Monte Esquilino

Well today is Republic Day in Italy. So many people are here to celebrate and there are many barricades set up in front of the major sites and many road closures and diversions.
We woke to rain and much cooler weather, so we decided to try the hop-on hop-off bus and head towards the Vatican City which was on the other side of the city. Despite the torrential down-pour that hit us on the way, this turned out a great idea as we got to see many more landmarks.
A quick breakfast stop at a very cute cafe and an americano coffee and cornetto with jam. Very Italian.
We then headed off towards Vatican City. So many beautiful sights around this part of town with every corner opening up another beautiful vista.
The entry for the Vatican was a complete sellout due the special day and also the Pope’s address to the mass.
How blessed are we that we got to hear and see the Pope. A definite highlight to our Rome visit. We both felt enlightened after this experience. (and neither of us are overly religious).
On the walk back we popped into a random old church to have a look-see and decided that we would stay for Mass that was just beginning. The service was all in Italian which added something to the aura of it. It sure was a blessed day.
They even threw in an angry man (a little disturbed we think) who was expressing his disappointment in the church to the priest. In the true Italian way this was handled by the powers that be and this man was diplomatically escorted from the church, probably never to be heard of again.
We used our Hop-On/Hop-Off passes well and travelled aimlessly thru the city and randomly hopped off to find yet another great little family owned/run restaurant for lunch. We both enjoyed a Pasta dish for lunch washed down with a glass of red.
After this beautiful meal we took the leisurely 4 klm walk back to our hotel for a nana nap.
At 10.45 pm we woke, and I decided we needed to go out for hot chocolate and cake.
Well, we got diverted as there was live music playing in the street.
The live band were a group of musicians of mixed ages. The music was energetic, very calypso, but what made them more-so special was that the conductor was using sign language to orchestrate the group. The group consisted of hearing-impaired musicians. The cello player was deaf.
A good crowd had gathered, and we enjoyed this impromptu concert for an hour or so before heading off for our hot choccy fix!
We sat with a lot of other late-night revelers in a quirky cafe with a New York 40's feel to it. They had a great selection of very tasty pastries which we devoured and for a night cap to help us back to sleep we both had a couple of Sambuca's for good measure. Big day today but tomorrow brings Rome to an end but on to the UK we go.Read more