Oct. 31: Roaming Around Rome

After the G20 Summit folks left the Trevi Fountain along with all the security teams, we ventured out of the apartment. My first order of business was to buy some comfortable shoes. Yes, the trip is nearly over and I’ve limped along this long in a pair of shoes I bought specifically for this journey — but never even tried on until the plane touched down in Italy. But I had had enough. So, Betsy and I were off to the Skechers store on Via di Corso, where it took me about 10 minutes to find what I needed. My walking ability is much better.

The next order of business was to get our Covid tests so we can fly home on Tuesday. That also went off without a hitch. We all felt relieved when we received our negative results.

Rome is filled with people this weekend, thousands more than we saw here during our first three days in early October. It feels like a river of people on every street. But, all those tourists also bring out some fun street performers. We saw a young showman violinist captivating a crowd and earning some money along with a variety of other artists and entertainers.

Back at the apartment in the early afternoon, it was time to relax and, for some of us, to partake in the tradition of the siesta. That’s going to be a hard habit to break and something I’ll miss when I’m working a 12-hour shift at Vandy.

After a good nap, Betsy went out for another walk around the city. She worked hard to get into shape for our walking holiday and doesn’t want to lose any ground. I should be so disciplined.

I was looking online for something interesting to do while Betsy was walking and came across The Great Opera Arias concert at Palazzo Santa Chiara. I’ve never been to an opera and have never wanted to go to one. But this read more like Opera’s Greatest Hits and, I confess, that appealed to me. I read some reviews online and decided to book it. Bonnie, Lisa and Emily declined, but Betsy was game.

The website promised an opportunity to celebrate the great Opera arias and the most famous classical music pieces composed by Italian composers Verdi, Rossini, Puccini, Vivaldi and world-renowned Neapolitan songs. The event lived up to that promise. We loved it. The soprano and tenor and the string quartet were all wonderful. There was some humor in the performance as the soprano and tenor pretended to compete with their voices. The first violinist was amazing. The hour of music flew by and left everyone in the audience asking for more.

Walking back home, we happened upon another music opportunity. We saw people entering a large and very ornate church (the Cathedral Chiesa) and could hear some music inside, so we decided to check it out. The church was gorgeous as were the acoustics. A female trio and a male tenor were singing. This is Rome Arts Week, so exceptional performances are likely to happen many times over.

Today, our only plan is to visit the market at Campo di Fiori and pick up a few more items to take back home to friends and family and to enjoy ourselves.

Ciao!