All roads lead to Rome- at least on the autostrada

Our brief tour of southern Italy (at least the mainland) has come to an end. It was a hectic seven day sojourn in Abruzzo, Puglia and Basilicata, with overnights in Pescara, Lecce and Matera and day trips to Alberobello, Ostuni and Otranto, described in prior blog posts. Today was our long haul drive from deep in the instep of the boot to somewhere around the knee (i.e. Rome). After a traditional prima colazione (on the rooftop terrace) of cornetto (filled with cream and marmalade), a local bread with a crunchy caramelized crust and a taste similar to challah with butter and jam, and toasted bread with olive oil, salt and dried oregano, and of course cappuccino, we packed up our belongings and trudged up (and I DO mean up) the steep cobblestone stairs from the B&B to the blessedly level Piazza del Sedile and then onto the parking garage, where we saw this little cutie!

There is something endearing about an older model Fiat cinquecento that just begs for a photo!

It was quite simple to get to Fiumicino airport, about an hour west of Rome, to drop off the rental car, a much newer and roomier version of the same car model!

We took a van (a Mercedes) to the Hotel Smeraldo, but had to walk a block as the van could not maneuver the narrow streets around the hotel.

The hotel’s location is ideal, in my opinion – short walking distance to all the major sights of the historic area. The weather was overcast but the rain held off (although the large puddles were evidence of some pretty significant precipitation earlier in the day. We walked over to Piazza Navona where the crowds were diminished due to the earlier rain. There was another bride encounter (the third this week) and the poor young woman was struggling to keep her dress from getting wet!

A visit and aperitif at La Botticella, the Roman Steeler bar, preceded dinner at Ai Bozzi, one of my favorite restaurants in Trastevere. We had an amuse bouche of salmon crudo with lemon ricotta on a rice cracker, fried Jewish artichoke, spaghetti all’Amatriciana, and gnocchi made with purple potatoes, clams and sea asparagus.