Travel Gambling

We woke up this morning with no plans. After the requisite bathing and other basic morning activities we walked outside. We had talked a little about taking a high speed train to Pisa or Florence or Naples for the day … but the cost and tight schedule for a day trip didn’t sit well with us. So we decided to grab a taxi, go to the main train station and just see where the local trains were going. 

Talking with a taxi/Uber driver is always hit or miss. Today the travel gods were with us; we had a very nice taxi driver named Marcelo who took us to the train station. We asked him where we might go that is just outside of Rome and accessible by train. He had several recommendations … but Tivoli sounded the most interesting to us. So we were off! Tivoli or bust!

Tivoli is in the hills east of Rome. It’s not far, about twenty miles, but by train it was about 45 minutes; it had to wind its way up the hills. €11 round trip for both of us — Jim likes good deals — 😁. 

From the town park there is a great view of the countryside and Rome in the distance. There is also a villa with amazing gardens. While somewhat touristy, it seems as though most people were Italian day trippers and other Europeans. 

Here are some pics of Villa d’Este —

After the villa tour it was time to eat. We had a small bite to eat at the train station in Rome, but wanted a meal. We had beer today — Kristi had scialatielli (pasta) with a red shrimp sauce — Jim had traditional lasagna. The late lunch meant no crowds. 

After “lunch” we had gelato in the park — we watched the pigeons and people and felt so grateful that it’s July in Italy and only 80 degrees. 

After the train ride back to Roma Termini we decided to walk back to the apartment. It was two miles, but it was after 6:30pm and cooling down a lot. The city is so nice in the evening and night. It was a pleasant walk and we saw things that one usually misses zipping along in a taxi. For instance, more Roman ruins …

After resting for about an hour we decided we really wanted to have pizza before going home. As luck would have it … one of the best rated (Yelp) pizzerias was just a few blocks from us.  We headed over to find a line … kinda unusual. But there were Italians waiting … very good sign. We waited an hour for a table!

This place was packed and busy. The waiters were very no-nonsense. They knew their pizza was good. We each ordered a pizza and had white wine. Not everyone would enjoy this kind of pizza — very unlike most American-style pizza. The crust was super thin… like a cracker. It was one of the most amazing things we had on our whole trip. 

By the way, the restaurant was called Pizzeria da Baffetta … baffetta means mustache. The logo on the shirts is a big mustache. At the end of our meal, I jokingly told the waiter that I got a 10% discount and pointed at my mustache. He actually thought it was a little bit funny and he said, “Wait here just a minute.” He gave Kristi a small version of the ceramic pitcher they use to serve their wine. 🥸  It was a great finale to our time in Rome. 

After dinner we had one more gelato … Kristi’s chocolate was insanely good …

Of course with just two of us, travel gambling — or just setting out with only rough plans, or no plans — can really pay off. Much of this trip was rough plans … we decided daily what we might do. Today was a total gamble … and it paid off.