Rome and Crete Part I - Rome Day One

We arrived in Rome on a hot and sunny Friday morning from Toronto and were whisked to our hotel (Gigli D'Oro) near Piazza Novano, arriving before noon. After a brief orientation chat it was off to the local Osteria for a salad and other yummies. Our lunch was good, the place being a local haunt as opposed to a tourist joint, and with full bellies and jet lag catching up on us we opted for an afternoon nap. After the nap it was the for a long walk around downtown Rome with stops at the hotspots of the Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, a church with a Caravaggio, the column of Marcus Aurelius and the Pantheon.

With night falling we found a place for dinner that Sally recommended called Alfredo's. Dinner was classic Italian; carpaccio for Lisa and Bresaola for Christos followed by a shared fettuccine Alfredo. The Alfredo was amazing and of course it turns out that it was invented at Alfredo's some hundred years ago! After dinner it was time for an evening walk over the bridge and past Castle Sant Angelo before retiring to our room around midnight.

The next day we enjoyed a brief visit to a Church to see some more Caravaggio and a yummy salad lunch before it was off to the airport and our flight to Heraklion. We enjoyed our day in Rome but our hearts were set on the wilds of Crete ....