Monday Nov 27
Went to breakfast at a place called Antico Caffè Greco, which opened in 1760.

A long list of famous people who have eaten there includes Stendahl, Goethe, Byron, Hans Christian Anderson, Mendelssohn, James Joyce, Orson Welles, Mark Twain, Wagner, and Casanova. It has a very old-school appearance, and we were greeted at the door by a guy in tails.

After that we wandered around the Borghese gardens, with the highlight of petting an 8 week old adorable beagle puppy out on his first walk. No pictures of the puppy, but here are some from the Gardens, which are somewhat similar to Central Park in NY, but much smaller.

We went from there to lunch at Piccolo Mondo, which was fantastic…

the Piazza del Popolo…

…where I sat down on a soaking wet bench.

And down to the Mausoleum of Augustus, which was temporarily closed.

Then we walked down Via Ripetto,

on which, in perhaps my favorite Italian novel- Il fu Mattia Pascal, the main character lives when he is in Rome.

Then we went to the Capitoline Museums at the Campidoglio.

This building butts up against the old Roman Forum and was designed by Michelangelo in 1536. It houses an art collection.

By this time, my oldest son and his family had arrived and we ate at a lovely restaurant called Cucina del Teatro….which apparently I forgot to take any pictures of. oops.