This morning we started out with the list of the last couple of places we want to see/things we want to do/gelaterias we want to visit one last time before the end of our trip. Luckily the list isn't too long and we don't have to feel rushed to squeeze everything in.
We started off on our way towards a recommended gelateria that was closed last night when we tried to go. Since it was such a beautiful day, we quickly got side-tracked. First, by the students marching through town protesting something and causing all sorts of traffic problems. Then by the Victorio Emanuele monument. We've wanted to take the elevator up to the top of the monument and we finally had our chance. Amazingly enough it wasn't busy at all and we had great views of all the sites we're getting pretty good at recognizing. The best was being able to get a bird's eye view of the Forum and Palatine Hill - from above the Imperial Palace is unbelievebly large. 
From the terrace of the monument we made a quick stop into the Santa Maria in Aracoeli church and then walked down the 124 steps to street level. Now we were hungry and the idea of gelato was sounding even more appealing. To be sensible, we stopped to have a quick take-away lunch for the walk over to the gelateria (only so that we wouldn't be so hungry that we would inhale the gelato). Finally we found the place, Rivareno. They served up what is probably the creamiest, smoothest gelato we've ever had. 
With our sugar fix satiated, we began what would end up being a long walk around the city walls. From the San Giovanni area, we walked through a surprising large clothing market, and then walked along the city walls all the way to the Pyramid area. There wasn't much to see except the walls, but it was a nice quiet walk without a lot of cars. The only interruption was the short-lived storm that passed over us, soaking us as the rain fell horizontally.Back in the Pyramid/Testaccio neighborhood we stopped for a quick cassata and then made our way over to one of our favorite gelaterias for round two of the day. We had the seemingly brilliant idea to take the train to Florence to have one more dinner at our favorite restaurant so while we ate our gelato we made the walk back home to check out the train schedule. Once we realized the cost to benefit ratio was way out of whack we dropped that idea, which was really too bad.
Instead, we walked back to Testaccio to have a fantastic dinner at Tutti Fruitti, a restaurant where we had dinner with some friends last time we were in Rome. After dinner we decided to do a night tour of Rome, starting at the Spanish Steps and going to the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, etc. As luck would have it, it started to pour as we arrived - but the benefit was that the rest of the tourists had run for cover and we practically had the monuments to ourselves.Its hard to believe, but tomorrow is our last day here so we'll do our best to savor the last day of our Italian Extravaganza. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back in the states!
Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:
Mike - Cioccolato con Arachidi e Cioccolato Bianco con Riso Soffiato Croccante and Banana e Cheese Cake
Aviva - Cioccolato e Vaniglia, Cioccolato con Banana e Latte e Cannella, and Fragola e Pera e Noce e Castagna
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