It's Raining, It's Pouring

Yesterday Lesley was still feeling very ill so we had a sit at home day and just chilled out. One highlight was eating at a little bar next door to the hotel called Rivas, which was owned by Salvatore. Salvatore is a man who loves his life, loves his family, and loves what he does for work. Much to his delight we let him chose the food for our lunch. He made eating there a delight and he cheered Lesley up no end. After a local Gnocchi meal, and sliced beef local speciality we ordered coffees. He turned up with our coffees and a big slice of cake (for free) that his wife had made that morning. As we were eating that he gave us two small free grappas to finish off with. I watched Salvatore go about his work, he did not stop smiling, he treated everyone who came in as a friend (and they most probably were). So if you are ever in Rome go to Rivas, it is way from the tourist area, it is a small bar and has a small but tasty menu.....go to meet a genuinely nice human being, someone we can all aim to be like........Grazie mille Salvatore.

Now when we left in the morning it was a bit dull and overcast, but it was very pleasant weather, and that was how it was when we went into the Metro....now after a very short journey of no more than 15 minutes we emerged from the Metro to be greeted by a good steady misty rain...hey nothing we could not handle...it wasn't really that bad.

Today she was feeling a bit better and happy to do some more exploring. So we made our way to the nearest Metro station and caught a train to the Spada station, which is a short walk from the Spanish Steps.

The Spanish Steps

Everyone Else Knew About The Rain

In case you are curious we had bought an umbrella and ponchos with us...they were dry and safe back in our hotel room. Looking around us other travellers were better prepared with at least umbrellas in hand.....I think 2 months of hot weather had made us think that it did not rain in Italy!!!

We pushed on. One of our aims was to go into the area of old Rome that was used in the movie Eat, Prey, Love. Well, what looked so beautiful and romantic in a hollywood movie did not quite look the same in the now pouring rain....at least it was still warmish. It was also apparent that Hollywood had stage set the area..for example, the building Julie Roberts stayed in had a beautiful garden balcony, well the balcony was there, but no garden!

The Building Julie Roberts Character Stayed In

The Restaurant Where Julie Roberts Places Her Italian Order

The restaurant looked the same, but it was empty, and the rain was now coming down hard.

For some reason I kept getting lost, and this got worse as my map turned to paper mâché in the constant rain. In the end we just gave up, we had other places to see but Lesley was not feeling good and seriously we could not get any wetter if we tried.

Very, Very Wet!!!!

So we eventually made our way back to the hotel and a good long, hot shower.

 

 

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