Shopping, Walking, Good Food, Terrible Food...

Today was interesting, to say the least.  We had a great time exploring and our map skills were put to the test!  First stop was Piazza di Popolo.  Both of us were starving so we went straight into the first place we saw.  I picked a yummy pastry and matt had jamon on a crossaint.  We took our plates to pay at the register.  I told Matt to go find a table outside, but this witch of a waitress stopped us in our tracks.  Very rudly she told us it was a different price to sit outside with your food as opposed to standing at the bar.  I quickly gave her a nasty look, paid for the food, explained to Matt to grab his sandwhich with the napkin and leave!  That is exactly what we did.  Below is a picture of where you SHOULD NOT STOP while in this Piazza!

ROSATI

Anway, Piazza Popolo is beautiful and truly what you think of when you think of Rome.  Georgeous fountain, the plaza is made of cobblestone, it's open, there are pigeons flying about... very nice.

Next mission, to shop :)  Don't worry Mom, I found good deals and my husband did not make me put anything back :)  In fact, he encouraged that I get more!  I guess that is because I was finding such a great deals.  Everything I tried on, I loved.. unfortunatley :)  H&M was our first stop, which has some incredible styles right now.  Right after we went over to Zara.  I found a fab pair of jeans and I talked Matt into getting two shirts that he tried on.  Once we were walking to pay, I rounded a corner from the stairs and WHACK!  Yes, I got drilled in the face by a huge door that swung open.  And the jerk that whacked me with the door... do you think that arrogant Italian guy apologized... HECK NO!  In fact, he kind of smiled!  Do you all think I have a bruise on the side of my face, YOU BET YOUR BUTT I DO!  Then, aftering paying, we were walking out and he saw me coming.. jerk just looked away!  I guess I should have fired up a little of that Italian blood in me and made a scene, but I chose to do the contrary... deal with it!

After shopping, I was hungry...I know that surprises you all!  We ate at a FABULOUS spot.  YOU MUST GO WHEN YOU ARE IN ROME!  The restaurant was called Aroma.  It's just off Via del Corso (which by the way, that is stree that all the shops are on)

For those of you who have not ventured to Europe, you must always ask for water, and always ask for Still Water (no gas) in the big size.  When you do ask for water, they bring you glasses along with a bottle, but no ice is included.  We dont mind, but if you have to have ice in your water, ask... dont expect more than 3 or 4 cubes, though!

After lunch, we headed back to the room to put our bags away and take a load off for a moment.  When we ventured back out, we got to train station, made our way down to our train and what do you know, something was wrong... from the little Italian that I do understand, it sounded like the conductor was sick or something was sick?  Not sure, but after standing there with no movement for 15 minutes, we decided to walk.  This is where the map skills were put to the test.  I am sooooo glad that this happened.  We stumbled upon Santa Maria Maggiore.  This was the highlight of our time in Rome!  Amazing, breathtaking, beautiful, enchanting... those are just a few of the many words that I would use to describe such an incredible site!

This is the back of it

Here is the entrance

Inside...

As the service was in session

We then vetured to Via del Corso, again, to find Matt a shirt from Puma.  They had some neat stuff.  We might have even gotten my sweet brother a little birthday/thank you for letting us use the camera present :)  Shhhhh... dont tell! 

Dinner.  One word.. yuck!  Bad servie, over priced, cant remeber the name.  Poor Matt ordered seafood risotto and there were shells mixed into the rice.  He may have chipped a tooth.  We sent the food back and he got what I had, Spinach and Ricotta Raviolli.  It was ok.

When traveling in Rome, this is what I suggest for meals (especially if money is a factor)... For breakfast grab something from a bakery to take with you while you venture out.  For lunch, sit down at a nice outside cafe in a Piazza and order some pasta and wine, and for dinner go to the Pizza counter right outside of the Spagna train station and try a different kind of pizza each night.  The 40 euro we spent on dinner tonight was not worth it.  Two pieces of huge pizza - 8 euro, 2 bottles of still water - 3 euro... eating your pizza and drinking your bottles of water while people watching on the Spanish Steps... PRICELESS!