
Had breakfast and took the car to the airport. We got there OK thanks to the desk clerk's directions. Went to a car rental area to find out where we needed to be. The rental clerk made a call for us and we just drove to the arrival area and we did the paperwork right there at the curb. Total of 2178 kilometers on the odometer.It's gone (sigh). It was a great car. This is a very nice airport. Then we trained to Rome -all very efficient. We switched over to the Metro to get to Spagna stop and checked out the Spanish Steps. There were potted flowers all over for some sort of promotion. Then we walked over to Piazza Navona.
We're at an outdoor cafe, Cafe Barocco, being serenaded by 3 guys and 2 guitars. Nice just to sit and watch the people walking by. I'm having a frappe (which turned out to be pretty much vanilla flavored milk) and Elaine a coke. Lunch is Tagliatelli allo Bolognese for me, lasagna al ragu for Elaine. It's one of the worst meals yet. Elaine says "Nothing to write home about." I say "Sucks". Moral: don't eat right next to a major tourist attraction. We walked around looking for the "Internet Train" (for which I have a card), wandering through lots of back alleys. Got the Rome postcards and because the supposed internet place wasn't opening until 4:30, we settled in to a little sidewalk cafe to write. There was a pair of chess games going on. One timed, one not. Lots of Italian men looking over shoulders making gestures and loud comments (in Italian of course). It was fun just hanging there. One man I'd watched (he's the black pieces) pull a great come-from-behind victory, finally lost the next game and came over to our table and struck up a conversation. He had been living in LA for 12 years but on a trip back to his home town of Rome had been hit by a car traveling the wrong way on the freeway. He was severely injured and was almost ready to go back to his wife in LA after 10 months of healing. We got another board out and played a couple of games but I wasn't able to concentrate very well, plus he was very good. So in the interest of international good will, I lost. We ended up going to a different email place as the supposed one never opened.
We walked over an old bridge over the Tiber to S. Angelo to view it from the outside. Then hopped a bus to Trestedere and found a restaurant that Elaine had gotten from a guide book. "La Cisterna" on via della Cisterna. We were seated in a room that was 100% painted with country scenes drifting off into the distance. The ceiling was a painted grape trellis. What a trip!. Our waiter is ancient (he's been a waiter here for 46 years). He said on Mondays their special is roast lamb and he brought over the platter with a big hunk on lamb on it. He said "This would serve 50, we cut you a piece." I just put myself in his hands. Elaine wanted the fish and some veggies. We had two kinds of delicious pasta for starters after he'd give us a "free" aperitif. The hot rigatoni all'amatriciana served with red-hot peppers and another delectable pasta dish, papalini romana, wide noodles flavored with prosciutto, cheese, and eggs.
Our waiter kept telling us to slow down, eat everything and don't leave him all alone. He claimed the restaurant has been owned by the same family for 10 generations -326 years- but I have since learned on the web it's more like 75 years. But the restaurant itself is "the oldest restaurant in Rome" according to two web sites. The waiters best quote is when he leaned over to whisper in my ear, "I take care of you, you take care of me".
By the way, the only thing worse that laughing milk out your nose is laughing wine out. Yes, something struck me very funny.
The lamb was perfect and tender and tasty. Elaine was serenaded by an old gentleman singing in Italian accompanied by a guitarist. It was cute. Worth the ¤ 5 tip for sure. I think our waiter was trying to get us drunk... and succeeding. We got a second bottle of house wine "free" and some cheese from the local region. It went great with the crusty bread. For dessert a "special" blueberry pie. Our waiter told us that 50 years ago everything had to be prepared in front of the customer. The ham from northern Italy and the melons from Sicily had to be sliced at the table and presented to the customer. He's putting on quite a show. We've been pumping him with questions and it's been pure entertainment. After dinner we were taken down to the old cells [2615] in the basement. What a show. I taped most of the story. The basement is at an old level that even has some of the original road showing. And there is a well (cisterna) from olden times that you can make a wish by throwing in a coin. I think he was taken aback when I whipped out my flashlight and shined it down the well. I'm probably the first one to have done that. Then we were taken over to a counter and because we were "very special customers" he set up a bottle of spumante and poured us a glass. Then told us to have as much as we wanted. We are already pretty loaded. We met some people from Norway who'd come down for their tour. Elaine had a nice conversation using some of the few Norwegian words she knew.
We hurried to the bus stop on the other side of the river. I had to make an emergency stop in the middle of the bridge to take a pee into the Tiber. Boy, that water is cold....and DEEP! (Bada Boom) We got the very last bus to be going by and it happened to be one of the three lines that goes right by our hotel. I'm very pleased with the bus service here in Rome. We signed up at the hotel desk for a tour tomorrow morning of the Vatican.

Next "Sight": Rome Day4