Back in Rome for number 43

The four of us grabbed a cappuccino/espresso and a croissant and headed away from Ripabottoni on our return to Rome. We all felt like we were glad we came; we loved that classy little town. If there were things to do AND a grocery AND more restaurants, we could go together and buy a nice little condo. LOL.

Our 3+ hour trip back to Rome was complicated by a random stop by a pair of Italian Policia (federal police, not locals) who asked questions we didn’t understand until finally Dave took out his North Carolina driver’s license and we spent 10 minutes waiting for them to do whatever it was they were doing! He came back, said “Americano”, and let us go. Hmmmm. Another fun tale for our blog. The scenery along the way continued to impress us.

Mountains on road from Ripabottoni to Rome

Hills on road from Ripabottoni to Rome

We arrived to return the rental car in plenty of time then split up – Jim & Anne to have lunch in Rome then take the train back to Orvieto and Dave & Linda to grab a sandwich at the train station before taxiing to the Airbnb for the night.

In front of the entrance door to the building was a market that filled the piazza and had everything: all kinds of pasta and dry spice combos, olive oils and balsamic vinegars, huge fruit and vegetable stands, gorgeous flower marts, clothing, leather… you name it.

Market in Piazza Campo di Fiori

Market in Piazza Campo di Fiori

Scarves in market at Piazza Campo di Fiori

Fruit in market in Piazza Campo di Fiori

Produce in maket in Piazza Campo di Fiori

Linda with produce in market in Piazza Campo di Fiori

Produce at market in Piazza Campo di Fiori

Dave heard a guy go past and say, “I think it said Burger King”. Dave sees this as a store that competes with French Connection United Kingdom (FCUK). This is that fricking store.

The colors in this shop were stunning.

We couldn’t get into the apartment yet, but they let us leave our bags and change into shorts (62° in Ripabottoni and 76° in Rome). So, we walked around the area which was more shopping than restaurants although there were a lot of those too. Linda keeps trying to find chocolate gelato with hot chili spice — maybe we’re getting the wording wrong because she knows it exists.

The apartment was our best yet (except for the fifty-seven steps to get to the main floor and fourteen more to get to the second level … we miss our lift in Florence). Dave chose a two-story flat with two balconies for our anniversary evening in Rome. Sonia, our host, met us at the door, showed us around then made sure we knew to talk to Sandro at 19:30 when we arrived at the restaurant where she had made reservations for us (her recommendation). We did a load of wash, ate fresh tomato wedges (HOW do they grow them so red, ripe, and sweet?) then got cleaned up for our evening out.

Rome apartment – view as you come up from the 19 steps after the door (living area and steps to bedroom)

Rome apartment – Kitchen and laundry

Rome apartment – main floor patio (main floor is really the third floor)

Rome apartment – main floor bathroom

Rome apartment – bedroom

Rome apartment – sitting area and bedroom

Rome apartment – upstairs bathroom

Rome apartment – upstairs patio with live flowers off bedroom

The restaurant, Rinaldi al Quirinale, was a 25-minute walk, but we only had 4,000 steps so far today, so off we went. We were greeted and shown a table and the rest was magic. Although we could see the item prices on the menu (most were cost per hectogram … 100 grams), we had NO idea how much those ‘extras’ were that they just showed up with: glasses of Prosecco, 4 kinds of bread, cheese by the scoop from Sardinia that was much like Parmigiano Reggiano for you to nibble with your bread, high alcohol berry liqueur similar to grappa, a plate of shortbread cookies AND an amazing crostata fragoline (strawberry custard tart) with an intense sparkler shooting out of it. The waiter brought it to the table with much fanfare and everyone sang and clapped. He took our phone to get a video and when he realized it was a picture, he insisted they get another intense sparkler and did it all over again!! The wait staff was so attentive and friendly; the customers were mostly foreigners. We took bets on the cost of the event and laughed when neither of us were even close!! Expensive but memorable!

Ristorante Rinaldi al Quirinale – 43rd wedding anniversary celebration

Ristorante Rinaldi al Quirinale – unleavened bread with olive oil

Ristorante Rinaldi al Quirinale – cheese from Sardinia

Ristorante Rinaldi al Quirinale – scoop of cheese from Sardinia

Ristorante Rinaldi al Quirinale – appetizer for mixed seafood (from top left, grilled octopus, fried shrimp, fried squid, squid/shark/shrimp ceviche)

Ristorante Rinaldi al Quirinale – available seafood choices

Ristorante Rinaldi al Quirinale – Linda’s meal of whitefish in white wine sauce with capers on potatoes

Ristorante Rinaldi al Quirinale – Dave’s meal of three varieties of shrimp in a scampi sauce

Delivery of crostata fragoline (anniversary strawberry tart with sparkler)

Crostata Fragoline (strawberry tart)

Ristorante Rinaldi al Quirinale – Sondro after taking video of fireworks

Ristorante Rinaldi al Quirinale – Happy Anniversary dessert

Ristorante Rinaldi al Quirinale – high-alcohol blueberry liquor

Ristorante Rinaldi al Quirinale – shortbread cookies

Ristorante Rinaldi al Quirinale – how about this fish?

Ristorante Rinaldi al Quirinale – waiter shaving/grating white and black truffles on a seafood dish

We had a nice walk back to the apartment. There had been a political rally in the piazza in front of our apartment when we left for dinner, but it was all done when we returned home.

National Institute for Insurance Against Accidents at Work – looks like a nice place to work to do Workers’ Comp

If you would like to see the pictures in more detail, you can click here: 2022-09-22 Ripabottoni-Rome.