Day two in Rome

Today we managed the heat a lot better.

Day two was largely unplanned except for a dinner reservation. So, I looked up things to do in Rome and the Burghese Gallery came up as one of the top results on trip-advisor that we had not already planned to see tomorrow on our tour. The review said it was usually booked a month in advance, whoops, but I asked the hotel if they would call and see if we could get in and they got us a same day reservation. I began to suspect it wasn't as busy as the website suggested, but when we got there the sign did confirm they were booked all month, so thank you Giorgio for helping us out.

The Gallery is definitely worth your time. The park around the building is beautiful, and is a nice walk by itself. The building is also magnificent, not to mention the art collection. I highly recommend you pay the five Euros for the audio tour, it adds a lot of color and we would have been lost without it. One thing I will say is that the staff at the Gallery are quite rude, they don't have a lot of patience for tourists, but don't let that hold you back. Once you get in the collection is magnificent. There are twenty rooms on two floors and it'll take about two hours to see it all, but on a hot July day, you will be happy to be inside looking at an amazing art collection, that is as long as you like the classics. There is no modern art here, most pieces date from the 1600's and there are a few pieces that are over 2000 years old. There are paintings from Caravaggio and sculptures from Bernini, as well as other Italian masters. When you finish inside, don't forget to check out the sculpture garden.

I don't know if this is a Roman thing, but so far all the bars we have seen are small and part of a place you can eat. I get the impression you can't serve alcohol without serving food. The restaurant we went to for dinner did not open until 8 pm, so we stopped in a "bar" nearby that did not have bourbon or vodka. Once we decided on prosecco they brought out a full tray of food we had to convince them we did not want.

For dinner we took a flyer and tried a restaurant that was in a neighborhood outside the tourist area. L'Osteria di Monteverde is across the river and about a 20 minute cab or Uber ride from the center of the city, but it is well worth the trip. We went with the 37 Euro, seven course tasting menu and let the waiter choose the wine. We were not disappointed, the meal was amazing, but you better bring your appetite as it is quite filling. The smoked duck was the highlight, but we got outside our comfort zone with sweetbreads, octopus, and some sort of clam I had never tasted before. The deserts were amazing as was the reasonably priced and tasty wine.

We'll sleep well after all that, which is good with tomorrow being a long day of coliseum and Vatican tours.