9. Rome i August - A late lunch

Our last full day in Rome and what a day it has been - sight seeing, shopping and eating. The most important being eating! Late lunch at Antonio's, which is 2 mins. from our hotel

A glass of the local white wine and the ever excellent bread

Salad with mozzarella - looking like huge eggs

and my favorite the fried porcini mushrooms

Then some home-made paste with minced wild boar and cheese

Washed down with a delightful verdicchio 

Finally coffee and ice-cream at Sant Eustachio

8. Rome i August - Hot, exhausted but still loving it

It has been yet another beautiful and hot day. We had still not seen the Colosseum, so the first order of the day was to catch a horse carriage ride to this famous landmark. It was only 9.30 am and already the sun was burning down from the relentlessly blue skies. At the Colosseum I had a culture shock - there were masses of people! At the Forum - there were masses of people! So after the carriage ride we took a short walk to the ruins at Largo Argentina.

Riding through Piazza Venezia

The maddening crowds at the Colosseum and the Forum

Still a very impressive piece of construction

Ahh... the enjoying the ruins at Largo Argentina

7. Rome i August - Drinks on the roof terrace

One of joys of the hotel, is its excellent roof terrace. We had drinks on the roof terrace and finally a pasta supper on our own terrace under the velvety moonlit roman skies.

As the last rays of sunlight colored the sky behind the Pantheon

The moon shone over the Forum

And we enjoyed our cocktails

6. Rome i August - A roman affair - Cul de Sac

After a day of scorching 36 C, it was time for a late afternoon walk to Pizza Navona and on to our all time favorite enoteca - Cul De Sac.

We gave up walking to the Coliseum - it was just too hot

The start of our late afternoon affair at Cul De Sac. An excellent earthy white wine from Sardinia, crusty, chewy bread and a plate of cured meats and cheese

Followed by  a crisp Lazio white and our pasta with Sicilian sauce - a rich tomato sauce with eggplant and Sicilian cheese. 

5. Rome i August - Pantheon - heaven and earth

The Pantheon has been hallowed ground for nearly 2000 years and that history is a living, tangible creature. At 9 am this morning it was  peaceful - far from the maddening hustle of tourism

The clear late summer blue and the cool fountain blue

The pure sunlight captured by the great eye of the Pantheon

The long cool marble floor grounding the structure

A space filled with saints and angels

4. Rome i August - Roman felines - top cat at Rome's zoo

We spent a blazing hot morning at the Bioparco aka the Zoo. Here we met several fine feline specimens doing what felines do best. So who is the top cat? Our vote went to the zoo cat.

The Leopards were napping

The lynxes were napping 

The Sumatran tiger was napping 

 The zoo cat - alert and totally owning the open enclosures

3. Rome i August - OMG it's the Holy hand grenade of Antioch

Yes, fans of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, we found the Holy hand grenade of Antioch in Rome. Now to destroy the Killer Rabbit. Hmmm more in danger of death by chocolate gelato than killer rabbits.

2. Rome i August - Coffee, gelato and everything nice

Arriving in Rome this late august afternoon as the sun slants lashes of light over ancients monuments, we were looking forward to coffee, gelato and everything nice. We were not disappointed - The coffee at Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè was absolutely fantastic. The gelato at the gelato shop across the cafe was equally good - Punto Gelato. We love it! The bakery - Antico Forno - at Via Della Scrofa was .... sigh. We were offered free tastings of glorious baked goods.

The ever so good chocolate gelato.

Expresso and Cappucino - large please :-)

Our favorite pasta dishes - rigatoni all'amatriciana and spaghetti carbonara 

Enjoying the hotel lobby

1. Rome i August - We love Roma! La vida Loca meets La dolce vita

La vida Loca meets La dolce vita in the best possible way when you are in Rome. Case in point, our taxi driver. Arriving in Rome this afternoon and anticipating the ubiquitous male, slightly overweight taxi driver, we were blown away by a leggy dark haired Italian beauty. She chauffeured us with easy, grace and charm through the madness of roman traffic.