Our B&B is lovely, full of vintage photos and graceful linen drapes and windows open to the view and sunlight. It's in a tiny laneway and hangs off a cliff. Our washing this morning is hanging off the cliff too. If it blows off the line it's gone forever!
Off to explore now.
I'm awake very early again, and it's raining gently in Rome.
We'll pack up this morning, negotiate a Roman taxi, and pick up our tiny car to drive south to Sant'Agata, in the hills behind Naples, before heading east to Italy's Adriatic coast.
Sad to say goodbye to Rome, but excited to see what the day brings.
Later
Successfully made it to our B&B in Sant'Agata, but only due to a lovely young woman in the town pharmacy who locked up the shop and walked with us every step of the way, some half kilometre or more through winding laneways, to the door of our B&B. We would still be searching otherwise!
The drive out of Rome wasn't as bad as we feared, but the roads as we travelled further south were teeth-clenching. We held our breath watching a Fiat Panda overtake two large trucks at the same time on a two-lane road, with a similarly-sized truck bearing down on it from the other direction. That wasn't a one-off.
Drinks and dinner on the terrace, and we're feeling much more relaxed...
We start the day with the best coffee, in the best city, in the best country in the world for a cup of caffeine - apparently. And yes, it was very good.
More wandering today, in a crooked figure of eight that included the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and Piazza Navona - not with any plan to visit all those extraordinary sites in one day, but just because Rome is so full of wondrous things you almost can't avoid it.
A day of walking yesterday, wandering some areas of Rome new to us - the 'big fountain' on Janiculum Hill, with its sweeping views of Rome, down to Trastevere, across to the Jewish Ghetto and the Temple of Apollo - interspersed with the occasional church, mandatory gelato, wine and many meandering detours.
So we had breakfast on 'our' terrace this morning, with swifts wheeling all around us, the domes of at least 4 churches within 100m, and the bells ringing. I think I'll get used to this.
First stop Rome for a few days to catch our breath.
No big tourist plans this time, just some gentle exploring, eating, drinking and resting. We've discovered that our building has a lovely terrace on top with views of the Roman rooftops --we've already christened it, and suspect we'll spend lots more time there over the next couple of days.
