Wednesday night
Flew into Roma - late due to some Alitalia crap. Met Arlie at her gate arriving from London and jumped into our taxi with Fabio the cute taxi driver. Arrived at Ornella’s villa just in the nick of time for dinner. David Mancuso and Penny were also at the house along with Roberta, Vitti, Orney’s mama. We had a great dinner of pasta, meats, cheeses and desserts. MMMnnnn… Went to bed with a full tummy. I was unsuspecting that I would spend the next 4 days doing the same thing.

Thursday
Woke up to Ornella yelling at us to hurry up. Ms. O was all riled up and raring to go. Arlie, Penny and I jumped onto a train headed for the Vatican so we could see the wonders of the Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately, they were about to close for siesta so we had to run through the corridors, pushing nuns aside, just to get there in time. If you have never seen the Sistine Chapel, it would be highly recommended that you go for a visit. We sat there in silence and awe for about 30 minutes before bailing in search of Pope artefacts. Mailed a few postcards from the Vatican post office then jumped the metro toward the Spanish steps.

sistine chapel

Arrived at all the expensive shops at the Spanish steps and by this time we were starving. Wandered the streets before happening upon one of those quaint little restaurants with sidewalk tables. The great thing about Italy is that you can honestly go to any eatery and you will have a fantastic meal. As evidenced by later trips in the week to the Autogrill on the side of the motorway that had fab salads. Stuffed our faces with inexpensive, but delicious, wine, fresh roma tomatoes, pasta pasta and some veal (ahhh, little baby cows).

red romas

Did some shopping then rushed home to get ready for the festivities of the evening.

party goers

Danced into the night at the MTV Euro music awards party. Drank some champers. Laughed at people. Danced some more. Got home around 5 am. To share a bed with snoring Arlie.

Friday
Ornella told me that she was getting up at the butt crack of dawn to go to the gym and do other meaningful activities. She lied! We all finally got up around 1 and shoved the family into the Mini cooper. Drove out to a beautiful spot on a lake - Castell Gandolfo - the summer home of PJP (for those of you uniformed, PJP is Pope John Paul). We ate at a deserted restaurant - once again stuffing our fat little faces with the best Italian food. Then wandered out on the shores of the lake to take some photos.

the lake

Then, at least 10 lbs heavier each, we all shoved back into the Mini and drove into Roma. Went to meet some folks at an antiques shop where they greeted us with a bottle of Sicilian vino and some homemade ham. Yes, more eating and drinking ensued.

Jumped back into the cramped quarters of our second home and entered the centre of Rome. Visited the Trevi fountain. Threw in three coins. The breakdown of coinage at the Trevi fountain is as follows:

1 coin - means you will return to Rome
2 coins - means you will fall in love with an Italian
3 coins - means you will marry an Italian

Anyways, you might be asking why I threw in three coins. I just figured the more the merrier! Besides, I am clearly addicted to Italian food, so maybe an Italian man will cook for me (not likely).

After wasting my money in the fountain, we all decided that what we needed to complete the day was a gelato. Yes, more food. So we got our cones, stood in the cold and ate them.

gelato

That is before heading to dinner at a restaurant. OHHHH. By this time we were delirious - literally. We were sitting at the dinner table giggling like freaks…Tears running down our cheeks at the thought of eating more food. But we managed. Somehow… To … Get … The food down. And it was - not surprisingly - the BEST.

Saturday
Today was the day for a trip to a “woman’s paradise”. The road trip in the Mini with only Ornella, Arlie and myself to the outlet mall in Tuscany. Drove up there. Ate about 42 more times and shopped. Wow, bargains going on at the shops. Yves St. Laurent, Gucci, Ungaro, Fendi, Valentino, Versace…It was a plethora of name brands. All sitting in a valley under the watchful eye of Sting’s castle.

After a long day of shopping and eating, we did what any good Italians would do. We went to visit Ornella’s friend Barbera outside of Perugia for dinner! Yep, pasta, pork tenderloin, roasted potatoes and more vino. A perfect ending to a perfect long weekend….

Ciao!!!

Trevi Fountain
Castel Gandolfo
The Mall