8/1 - Free Days are the Best!

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August 1st 2007

Published: August 10th 2007

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Euro babes

Rome

The girls were happy to see The Hard Rock

Today we were originally scheduled to see the Pope, but since he was on Holiday, it ended up being a free day! This was a welcome change, as the previous days had been full of museums and tours. Today was also a day to sleep in and take our time getting ready, as we had not had that kind of opportunity since we arrived in Rome. We had five women sharing one bathroom. ONE! Ah, to be able to take a 20 minute shower versus the quickie in-and-out was pure heaven.

Annie and Ray set out early to enjoy Rome on their own. Skye and I, including the girls, had a day ahead of us with no plans. So we did the first instinctual thing...shop! We headed out towards Veneto and walked around in search of stores. We ended up mostly window shopping, as there were no bargains to be found on Veneto. As we were turning the corner, the girls came upon The Hard Rock Cafe. Their faces lit up!!! They did not even have to ask, we were in there so fast and ready to sink our teeth into a juicy hamburger.

With Devo playing in the

Rome

E and Candi rockin out!

background ("Whip it, whip it really good"), we ordered up the sampler appetizer and drinks. Up to this point, our experience with Roman food had not been so good...the Hard Rock Cafe was exactly what we all needed. The girls rocked out to their favorite band while devouring their lunch. Goofiness and laughter was in abundance. We discussed what we wanted to do next, and we all agreed to head back to San Clemente. We were not able to see the underground churches on our last visit, as there was a Sunday Mass that day.

We caught the metro to the Colosseum and walked the same route that Claudio had taken us a few days ago. I smiled as we past the ruins that housed the Gladiators and thought of Claudio. What a sweet man he was. Soon we arrived at San Clemente, underground and alone. We went all the way to the bottom to the church that was used by Pagans. I couldn't tell you what they worshipped back then, but the little Pagan church was creeping me out. It was very cool, dark and you could hear water running in the distance. I had goose bumps. It

Rome

Finally! A restaurant that knows how to make a cosmo!

was an interesting site to explore, but I must admit, I was happy when we left and were above ground. We left San Clemente and soon found ourselves at Nero's Palace. We were surprised to see that it was closed...the time had passed by so quickly, we did not realize that it was almost 5pm!

We headed back to get ready for a night on the town. This time we were not going to be led astray. We knew exactly where we were going...Veneto. Dressed to impress, Skye and I headed out early for cocktails. We found that we had an admirer that evening that could not make up his mind who he wanted to go out with. He first waved to Skye. When he approached us he asked me out. Huh!?! I declined, and then he asked Skye out! Ha! Once we were able to shake him off, we found ourselves at Brunello which served the best martinis. Skye particularly enjoyed the chocolate martini. The girls joined us later in the evening for dinner on Veneto which was lined with many good restaurants to choose from. We were not disappointed this night, as we had a wonderful Italian

Rome

Did you know that Skye to the left was Kaitlyn's nanny back in the day. Skye has been in Kaitlyn's life since she was 3! Funny...when Skye spoke, Kaitlyn listened!

meal in all places, Rome! I was so happy that I ordered Grappa. The Grappa that I ordered was darker than what we had in Venice. Thankfully, we had our Grappa taste tester with us, Kaitlyn. She tasted and approved!

The night was still young, so Skye and I escorted the girls to The Spanish Steps. We let them hang out there on their own and we, not too far away, hung out at the Hassler--the same hotel that Tomcat stayed at for their wedding. The Hassler was a wonderful place to cap off the evening.

We didn’t see much today, but we did have fun hanging out and being silly. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Tomorrow we’re back to visiting museums: The Borghese Gallery. Ciao! Renee

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