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I walked to the most important church in Rome - st peters basilica, which I couldn't get into yesterday due to the popes address! It is the second biggest catholic church in the world and designed by michaelangelo. It is amazing, huge, grand, and a testiment to the money and power of the Vatican. The photo is of a portion of the dome. I stopped for lunch at the campo de fiori, and had a plate of salumi and cheese!
I bought a smaller suitcase with the 4 wheels as I am sick of hauling the big one around. It will stay in Rome, I have regretted taking it since leaving Australia, it was always unbalanced as it was never full, and it is too heavy to fill. Everything just fits in the much smaller bag and it is still heavy but I will find this alot easier. I spent the afternoon organising washing and curling up with a magazine.
Out and about in the town again, I am spending my last hours in Rome just walking the streets in the old quarter soaking up the atmosphere. I revisited a local bar for their amazing take on aperitif, this time meat balls, frittata and pizza nibbles included with my spritz. I then decided to walk to the extremities of my tourist map, I've already covered alot of ground today so I figure why not another couple of hours walking.... I got to see a protest against the prime minister (famous for his basement discos, underage mistresses, 80% ownership of tv, multiple criminal charges for bribery and corruption which he escapes by changing the law to make it legal and financially running the country into the ground). I went to the touristy end of town along via nazionale and piazza repubblica, then revisited the trevi fountain and then back to navona.
You can tell alot about a place by it's traffic cops. In new York the traffic direction is short and furious hand gestures with lots of whistles and yelling at motorists if they did not immediately obey. In Italy the gestures are airy fairy, almost like a ballet dance, and cars only stop when the polizi steps in front of the traffic to let the podestrians cross the road. But he looked good doing it.
For my final night in Rome, I was seduced by a Spanish restaurant - I guess you do get food fatigue and after 5 weeks solid of Italian something different sounded nice - and sangria always is nice. I was treated to fantastic spicy pork skewers and potatas bravas that have me sweating they are so spicy - so good. I am inside the restaurant next to the glass window, there is an Italian family on the other side of the glass and the 3 young girls have started a game through the window where they try to get my attention, and occassionally I respond and they giggle. Once I've reassured the parents (through hand signals and mouthing italian that it's ok) we play this game until they leave all of them waving like crazy through the window! I am a novelty, a single woman dining alone, they are a novelty, a family eating dinner at 2200 with children. I have loved my time in Rome.
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