Day Five: Moments of True Joy

Today was a day where we had no real plan of what we were going to do and in our wandering there turned out to be a constant theme, "Moments of True Joy". Our day started by taking a taxi to the southern part of Rome and just start walking. Within the first few moments we came upon Shandle's Turtle Fountain, it was the one fountain she absolutely HAD to see, that introduced us to moment of true joy #1.

After visiting the fountain we continued wandering through the narrow streets of Rome and discovered it's true secrets. Rome is known for it's massive monuments and ancient history but we discovered it's quaint churches and inviting lesser known piazzas. It is in this lesser known area of Rome where we found Shandle's sign and thus introduced us to moment of true joy #2.

After wandering for a few hours we decided to stroll along the edge of the River Tiber and that is where we found the only island in Rome and Greg found his "perfect picture". Everybody who enjoys photography knows that when everything sets up just right; the scenery, the lighting, the natural framing...it makes for that perfect picture and thus we had encountered moment of true joy #3.

Sadly it started to rain on our day so we jumped across the River Tiber and ducked into a local restaurant in the Trastavere neighborhood. After a delightful lunch of bread and pasta rigatoni alla'amatriciana we order dessert and Shandle had moment of true joy #4 CANNOLIS!!!

We wandered around Trastevere for a little while longer before jumping back across the River Tiber in search of a taxi to take us to Stadio Olimpico and the football match. We arrived 3 hours early and explored the Olympic Village and track area before heading across the street and grabbing a snack and some coffee before the game. Sitting with the patrons of this restaurant full of Lazio fans was fun but it was time to head into the stadium. Once inside we found our seats and they were right at midfield 13 rows from the players. Now anyone who knows Greg must think this was moment of true joy #5, but that wasn't the case. Moment of true joy #5 came 2 hours later when Lazio broke through AC Milan with some marvelous passing and some fancy footwork and scored the match's first goal. Greg jumped out of his seat with excitement and celebrated. The Italians surrounding us were cheering for Greg after that. Grown Italian men were screaming and yelling about the "Americano" and patting him on the back. It was just one of those indescribable moments of true joy.

After the game we searched and searched for a taxi to take us back to our hotel but could not find one anywhere. So after 30 minutes we were freezing cold and extremely tired when moment of true joy #6 occurred. A Roman man named Marco was driving his taxi on the opposite side of the street when he saw us frantically waving for him. He turned around and picked us up. After having a delightful conversation while sitting in the traffic leaving the stadium we discovered Marco was a truly kind Italian. Once we finally got back to our hotel the meter read 33 Euros and I was going to give Marco 40. He said "no no, only 25 Euros" and gave me the 15 Euro change back. I tried to tip him but he absolutely refused and said "Your kindness was enough". He gave us his business card and drove away leaving us with one of the best interactions we have EVER had in any city in any country with a local stranger. Moment of true joy #6!

Well tomorrow we catch the train to Northern Italy were we will visit the Leaning Tower in Pisa before heading to Florence to stay the night.