A great place to be. A great place to stay.

Something about Rome is humanizing. Being out and about feels right. Small cobble stoned streets where close interactions with people and cars, cafe smells, construction projects, steep stairs and stunning sites are a constant. And no point in hurrying.
Our first night we had supper at a nearby cafe filled with cool-looking, black-wearing, twenty-somethings, then walked past, and sometimes into, places of all ages, ancient and new. The Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, St. Eustachio's amazing coffee cafe.

Then, temporarily locked out of the gate to our little apartment. Eventually a kind neighbor buzzed us in. And we were grateful. Jet lagged and tired, we feared that our otherwise perfect place to stay had a flaw. But no, key problems have been sorted out and now all is well.






The apartment is airy and bright, having been recently remodeled in a building built in 1892 (an exposed brick attests to this). A beautiful and relatively spacious kitchen (referred to as "American") has allowed us to cook most of our meals so far, the bed is comfortable and the plumbing works. The design is ingenious and modern with excellent use of IKEA resources. I've always wondered what it would be like to design a place around IKEA and now I can test it out a bit. So far so good!

And, it has a garden! Here, in the middle of the city, a garden complete with two lemon trees and a mandarin orange, marble tables, tiny iron chairs, and a bit of dichondra. The sun is only in the garden for a few minutes these days, but I am sure we will see more of it as the season progresses. And, soon to appear, I hope, a turtle or two, or so my lovely landlady, Ginevra, tells me.