Ancient Rome

We could subtitle today Information Overload. We spent today with our guide Tony and learned so much it is almost impossible to describe.

The major sites on our itinerary for today included: - Church of San Clemente - Flavian Amphitheater (Colloseum) - Roman Forum - Lunch on the Apian Antica - The Catacombes

Things we learned today:

• Christmas and the Saturnalia. At the temple of Saturn we learned that christmas
• Spaghetti Westerns
• San Clemente
• San Lorenzo (patron saint of cooks)
• The founding of Rome and the vestal virgins
• Story of San Sebastian

After our long day of touring we finally walked next door to the hotel to see the pantheon. It was cool but after a full day of interesting stories and explanations from tony it was a bit of a letdown. Kaia really wanted to visit some of the exclusive shops along the street near the Spanish Steps. We had also decided that Kaia needed something to replace the green duffle that had been causing troubles the whole trip. So we found a relatively inexpensive piece that was larger than her carryon size at a shop along the way.

Josh and I were charged with bringing the luggage back to the hotel while Jane and Kaia continued on their shopping quest. I told Jane to buy me a new pen at the Mont Blanc store, but with prices starting at over 300 euros she and Kaia were too intimidated to even go in the store!

After our day of touring and shopping we headed for our dinner reservation at Alfredos Originale. The home of Fettucine Alfredo! Kaia was so excited she could hardly stand it, for her it was like a religious pilgrimage. I was also excited to see how my recipe compared with Alfredo's. Alfredo's was good but very different from mine. It was very light on the cream, but heavier on the butter and Parmiagano Reggiano.