Hidden gems

The weather has turned a little chilli but it is certainly not scarves or gloves weather. One of the lovely things with our apartment, is the sunlight that streams in of a morning.
Getting a taxi this morning was easy peasy. We were going to the other side of Rome but this driver took some of the strangest roads. Tiny alleyways with large school groups in front of us , they seemed like weird choices but we made it there. Our destination was Augustus’ Mausoleum which unfortunately is under a major reconstruction, so there was little to see.

We walked onwards toward the Spanish Steps, it was again very obvious that we were near a popular destination as the crowds massively increased. We took some obligatory photos and then got the hell out of there.

I would like to emphasise at this point that we did not climb the Spanish Steps, we are way too classy for that, we took the San Sebastiano steps on the side. We were making our way to the Villa Borghese. A wonderful surprise was the amazing views of the eternal city that we got along the way. Another great addition to the day was fighter planes flying over in threes with smoke coming out in the colours of the Italian flag. Red, white and green.

Our time for a quick brunch was running out. You can only buy timed tickets for this venue and we had to get there by 1pm. A toasted panini was our only choice, was OK really. The area and gardens are huge. One of the amusing things was all of the different vehicles you could hire to get around. Segways, bikes, pedal carts, low pedal bikes, a little train, golf carts, electric scooters – you name it. Eventually we found the Villa and the strange selfie taking Roman.

Booking only this morning a guided tour was our our only option. Visitors have a 2 hour window to visit and you are asked to leave after this.The great thing was that we were the only 2 people in the tour, so it was basically a private tour. This Villa was owned by this guy which we assume was a spoilt narcissist who was totally loaded. His uncle was the Pope and he became a Cardinal and used all of this to acquire loads of precious art. No photos are allowed. There was also an exhibition which included treasures from St Petersburg and The Louvre by Valadiar. The entire place is opulently decorated. Loads of priceless artefacts. Most impressive were the Bernini statues.  The Rape of Persephone and Apollo and Daphne statues blew us away. We were flabbergasted by the detail and skill of this artist. The photos below are from the internet.

A taxi home. After a recoup we headed out into the cold windy evening. There are maple trees all over the city and they are now shedding their leaves everywhere. They are piling up around the footpaths, cars and all around. Trying to go to a new restaurant each night and avoid cafe style places, it took us a while to find a place. We saw this restaurant and you had to buzz to go in. It was 7.20 and were were told to wait for 15 mins. It felt a bit strange and we nearly walked out but then we were shown to a table. The only customers there.

We had a bruschetta to share and shared pasta. Fettuccine with white bolognese sauce, pasta with tomato fish and olives. Both were fabulous. As we were eating the empty restaurant kept getting busier and busier.

The food was so we good we just had to try dessert. Tiramisu and Zabaglione. Both incredible. The restaurant by now was packed. We have clearly found some local popular gem. So finish and off home. Great find. Love this neighbourhood!