Sept 16th, Naples to Rome

9/16     Monday

Today, we travel to Roma! We have no trouble getting through the metro to the train. We have a little waiting time at the station, and then we’re on our way. The ride takes us north close to the coast, with views of farms and orchards, towns on the hillsides, chapels on the mountain peaks. It is interesting to see how mountainous the country is, reminding us of the Sierras in California at times.

At the station in Rome, we find our way to the metro and follow the directions from Ciara, our host. We have a couple stops and a change of lines to get to our neighborhood, but we’ve had lots of practice with the metros by now.

Ciara is waiting for us as we come up the escalator at our stop. She’s bright and lively. She leads us a few blocks to her apartment, where she gives us some iced tea, shows us around the three rooms, and wishes us a good holiday in her home. It’s typical of the places we’ve been renting, small but efficient and cozy. It’s homey but not cluttered, except for a collection of photos and magnets on the fridge, destined to come crashing to the floor as we pass. We put all of it on a platter out of the way until we leave. We have a great big terrace with – a full sized patio table! It will be a treat to have a real table after so many evenings dining off the usual café table.

We are in a pleasant residential neighborhood, on a very quiet one-way street off the main route. As we make a trip to the supermarket that’s a few blocks away, we don’t see any restaurants that are interesting to us, but we’ll be enjoying our terrace for the week.

We have learned that, by happy coincidence, our dear friends Laurie and Steve are in Rome for a few days, ending their two week Italian holiday. We make plans to meet at their hotel in the city tomorrow morning.