The last four days in Rome have been a blast. We have had so much fun walking around and discovering parts of Rome we never knew existed. It has been so special, being lucky enough to do it all with friends.

After our mandatory coffee at our local café (where Dennis and Linda continued their tradition of having a pastry every day after breakfast), we finally introduced Dennis and Linda to our favourite local deli, Volpetti. We spent almost an hour in there, being thoroughly spoilt by our new friend, Nicholas, who we reckon looks like Jason Momoa. He gave us taste testings of their balsamic vinegars and we each bought a bottle of the vinegar aged 10 years. We tried (and bought) some beautiful capocollo, some more cheese and some divine buffalo mozzarella.

After this we wandered through the fresh food market, stocking up on fruits and vegetables for the next couple of days. We also bought some fresh chicken, which was completely natural and the colour chicken should be, not the anaemic pink that is totally unnatural like we get in Australia.

By the time we finished our fresh food shopping, it was lunch time, so Dennis and I went back to Volpetti to buy a pizza biancha stuffed with roast pork. The guy cut off a giant piece of pizza biancha, then sliced it open and stuffed it full of roast pork. It was much larger than we intended, but we split it four ways with the girls. We went back to our apartment and enjoyed an antipasto lunch with our pork sandwich. Then it was off across the river to Trastavere. This suburb is only 10 minutes walk from Testaccio, but is so different. It is heavily populated by tourists and street vendors selling their usual rubbish. We were so glad we had chosen to stay in Testaccio, which has a much more local feel to it.

One thing we love about Rome is the drinking fountains. There are 2,000 of them across the city. Most look like they were built 2,000 years ago. They are generally a marble or concrete pillar with a curved tap protruding from the side which pours water constantly. To drink from them, you pop your finger into the running tap and a small hole at the top squirts water out like a drinking fountain. We have been making full use of them since we arrived. My tip: make sure you don't shove your finger too far up the spout, because it sometimes can be difficult to extract it again. I only did this once.

We also found a drinking fountain in Trastevere which had a huge amount of pressure. So much so, that when you popped your finger into the spout, the water shot out like a water canon. I had almost been caught by this one while Dennis wasn't looking, so I pointed out the fountain in case he was thirsty, hoping that he would spray himself in the face and mop. Unfortunately, he had almost been caught on a previous fountain and so was wary. When I realised my ruse wasn't going to work, I quickly went to the fountain and stuck my finger in the spout, hoping to spray him anyway. He didn't stand where I wanted him to and instead of spraying him, the water shot 5 metres across the road and squirted a young Roman guy walking with his friend. We was none too happy. Oops.

Despite being a lot more crowded than Testaccio, Trastevere is nice in it's own way and has the most amazing 12th century cathedral. Inside there are 12th century mosaics with gold in them. The cathedral is really quite magnificent, but also reminds you of how much money was spent on these structures when the people in the area probably needed the money more.

We stopped into Giolitti for another gelati on our way back to our apartment. That night Dennis roasted our fresh chicken with some potatoes and a fresh salad. It was so tasty. After dinner we were sitting around chewing the fat. The cold I picked up in Egypt was still lingering and I had a persistent, annoying cough. Dennis had previously suggested that I should get hold of some Vicks and put it on my chest. Now Linda tends to get a little confused with the English language at the best of times. After a few proseccos and wines, this situation becomes worse. Suddenly she pipes up and says "Dennis wants to grease you up with Vaseline". I turned to Dennis and said "Maybe when I'm feeling better". Turns out I'm not the only Awkwardo.

The next day was Lidia's birthday! We woke up and had the usual coffee and pastry at our local café. Dennis and Linda bought Lidia a nice notebook and pen to record her thoughts in. We then had to catch the train for our next experience.

We had caught the underground Metro trains a few times and had that down-pat. We hadn't yet caught the country trains. We needed to buy tickets and I approached the counter to get the tickets we needed. Some Italian guy, who I thought was an employee of the train line, approached me and started helping us to buy the tickets using the vending machines. He was wearing the colours of the train line and acted like he was supposed to be there. Turns out he wasn't and was only trying to get money from tourists. He got our tickets from the machine and then asked me for a tip. I was really annoyed that he misled me and didn't give him a cent. I could have got the tickets from the counter without his help, so I thought this was really dishonest.

Anyway, we got over that and jumped on the train to a small town called Frascati. This town is famous for their white wines and we went to a small, family winery where the buildings date back to 1523 for some wine tastings. The winery is built on a network of natural caves where the family used to hide their wine before the war and their Jewish friends during the war.

We wandered around the town after our tastings with a local guide named Massimo. Dennis forgot his name and I told him that it was Alberto, hoping that Dennis would call him by the wrong name in front of the whole group. Unfortunately, my plan failed.

The town of Frascati is fascinating. It lies on the Tiber river and in ancient times was a port of call for boats travelling to Rome. There is a huge cathedral there with a beautiful sculpted art work above the altar. Apparently, the artwork was commissioned by the Vatican and was being transported to Rome via the river. The captain of the boat was not familiar with Rome and the locals of Frascati convinced him that he was in Rome. He told them he had an artwork for St Peters Basilica and they pointed to their cathedral and said "This is St Peters Basilica". They installed the artwork there and it has remained ever since.

We enjoyed a sumptuous lunch in Frascati, followed by limoncello shots. There were some Americans in our group and they tried the grappa. We were too smart to drink it. The Americans were not. I tried to warn them that it was like paint stripper, but they didn't listen. They drank it and said it tasted like hairspray and was the worst alcohol they had ever tried.

