Roman Miracle

The last city we visited in our eleven day Italian odyssey was the Eternal City, Rome. Visiting Rome is like visiting New York City. There is absolutely no way you could possibly see everything worth seeing, even if you had two months to spend there, much less only two days. We knew that going in, and we content to make the most of the two main tours planned, one of ancient Rome and the other of Vatican City.

Our first day in Rome was spent looking at ancient Roman ruins, most notably the Colosseum and the Forum. Our tour guide, the lovely Francesca, was absolutely spellbinding as she explained that this history of Rome belongs to all of us. With her masterful and poetic language, she helped us to see that the civilization that began in Rome echoes through all our histories and cultures. Our day’s walk ended at the Pantheon, the remarkable architectural triumph built in 124 BC as a temple for all the gods. It is well preserved, and has served as a Catholic church since the 600’s.

As a side note, it was shortly after our tour of the Pantheon that a minor miracle occurred. You see, this tour was not without its victims, and I was one of them. I left some of my belongings in almost every hotel we visited. It really wasn’t easy to get everything packed and unpacked every two days! The most grievous loss for me happened as we left Siena. We were on the bus and just leaving the city limits, when I had a blinding flash of realization that I had left the battery for my camera still plugged into the charger in the wall socket right next to my bed. These are the moments when you realize that the group cannot be inconvenienced for your forgetfulness. Sigh.

I took a deep breath and dealt with it, but the photos of the breathtaking agriturismo were all kindly sent to me by our delightful Canadian tour mate Dorothy. She also sent me pictures of the Colosseum and the Forum.

So anyway, back to the miracle. We stopped for a libation after our hot, dusty trip through ancient Rome, and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a shop selling sunglasses and camera batteries! Who am I to question the logic? I went inside and, sure enough, there must be lots of dopey tourists like me who lose their batteries or forget to bring along a charger, because they had fully charged batteries on sale! Mirabile dictu, as Caesar himself might say.

From the Pantheon, our tour guide Karin turned us loose for dinner and we took off to find the famous Trattoria der Pallaro run by the famous Italian mama Paola Fazi. There is no menu here—you just sit down and dinner is served. Eight of us gathered around the table for the 22-euro meal which included a table filled with appetizers, including Genoa salami, fresh mozzarella, olives, caprese salad, bread, and more, followed by a rich penne carbonara, followed by pork roast, followed by peach tarts and fresh peaches. We washed all this down with pitcher after pitcher of red wine. It was quite a show, with Mama Paola bustling in and out of the kitchen, shouting orders to all her cooks and waiters non-stop.

We had one more day in Roma and we were off to see the Pope…