November 25, 2010: Ringraziamento - Thanksgiving in Italy

Today we had our last full day of Italy although we're not quite ready to admit it, its going to be over by 6:30 EST tomorrow. Even though we've been in Rome for a month there are still new places to see, so we took advantage of the sun this morning and did what we've done for the last 84 days. We walked.

First, we decided to start our last day with a celebratory cappuccino. High on caffine and sugar we were ready to walk. Aware that our time was limited, we wanted to take the bus to our first destination. However there was some sort of event/important person/unknown thing going on that closed down several main streets in the center of town - and by closed down I mean that streets were completely blocked off by military personel/personal and trucks. Even pedestrians were prohibited on certain streets. And naturally, these were the streets where all the buses (and the one we wanted) ran. So we revised our plans and walked past the Villa Borgese near the Villa Ada. We walked along the wide, tree-lined avenues and navigated our way though areas that seemed like tourists never visited. Eventually we found the national library, which was a bit of a disappointment (we're not sure what we were expecting, but it was a pretty bland building).

We made our way to the Termini Station and then caught the subway across the river, near the Vatican. There was a gothic church we had seen from the top of the Vittorio Emanuel II monument yesterday that we wanted to see. It wouldn't be open for a few hours so we got some lunch, walked home to get a head start on packing, and then returned a few hours later. Then we took a stroll before dinner seeing things that have now become commonplace monuments, like the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campi di Fiori, etc.

Finally it was time to eat and we ended up coincidentally at the same place that we had our last dinner in Rome two years ago. There were more American's this time around, which made for mixed feelings. To one side, we had the abnoxious Americans who drank too much, talked way to loudly, and had too much money to appreciate the little things (I can't really sympathize with complaints about how bad first class is...). To our other side was an older couple who travel twice a year to places all over the world. While they definitely stood out as Americans with their sweatshirts and non-existant Italian (even a "grazie" or a "ciao" would score major points in my book), it was great to hear about the places they've been and see how they really try to get as much out of the places they visit.

After a tasty last meal we walked across town to have our last tartufo. And then we meandered home for a last glance at the Colosseum and other sites, and then stopped in Trastevere for the last gelato of the trip. We don't want to leave!!

Arrivederci Italia!

Arrivederci Sorrento

Arrivederci Meta

Arrivederci Naples

Arrivederci Pompeii

Arrivederci Herculaneum

Arrivederci Castellammare

Arrivederci Mt. Vesuvius

Arrivederci Capri

Arrivederci Amalfi

Arrivederci Positano

Arrivederci Ravello

Arrivederci Salerno

Arrivederci Paestum

Arrivederci Milazzo

Arrivederci Lipari

Arrivederci Salina

Arrivederci Panarea

Arrivederci Stromboli

Arrivederci Alicudi

Arrivederci Filicudi

Arrivederci Vulcano

Arrivederci Messina

Arrivederci Taormina

Arrivederci Mt. Etna

Arrivederci Catania

Arrivederci Syracuse

Arrivederci Palermo

Arrivederci Erice

Arrivederci Tripani

Arrivederci Mondello

Arrivederci Monte Pellegrino

Arrivederci Monreale

Arrivederci Cagliari

Arrivederci Pula

Arrivederci Chia

Arrivederci Fontanamare

Arrivederci Fluminimaggiore

Arrivederci Iglesias

Arrivederci Guspini

Arrivederci Cabras

Arrivederci San Salvatore

Arrivederci Oristano

Arrivederci Dorgali

Arrivederci Cala Gonone

Arrivederci Volterra

Arrivederci Monterosso al Mare

Arrivederci Sestri Levante

Arrivederci Santa Margherita Ligure

Arrivederci Corniglia

Arrivederci Manarola

Arrivederci Riomaggiore

Arrivederci Genova

Arrivederci Siena

Arrivederci Florence

Arrivederci Lucca

Arrivederci Volterra

Arrivederci Fiesole

Arrivederci Perugia

Arrivederci Rome

Arrivederci Genazzanno

Arrivederci Tivoli

Gelato Gusti per il Giorno:

Mike - Pistacchio e Creme Caramel, Mini Tartufo, Clementina e Banana

Aviva - Cotogna (quince) e Pera Caramel, Mini Tartufo, Clementina e Cioccolato con Chili

To view pictures from our last day in Italy, click here.