After lunch we had a gelati on the way back to the train for our return trip to Rome.

The next morning we made a plan to go into Rome early in order to see the Trevi Fountain without tourists. Dennis had been checking the live cam at Trevi every morning and we knew that before 7:30 there were hardly any people there. So we all got up at our usual time, except Linda, who got up 2 hours early for her. We skipped our morning coffee and walked straight into Rome. When we arrived at the Trevi it was about 7:30 and there were only a few people there. It was fantastic. We took some amazing shots and then walked over to the Spanish Steps, where we were able to take photos without anyone else in them. An impossible task during the day.

After a short stop at Piazza Navona, we found a little café and all sat down for our morning coffee with a ventigla, which is a fan-shaped light pastry. Delicious.

In the afternoon we decided to check out the Caracella Baths, which is an ancient Roman Bath site about 30 minutes walk from our apartment. Unfortunately, although Google Maps said it was open until 6:15, it was actually closed. So instead we walked to a café near Circus Maximus and had beer and prosecco. It was quite warm, so on our way back to our apartment we stopped off at our local Giolitti for yet another gelati. Dennis was super-excited that they had a new shipment of the banana flavour. The real banana that is brown rather than yellow, which means it is all entirely natural with no colours, preservatives or additives. Simply divine. There will be no gelati left in Rome by the time we leave.

That night we took Dennis and Linda to our favourite local restaurant, Flavio al Velavevodetto. We shared the mandatory Cacio e Pepe and a beautiful rabbit dish, some fettucine ragu and meatballs. It was all fantastic and Dennis and Linda loved the venue, with their windows in the back showing the layers of smashed terracotta behind that make up Mount Testaccio.

The next day we enjoyed one of our favourite days in Italy so far. Lidia had found an experience on AirBNB where you go truffle hunting with dogs in the Italian countryside, followed by a lunch of predominantly truffle-based dishes.

The day started off a little awkwardly, when I was washing my hands in the bathroom and the soap slipped out of my hands and fell behind the washing machine. This machine could only have been installed by Houdini, because it is jammed in the corner in between the toilet and the vanity with a permanent shelf over it made of tiles. I was prepared to say bye-bye to the soap forever, but Dennis loves a challenge and so pulled his sleeves up and entered the fray. He came out triumphantly holding the soap like Moses with the 10 commandments. He tried to have us guess how he did it. I think he swung his hair behind the machine and dragged it out with his mop.

Having averted this crisis, we hopped on 3 trains to get to the countryside where our truffle experience began. We met our host Matteo and his father, Furio, at the station with another 4 people joining us on the tour. They had 2 cars and Dennis and Linda decided to go with Matteo in his tiny little Fiat hatch, while we went with the others in the van. We then drove for an hour up into the mountains. Dennis was in the back seat of the Fiat and apparently halfway there he heard a growl behind him. Turns out there were four dogs in the back of the hatch that he had no idea were even there.

We arrived at an ancient Polish monastery where they let the dogs out of the car. They were so cute. We then took a hike down the mountain-side (and up again) hunting for truffles. On the way, Linda asked Matteo how the dogs find the truffles. He explained that they dig them up and then carry them to their owner. Linda innocently asked "How do they carry them?". I was surprised that the dogs don't carry little Prada handbags for the truffles and instead carry them in their mouths. Who would have thought?

We had only been searching for one minute before one of the dogs found one. The dogs were running around like they were on speed, sniffing everywhere. The star of the show was Ciccio, who found the majority of the truffles all day. He came from a breed that is specific to that area and are raised for the sole purpose of finding these mushrooms. They dig them up and then carry them to Furio, who gives them a little bit of hotdog as a reward. One of the older dogs ate a few without giving them up. Furio explained that Ciccio's mother, who was at home, paid for his house, she was such a good truffle hunter.

After 2 hours of truffle hunting, the dogs had found about 200 grams of truffles, which was apparently a slow day because it had been dry in that area for a couple of months. At 300 euro per kilo, this amounted to about $100 aussie dollars worth.

We then jumped back in the cars and drove back down the mountain to Furio's house. He owns a B & B with a large indoor/outdoor room where we all sat and had lunch. It was all cooked by Furio and Matteo and course after course of delicious food was sent out. We tried prosciutto, home made salami, buffalo mozzarella with truffle shaved on top and a fantastic bruschetta made with minced truffle, anchovy and olive. We finished with a magnificent truffle risotto.

During the meal we were treated to Furio's home made red wine, followed by limoncello and various liqueurs he made from cherry and myrtle. By the time we left we were very happy. We were particularly proud of Lidia, because Furio spoke no English and when he found out that Lidia spoke Italian, he used her as a translator to tell us lots of stories and jokes. He was hilarious, telling us that he had a beautiful daughter and an ugly son, referring to Matteo who was sitting right there. Poor Matteo was the butt of his jokes all day, but he was such a good sport and obviously used to his over-the-top father, who told us that Matteo had a son because he fell asleep with his wife and when he woke up she was pregnant. He also said that his family was the most important thing in his life and when he dies he wants his ashes put inside the 250 year old olive tree that stood outside the room we ate in. A lovely sentiment.

Furio obviously enjoyed the day as well, because he wanted us to stay for dinner and then take us into the town for coffee, but some of the group wanted to get back to Rome so we had to say no. So after a fantastic day of food, drink and laughter, we took the train back to Rome.