M:

After a big day of walking on Thursday - including several hundred stairs - we decided on a quieter morning on Friday. It's amazing how having little to do can easily take up lots of time!

Major priorities were to get in a "major" shop to make sure we were ok for the weekend. This has actually become less of an issue because we have discovered a nearby supermercato that actually opens on Sunday. The shopping list now customarily includes the odd bottle of Italian red, for about 4 euro - and that includes DOC and DOCG wines. (A quick overview of the system of classification at good old wikipedia .

The other pressing matter was to find a hairdresser for Anne, so after an online search, we set off early for "school" by checking out a few nearby. As it turns out, the likely candidate was one we have walked past often, and which was not on my list!

The other task in hand was to buy a gift for Nives' combination housewarming/birthday party on Saturday, to which she had very graciously invited us. We decided we would buy her a few items from the gastronomia where we have our coffee each afternoon. We ended up buying nougat, chocolates and hazel nut spread - not Nutella. (A: Her eyes light up when we walk in every afternoon when she sees all the interesting food items from all over the world on sale in this place.)

The four hours in class passed quickly. Nives and I discussed an article which described a phenomenon in Italy called a "moles' holiday" - vacanze talpa. Apparently up to 15% of Italians, according to this article, are so ashamed that they cannot afford the almost mandatory annual holiday that they stay at home, but pretend not to be there - shuttering the place, stocking up on food, hiding the car, and bunkering down!

With the walk home (making a booking for Anne at the hairdresser along the way), cooking, clean up and homework, the evening seemed to disappear.

Saturday dawned clear. We had to be up and squared away by 8 as were expecting a technician to come and repair the water heater, which had been misbehaving when we wanted showers. It is an instantaneous system, but wasn't cutting in reliably when we wanted a shower. We had learned to work around it, but Massimo had organised the repair.

The "tecnico" arrived a bit after the time advised, saying he hadn't been able to find a street sign - not an uncommon phenomenon in Rome, in our experience. He was talking at a million miles an hour, so I said if he slowed down a bit we'd get on fine - and we did. In the end, all that was required was a new switch - looked like a thermostat to me - and 110 euro, to be repaid by Massimo.

Since yesterday's visit to our favourite Caffe al Vecchi Banchi was a washout - too crowded - we walked down a bit earlier today. For 2.80 we had 2 cappuccini and a pastry. Five minutes closer to home you pay 2.50 for one cappuccino. The little Ape on today's cover sits along the street we walk down to get to the cafe.

Saturday is the day that Ronnie, the caretaker, is due to come to change linen and clean etc., so we planned to be out for late morning and early afternoon. Today's destination was il Testaccio, one of the less touristed parts of town, with the protestant cemetery, Rome's own pyramid, and a market claimed to be the place the Romans go for fresh fruit and vegetables, while the tourists go to the Campo. While we didn't see too many tourists at the Testaccio market, and there are plenty every day at the Campo, there are also plenty of Italians shopping there.

For some time now, we have been meaning to get to a pizza place called Dar Poeta (the Poet in Roman dialect). Today was the day, so we crossed the Tiber into Trastevere, and after a little exploration found the place. (Have you noticed the amount of space given to food and its cost in this blog???) Well, the pizza here was magic. Anne had one with swordfish carpaccio, potatoes, cheese and parsley, and I had one with porcini, cheese and mushrooms. On the principle that too much is never enough, we shared a small (SMALL) calzone filled with Nutella and ricotta. I'll have to try that recipe at home. You could have coffee- either espresso or americano - no cappuccini - so Anne struck out. We'll be back, at least once! (www.darpoeta.com)

A:

When we got back to the flat there was no sign of Ronnie, and he hadn't been, so the blog got updated. We may try to get a more definite time for next week. He and his wife turned up around 5 and so we made ourselves scarce for an hour or so in the nearby Feltrinelli book shop where I think every second Roman decided to also spend some time. Got back to the sparkling clean flat about 6.

Tonight was Nives' birthday/ house warming party at 9 pm (M: Nothing starts much earlier in the evening here!) and as usual Mick had worked out how to get there. It was however fortunate that the stop for Nives' flat was at the end of the bus route as we would have had difficulty finding out where to get off the bus otherwise as the area is off our Rome map. It was two minutes walk and we found ourselves being warmly greeted by Nives, her flat mate Manuela, and her friend Maria Laura.

M:

The architecture in Colli Albani is quite different from the old buidings in the centro storico. Here there are large blocks of fairly featureless flats over shops and offices. Most have some kind of balcony but it is pretty tiny - as was that of Nives' apartment. Functionality seems to have been the driving force in design. Nives is very handy to shops, being above an arcade, and only a couple of hundred metres from the Metro and bus.

A:

Nives laughed as we gave her our gift - complete with homemade card- another Mick Bezzina brainwave. (It had a picture of her face surmounted on one of the Bernini waterfalls in the Piazza Navona, with the water coming from her mouth!)

Speaking partly in Italian and partly in English (getting into trouble from Nives if she heard the latter) we chatted with her friends. They were a veritable league of nations - and professions.

Maya arrived in Italy in 2009 without a word of Italian from Bulgaria. She is a biologist and works in a research centre here on photosynthesis. One project involved using the American space programme to experiment with algae in space but as the Americans have pulled the plug on their space programme, this project will also come to a conclusion. Maya looked to be in her twenties but has a doctorate in her field- one smart cookie. She is fluent in her own language, Italian and English and said she has some Russian because it was compulsory to study it at school.The boyfriend she came with appeared disinterested in much discussion and Maya said he had been working all day on the house and was tired. (M: I think he just had the poops!)

