Cibo

Slept much better thank goodness and we had a slightly more chilled day, catching up on bits we feel we’ve missed and indulging in a lot of the food on offer here.
Started well with another Premium Bonds win….that’s every month since October now!
We walked to our nearest market for a mooch and to get a good feel for local produce, On the way we stopped for breakfast and for the first time had really good pastries…beautifully crisp and a good variety. I had hot chocolate instead of coffee (didn’t try asking for decaff as we were only offered ‘Capuccino or coffee’ so I didn’t think they’d appreciate the concept of a decaff option!). As we passed a homeware shop I saw a lovely large sea glass coloured glass vase…reminded me of some we’d seen in the museum yesterday and I made the snap decision to buy it. Just have to get it home safely in limited baggage allowance tomorrow!
The market was full of lovely produce and A bought some meats and cheeses for N then we popped home to leave them and the vase at the flat before visiting Maria Maggiore church round the corner…beautiful golden mosaics (extra) and the first carved nativity scene since it houses (supposedly) some fragments of the original manger. Walked down to another church we’d seen recommended which once again had enormous bronze doors and some stunning ancient mosaic floors but was unusually plain in terms of lack of decoration of ceilings etc… we’ve talked a lot about different religious styles and traditions these last few days. On the way, A had to have some more pizza al taglio - she loves the plainish ones and has developed a taste for potato on pizza too… it was delicious in a carb on carb sort of way! I had a hankering for one of those deli made sandwiches you see on social media and was very pleased to find a place where the assistant was great and guided me through various options. I had mortadella and a very strong/sharp pecorino, with some chicory salad on the side. Stunning, although I couldn’t finish it as it was enormous!
From there we decided on a walk back to the Pantheon across the city, and enjoyed a beer overlooking the colosseum en route and browsed the sights and a few shops as we passed. Enjoyed the Pantheon in sunshine, then bought a couple of souvenirs and started to walk back home. We enjoyed a film about Hadrian shown in his rebuilt temple, and when we came out it was raining so we went back to try and see the column of rain coming into the Pantheon but by then it was too dark to see it although the floor was wet,
Home for a brief rest and to do the packing before supper at the restaurant on our street, the Forchette d’Oro. It was fabulous….loud, friendly, delicious food (tagliatelle al porcini, grilled lamb with salad, tiramisu and crème caramelle, and of course limoncello to finish!). We were stuffed! Lovely relaxed day….plus managed another 9 miles walking so hopefully we walked off some of those calories!