The past few days, we’ve taken a little bit of a rest from sight seeing. We’ve spent time with our new friends, shopped, and went to the beach. On Tuesday, though, Gian and I went back to Orvieto to visit La Signora Anna. She was the wonderful person who bought us coffee three years ago and spent so much time chatting with us about her art. We went back and were happy to find her and glad that she remembered us. We also got to meet her daughter and granddaughter. We bought many beautiful things from her shop. If you are ever in Orvieto, visit her studio and shop. Just ask for Orviet’Anna! It’s two minutes from the Duomo.

Last night, we wandered around the University of Rome’s main campus and the surrounding neighborhood. We were also looking for this famous vegetarian restaurant (Arance Blu) but it seems to have closed. We ended up having a drink and watching some sort of student art performance. It was really fun! Today, we’re off to the beach!

Our friend Emanuele took us to two beautiful and stunning sights today. The first was Villa Adriano, just outside of Rome. This was the ancient palace of Adrian and is well worth the difficult journey to get here (if you don’t have a car, it’s a challenge, luckily our friend does!). I was surprised how un-crowded it was, a nice change from busy summer tourist lines. After lunch, he took us to Villa D’Este. They are the same family that had the castle in Ferrara, which we visited last year.

I usually hate tour buses because they rush you along a pre-determined course and don’t allow you to really see and document the area you are visiting. Even the on-off buses are often overpriced and undervalued. However, I was really impressed with the Archeobus, which is 10 euro for a day pass. It brings you outside of Rome to the more ancient parts that surrounded the city. We saw many great things along the Appia Antica, including the catacombs under St. Sebastian’s. This was stunning and one of the largest and oldest known catacombs in Rome.

Last time we were in Rome, we did not get to go into Castel Sant’Angelo because we did not learn about it until one of our last days (we got lost one night and happened to pass by it). This time, we took a nice tour through the Mausoleum of Adriano. As an added bonus, there was a temporary exhibit of art from Abruzzo (saved from the earthquake a few years ago). It was stunning! Well worth a visit for the views from the top of the structure.

Today, we took advantage of our expedited admission to the Colosseum (when you buy a ticket for the Palatine Hills, you get free admission the the Colosseum. I recommend doing the Hills first then skipping the LONG lines at the Colosseum with your two-day pass). They had a great exhibit on the various types of gladiators that existed. Being a Sagittarius, I found it fun to see what types of fighters they were in ancient times.

We’re almost a week into our trip and we’ve already met some really great new friends. It’s helped us not only practice our Italian a little but also get some authentic and fun tours of the city. Today, our friend Emanuele took us around the Palentine Hills and to see the Boca della Verita, which many folks know from the film, “Roman Holiday.” It was such a fun day!

While I’m really lucky to live in Seattle where there is no shortage of excellent coffee, I really appreciate coming to Italy where folks appreciate a simple breakfast of cafe’ (espresso) and un pasticcino. It’s quick, simple and delicious.

Today, those of us with dogs got to bring them into work! It was so fun seeing six happy little pups socializing (and vocalizing) with each other.