Another friend was Wallace who has been liviing in Italy for three years and works in a travel centre that arranges tours for school groups. He is from Brazil and his family tried living in Toronto for three years before deciding to come to Italy as his mother couldn't tolerate the Canadian winters. He is of Italian descent and has citizenship which made it straightforward.

Augusto, a civil engineer with excellent English and a seemingly boundless curiosity, worked for two and a half years in England. He sings in operatic choirs and seems to know every national anthem ever written - although he failed on Australia thinking it may be Waltzing Matilda. He mentioned Dean Martin and started to sing "Take me out to the ballgame...". Then he asked if I knew Frank Sinatra! Are you kidding! He launched straight into "Strangers in the Night" and so I joined in- it was great fun and so apt on the seventh anniversary (19.11.04) of our losing Dad to be singing what may be said to be his favourite song, and initiated by a complete stranger!

M:

Gabriele - another friend who works in his parents' art gallery plays heavy rock in a band. We stayed for a couple of hours and, with my voice starting to get a bit scratchy from talking over the music, and unsure about when the buses stopped running, headed off about 11.30. The trip back was uneventful.

Sunday - two trips planned. The first to Ostia Antica, and the second to see AS Roma play Lecce.

After breakfast we set out on my carefully planned itinerary. We were (note past tense) to take the 130F bus to the station Porta S. Paolo on the Rome-Lido line, right next to Metro Piramide. The one limitation of our location is that we are not in direct access to any metro station.

When we got to the bus stop, it had, like all Roman stops, the numbers of all the buses that stopped there. There was a 130, but no 130F, and I didn't recognise the names of any of the listed stops. We decided to retrace our steps from Saturday through the Testaccio to the pyramid instead of risking the bus. It is a good way, but the muscles were certainly warmed up by the time we got to the station. The same 1 euro ticket you use on the local buses takes you to Ostia Antica, Rome's ancient port and its first colony.

For those with a thirst for knowledge, have a look at this link. (After all these weeks, have just stumbled on how to put the link rather than just the address in!) In brief, once a hugely thriving thriving port with a major trade in wheat, Ostia fell into decline as a consequence of the dual forces of Rome having outgrown it, and the Tiber changing its course. Over time it was silted up, becoming a mosquito ridden swamp, preserving many of the buildings form the depradations of medieval scavengers. The excavations took a good two hours to take in - from temples and theatres to bars and typical apartments of the time. One particularly poignant section is the arcade of shops that used to surround the temple at the back of the theatre. Lovely black and white mosaics continue to proclaim the trade of each, long after the city itself has died. You have to wonder if the merchants could ever have imagined this?

The site advertises a lunchtime closure, so we made sure we were out by 1.30. There seemed little sign of closure at that point, so we figure that maybe only the museum (largely statuary) was affected.

We decided to head back to Rome, a bit tired from about 4 hours of walking. The train, for some reason not covered in graffitti like most on this line, or indeed the station itself, was crowded, so we stood for the 30 minute trip. Food was high on the list, and we had panini at a small bar effectively in the middle of a traffic island looking over the Pyramid.

This time we were determined to find the bus, and after one false start and a friendly local's advice, we found the stop and used the same ticket we had validated for the train. Hard to argue with the price of public transport here - a total of 2 euro each there and back! We got back to the flat about 4.

Late as it was, we felt compelled to join the locals in a siesta after our exertions, to build up strength for the evening's adventures.

Having been advised to arrive early, we set off again at a little after 7 for the Roma v Lecce game at the Stadio Olimpico. We found our 628 bus with no problem, and knew we were on the right one when we saw all the fans in Roma colours. (Note: The ATAC web site is invaluable for this kind of navigation!) A lesson for young players occurred when the ticket inspectors came on and found a group of young fans without tickets. They all got off the bus to continue the discussion long before we got to the stadium! Once again, we were going to the terminus, but that was less of an issue as we simply had to follow the fans. It was about a kilometre from the bus to the stadium, situated in what had been the olympic site for Rome. Walking along the Olympic Boulevarde we could see elements of its various legacies - from Mussolini, to Olympics, to later refurbishments. Massive statues of antique Roman style, cheek by jowl with fascist imagery and more recent refurbishments including the stadium roof from the 90s. But the main thing was the game.

You may recall our needing passports to buy tickets. The story continues here. On arrival, you present tickets and documenti. Very nice fellow explained how we could find our seats. Then we were frisked. Then we found our gate, scanned our tickets, activating the turnstile, and then presented tickets and passports yet again! Then of course we presented tickets to access our seats, which were right on the half way line and had a great view. Because it is an athletics stadium, it lacks the intimacy of a football ground, with the running track between spectators and the game, but the Curva Sud was packed with fans, as was our side of the pitch, so there was plenty of atmosphere. It was a cool evening, so we were glad we had rugged up.

The tifosi were worth the price of admission on their own, with flags, and chants, and a great display where they all held up coloured cards to create the team colours in stripes. Oh, and I nearly forgot - flares and firecrackers - so much for all the security! The game itself was exciting. Rome could have run away with it after going 2-0 up, but just failed to finish on a couple of sharp chances, and had a cracker of a bicycle kick goal disallowed for offside. Interestingly, there are no replays of any kind on the big screens. Instead, they show ads all through the game! Check the video of the pre-game song. Not the national anthem.

We found our way back to the bus-stop. The plan was to get a different bus back - as advised by the web site. However, when we got to the stop there was a 628 waiting, so we got on. We assumed it would be going back the same way, but it seemed to take a lot longer going back. When I sensed we were reasonably close to where we had got on, I asked a couple fo fellow travellers if it was going anywhere near there. My timing was good. The suggestion was to get off at the next stop as that was about as close as it was going to get - not all that far, but nowhere near where we got on! Even still, from final whistle to opening our front door wasn't much more than an hour. Not bad at all.

Another late night - but a wonderful experience.