First Rainy Vacation Day

Boy, did it rain today - hard!  Luckily there was an umbrella in the apartment because I forgot to pack one.  And, can I just say, those cobblestones are treacherous when wet!

So, off to find a museum to wait out the rain.

The Palazzo Farnese houses the French Embassy here in Rome.  It's very close to our apartment and we've walked by it many times on past trips always trying to peak in since the palace is typically not open to the public.  However, our luck continues!  The Embassy is hosting a special exhibit that will end in April this year giving people the rare opportunity to see the inside of this beautiful Palazzo.  To make it even better, you don't need a reservation.  We had to stand in the rain for only about 15 minutes before being let in and 24 euros later we had our tickets and free audio guide.  Unfortunately, again, no pictures allowed so you'll just have to take our word that it was AWESOME!  Or, come visit us when we get back and you can look at the exhibit book.

It was great to see the frescoes up close after only catching glimpses of them through the open windows. The courtyard was massive as were the other rooms that we were able to visit.  You can read what Wikipedia has to say about this beautiful example of Renaissance architecture here.  Michelangelo is one of the well-knowns who had a hand in the design.

In the Piazza Farnese sit two of these huge fountains.  The tubs are from the Baths of Carcalla. Luckily you can take all the pictures you want in the Piazza; this is a night time shot.

Waiting in line to get into the Palazzo Farnese

Luckily, we got in before this big group!

The rain eventually stopped and I was able to take these cool full-moon shots on the way to dinner.

We had a nice dinner at Roscioli's, which is part gourmet food shop and part restaurant.  At night they put small tables for two in the store.  We didn't have reservations, but because we were there early they were able to seat us at one of these tiny tables.

These folks got the meat and cheese counter view

We got the wine view!

Scott had the Polpetti (meatballs)

I had the roasted lamb

Then, we split a mixed salad

We also had yummy cannoli for dessert.  Yep, gone before I could get the camera out...

Poor folks waiting for a table to open up

Sadly, our time in Roma is coming to an end and so is this blog.  I'll try to wrap this up tomorrow, including my "in the 'hood" photos of the local folks.  For some reason, most of those pictures are of handsome Roman men...