Last day in Rome, wow how did that happen? it's been a great adventure and we finished up our last day seeing some more sights. First off, after cappuccino and a brioche, we headed on Tram #8 across the Tiber river to part of Rome called Trastevere. There was a church there that Beth wanted to see dedicated to St. Cecelia. It's also a neat neighbourhood with interesting shops and stuff. We poked around before hitting a pizza joint on one of the piazza's. Had a great thin crust wood-oven baked pizza for 5 Euros or so (about 7 bucks) and a pint of Moretti beer. We sat outside under an umbrella, beautifully sunny day about 24C. Ahhhh, I could do this everyday!

We caught the tram back across the river and then Beth and I dropped by a few more sights. First off was the Pantheon. Built by the Romans about 2000 years ago, it's one of the best preserved buildings from that time period. I like the architecture of this building a lot. It still has the worlds largest unreinforced (ie. no steel) concrete dome in the world. The height from the floor to the roof is the exact same dimension as the width. A sphere would fit perfectly inside. One of the main reasons why it has been preserved is that it became a church in the 600's AD, so it was maintained from that time on. But the Roman engineers made this beauty first, an awesome space.

We were getting a little sweaty in the heat so a lemon granita was in order (kind of like a slushy but better). Slurping it down we crossed over to Piazza Navona, another local landmark. One of those must see sights here in Rome. The piazza has rounded corners at the ends and is surrounded by buildings following this pattern. It used to be the site of a Roman racetrack. In the centre is a fabulous fountain created by Bernini, a big shot around here following Michelangelo's time.

We walked for the final time to our apartment in the Monti neighbourhood, taking in the sights and sounds of Rome. After resting up a bit and doing some pre-packing, we all headed off for a great dinner on a highly-rated restaurant at the end of the street. Splurging a bit, I started off with the mussels appetizer. A platter showed up with huge amount of steaming mussels in a buttery salty broth. Next up was a tender steak covered with a green peppercorn sauce. The waiter then asked a really dumb question ..... did we want some dolce? Of course we do man! Tiramisu if you please. I chatted a bit in Italian to really confuse him. He must have liked us because he dropped off some complementary Limoncello liqueur as well as a cherry/almond liqueur. ;

We stumbled back down our street to finish off packing. Our car arrives at 8:30 tomorrow morning to whisk us to the airport for our 18 hour travel day (Rome to Montreal, then Vancouver and finally good ole Victoria). I'll post some photos while we're sitting in the airport.

Arrivederci my friends!