Six in Switzerland: Rome's greatest hits

Hey, look! Bus 40 is only half full! Really.

We asked the girls what they wanted to do on our last day in Rome. They definitely did not want to see churches or museums or even more ruins. They just wanted to enjoy the city a little bit and redo some of their favorite parts. So we started the day at the bakery where we had gotten the perfect pizza and got a few pastries for breakfast. The bakers gave T and L some plain focaccia and T finally felt like he'd had some good pizza on this trip. No sauce, no cheese, no "stuff." So it turns out he does like pizza, as long as it is just bread.

S's friend the dried fruit man.

After that we went back to the farmer's market. The girls wanted to stock up on dried fruit. The dried fruit man remembered S, and even remembered her name. He gave the girls tons of samples and gave all the kids long pink and white striped marshmallows from the stand next door. It was very nice.

By the time we finished with the market it was time for lunch. Back to the pizza place, of course, then a good walk to the Pantheon for some gelato. From there we went to T and L's favorite place in Rome - the carousel and playground behind Castel St Angelo. More walking, more gelato, and one last ride on bus 40 back to the main train station.

We took a train to Orvieto, which is a hill town in Umbria, north of Rome. We arrived just as it was getting dark. We had to take a funicular up to the old town, since it is up on a hill with steep cliff sides all around. By then it was dark, so we took a mini shuttle bus to the center of town. The streets were so narrow we were surprised the bus could make it through some spots. It was so dark that the buildings on either side hardly looked like buildings - more like high, irregular stone walls. We wound through these streets for what felt like a long time. When we were dropped off by the duomo we weren't sure where to go so we followed some signs toward hotels and hoped for the best. There were lots of cute shops along the way, but no sign of the hotel. We asked for directions a couple of times and finally ended up in a narrow, deserted, pitch dark alley. E mentioned that if we were still in Rome he would be very concerned. But we kept on going, since we had no other leads, and finally saw a dim light outside our hotel.

Coming back from dinner along a major thoroughfare. Really.

It was total luxury for us - two rooms, real beds (sharing, but that's okay!), our own bathrooms with towels supplied, fresh blankets, and a tv! No row of burned mopeds outside the door. Also, breakfast included. More luxury - we went out to dinner at a nice place. I guess our standards aren't super high. We should probably go ahead and meet them more often. Everything feels so much nicer and more relaxed when we do.