Final Day of the Roman Holiday

And now, the final installment of Jessica and Dima in Roma!

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On our final day we headed to the Campo de Fiori neighborhood which involved another lovely walk along the Tiber River. 

 It was a quick visit so I did not catch the name of this church and there really are churches everywhere you look.  It is the equivalent to the ratio of Dunkin Donuts in New England.

 Area Sacra

 Then it was off to the Lazio neighborhood of Rome for a delicious lunch with the Picardi's.  Their neighborhood is really beautiful - right next to vineyards, the grapes from which are used in local white wines and in the other direction is a mountain range, which Franco said was called Sabina.  That happens to be the name of our daughter.

 I'm determined to spread Red Sox cheer around the world, one shirt at a time.

They have a small but productive backyard with an olive tree, a mini cherry tree and a few other items.  They lived in a city apartment when I stayed with them in 1992.

 It was so nice to see them again after so many years and thank God for Google Translate!

 That's the top of St. Peter's Basilica- we did not have time to go to the Vatican but at least we got a glimpse.

 Castel Sant'Angelo

We look a little too happy in front of the Castel considering that Franco just explained that in ancient times Popes used to send people there to get executed or maybe things just got lost in translation.

 Piazza Navona

 Pantheon door - not sure why I didn't get a picture of the Pantheon but then again I really did love all the old giant doors.

One more walk to a charming restaurant...

The food was delicious and the service was great but my favorite part was the fact that they stacked all the empties on a table by the door like some kind of house party.  The wine, just like our weekend jaunt to Rome, was finished.  Time to get back to real life and some cute kids...

 Kirill age 9 and Sabina age 3.5

 Why oh why don't they sell Kinder Surprise in America?! 
And for those of you who may know Dima as the guy who said "dog stays outside!" at a Christmas gathering in Newburyport years ago, well we got a new dog and...

 He stays inside!  His name is Tuukka.

We hope you enjoyed this edition(s) of The Jen and Bill Experience.   Now back to your regularly scheduled Jen and Bill blog.