June 10 in Rome, continued

We were settled in the Cicerone Hotel.  The time and place had been posted for the first meeting of this tour with Globus.  With several hours to kill, we walked down Via Cicerone toward the big white building that is the Hall of Justice, at Piazza Cavour, and on toward Castel Sant'Angelo on the west bank of the Tiber River.

Approaching Castel Sant'Angelo

Castel Sant'Angelo [7 euro entry fee] began as a great mausoleum built by emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD.  A circular building, with a great long ramp rising toward the top, it has a little military museum and a wonderful terrace cafe.  We had lemonade that was incredibly good and refreshing on a hot Italian day.  

Lemonade in the shade

We climbed up a staircase to a large terrace or rampart just below the huge statue of St. Michael sheathing his sword.  The statue tops the structure (well, surrounded by many communication antennae).  From this terrace is a grand panorama of Rome, from St Peter's and the Janiculum Hill on the right, past the Tiber River below, to the vast city out in the distance to the east and north.  Funny how from up there it looks as though Rome has a lot of green space - however not in the central core.  This was a wonderful place to pass a few hours.  And the whole time I never thought of the opera "Tosca" - in the last act after her lover's execution, she leapt to her death over the parapet.

Joe at the Castel Sant'Angelo ramparts with the city behind him.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped for gelato:  dark chocolate for me, very dark and very strong flavor, and lemon (limone) for Joe - very sour but very tasty as well.  And then a bit of a rest before going to the lobby to meet the tour director/guide.  There were lots and lots of folks milling around, from all the other tour companies, including Globus. Our guy is Nicolas; the other Globus guide is a little woman named Annnick - it was she who helped us sort things out when we arrived at the hotel.

Our first meeting with Nicolas the guide

As Nicolas' group had no meeting room at the hotel, we walked a few blocks to a ristorante.  Nicolas spent the first 30 minutes explaining procedures regarding breakfast, baggage, audioguides, and emphasized that the next day would begin very early and would be the most strenuous day in terms of what areas of Rome we would cover.  And then dinner began:  antipasti (coldcuts and mozarella), pasta (2 kinds), veal scallopini with cheese, and asparagus and green beahc, and a kind of cheescake with small berries and currents - very yummy.  Lots of wine flowed, but I limited myself to just a glass and a half.

Nicolas also explained an add-on tour on the following afternoon to the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and then an "opera/dinner".  We considered it and at first rejected it because of the price, but quickly reconsidered.  A funny side occurance:  Each person had been assigned a number to affix to our suitcases.  As I went to Nicolas to get my number, he also asked "one bed or two" and my initial reaction was "That's none of your business."

On a bridge over the Tiber River.

After dinner, Joe and I walked a bit toward the river and the bridge of angels, and then turned in very early.  A long day, and our tour has barely begun.