Il Volo...

Il 4 novembre

Roma

Today's objective was to do some shopping; first on the street recommended to us last night, and then I wanted to browse the shop windows on the Via Veneto, home to exclusive boutiques, five star hotels, and euros galore.

Although I tried on this and that, it wasn't a successful purchase day for me, but having bought books at Feltrinelli (terrific chain of bookstores in Italy) and t-shirts at Benetton on Thursday, I wasn't disappointed. (I also have my “Italia” sweatshirt bought from a street vendor earlier in the week.) Margie did well and I enjoyed being her “personal shopper” bringing clothes to and from the dressing room.

A morning of shopping, followed by strolling on the Via Veneto, calls for a hearty lunch and we made our way back to the Trevi Fountain and found a “local eatery” on one of the side streets. We started with bruschetta, topped with olive oil and chopped tomatoes, and then each of us had il vitello marsala; the veal was tender and wonderfully flavored and the ristorante welcoming and full of charm. Ristorante Sora Lucia (no website)

Our last afternoon in Roma and we considered ourselves very lucky because the weather was mild and sunny throughout the week, in spite of a forecast for rain. As we had no set agenda for the rest of the day, it was one of those “let's check out this street” and “this map makes no sense” finales. Without our planning it, we ended up back at the Spanish Steps (great view of the city) and then la Pizza del Popolo. Having already been there, we knew that there was going to be a concert that night in celebration of the 150^th anniversary of the unification of Italy. What we didn't expect is that we would hear the orchestra rehearsing; a treat in itself. And then, for me, a definite highlight, as I recognized three familiar singers on stage -il Volo. I discovered this group last year and immediately fell in love. The three ragazzi (yes, they are all teenagers) met a couple of years ago when each was performing at the music festival in San Remo. Someone suggested putting the three of them together and the rest is musical history. The beauty of their voices,individual and combined, often brings me to tears and seeing them in person, if only for 15 minutes of a sound check and one song, was magical. Check them out on U-Tube and you'll be in for a treat.

As we made our way to la Piazza Venezia and a fermata (bus stop), we stopped for a Happy Hour dinner at a local eatery. Happy Hour's are very popular in the cities here and we filled ourselves with lots of tasty appetizers and I had my final Roman Spritz-the best one yet!

Arrivederci Roma...Grazie...