Saturday, July 5th: Rome

Saturday,  July 5th
Rome

Today was our shopping (not excited for) and picnic (excited for) day.  Shayna had every street in Rome that MIGHT have a good store on it fully mapped out and the exact walking path we would take to get to each of these streets.  It was the most planning she had done all trip.

We started our day heading to the Spanish steps,  sat on them for about 3.5 minutes,  took some pictures and before I knew it we were in Prada. While Shayna didn't get anything there,  she did get a nice pair of shoes at Sergio Rossi (they were on sale too). She's so thrifty. After a couple of hours walking in and out of stores,  our stomachs started to churn. 

We heard about this restaurant, GiNa, that packs full picnic lunches to bring into the park, Villa Borghese (think Central Park). The restaurant packed us a cooler bag with plates, utensils, salad,  sandwich,  fruit,  cookies,  waters,  oil and vinegar, and a mat for us to eat and sit on. We found a nice spot overlooking a lake,  turned on some music and had our own little picnic in the park.  Aside from the ants,  it was perfect. Oh,  I also beat Shayna in Scrabble pretty handily. She blames the bottle of wine.

After the picnic we made our way back through Rome,  stopped in a few more stores and headed back to the hotel. 

Saturday night dinner was at this place called Antica Pesa which also recently opened a restaurant in Brooklyn.  We left some time before dinner to walk around the area and came across a row of restaurants and shops that lined the river. It was basically a NYC street fair but much nicer. 

As we walked into the restaurant we saw the walls were adorned with pictures of celebrities from LeBron James to Jared Leto (he was there the night before). Unfortunately we didn't see anyone special the night we were there but did have an amazing meal in the outdoor garden. See future food post for specifics.

Another great meal,  another great city.  Off to Praiano tomorrow for the relaxing portion of the trip.  It's been a great week in the cities but I'm ready to hang out by the pool and beach. 

Matt (& Shayna)