Sleeping Late and Bus Adventures

I should probably mention that our apartment is in the basement and all our windows have shutters, which maybe explains how we all slept in until 11 am today. Yikes! Obviously our baking in the sun and walking so much yesterday wore us out.

We had breakfast and then showered and made a game plan. We would attempt public transportation again. I should also mention that the transit drivers here go on strike frequently and without warning and sometimes only for a day. Nonetheless, Tram 3 was going to take us across the city.

We waited for Tram 3 for 15 minutes. Then Bus 3 came by on the opposite side, so we shrugged it off and continued to wait. Tram 8 came by about every 5 minutes, but not the elusive 3. Then Bus 3 came by on our side of the street and that's when we figured out the Tram was not coming and this Bus was running its route. But we'd missed the bus. Not to be deterred, we waited and waited until Bus 3 came back and we hopped on.

Things were going well until halfway through our ride, the driver just stopped and told everyone to get off. I'm sure there might have been a reason, but he didn't speak English and we didn't get enough of the Italian. So, it seemed like most passengers were waiting around and so we just waited too. Eventually a new Bus 3 arrived and took us to where we needed to go. Honestly this bus nonsense took us two hours.

We finally arrived at the MACRO, which is a contemporary art museum that had a street art exhibition going on. It was well worth the hassle because we got to see huge pieces by Swoon, Sheppard Fairey, and Ron English. It was a great show!

After the gallery, we walked to Eataly which is a big grocery store/restaurant. We perused all the food items and wished we were headed home sooner so we could buy some of the cheese and meat! We settled for a quick bite and drink in the outdoor cafe instead. Evan ordered a sundae that was bigger than his head! Brad and I had Italian draft beer and shared a mortadella and Gorgonzola panini, which was oozing with cheese.

Satiated, we were ready to face the bus again. We could take one of three buses, and the 40 came first. It was packed! I barely made it on and another guy pushed on after me! We were wall to wall, but we only had to make it three stops before we could get off and breathe again!

We got off in the Campo di Fiore neighbourhood and went down a few back alleys to reach Baladin, a place that makes their own craft beer, sodas and burgers. They are also known for their fresh made potato chips, so we started with the cacio e pepe chips. We all ordered burgers and were asked if we wanted them raw, medium, or well done. I was feeling risky and got mine medium while the boys had theirs medium well. I also had a hazelnut porter, which was excellent!

Completely full, we walked towards our apartment stopping briefly at the outdoor theatre which was showing Aladdin (dubbed in Italian, subtitles in English). It was impressive not only how many people were at the outdoor theatre, but also the number of people in the streets and restaurants. The evenings here are a beautiful reprieve from the heat of the day!Read more