it's also groundhog day with no plan except hanging out at home
we have a fully stocked fridge and a need to stare at the laptops
which works pretty well until mid afternoon and a bad discovery
coffee - out of it - and it's afternoon siesta time so no shops open
fortunately our friendly lady owner at the bar is in cleaning mode
and extends her trading hours to prime us with a pair of espressos
her other most regular customer (partner?) is also hanging around
he's most excited - gesticulating at a small poster on the shop wall
seems there's a party in town tonight - and we think we are invited
as evening rolls around there's definite movement in the town square
but we now have a plan - rome - on a saturday night too hard to resist
by now our commuting skills are solid - the digital navigator is backup
a handy fallback on lane selection though and tonight a warning supplied
seems there's heavy congestion in our target road alongside the tiber river
we ignore the warning and suffer - it's chockers and we are now crawling
there's something going on - no carparks and people are standing, waiting
it's a good 30 minutes or so searching for and trying on carparks for size
admiring the ingenuity of the locals with some of their chosen options
sideways smart cars that dominate the roads here are in their element
us amateurs finally park a good 30 minutes hike from rome central
but no worries - it's all new territory and the evening is very pleasant
still - what is going on - even the police on duty are a bit vague there
some kind of religious procession it seems - we take a wine and wait
soon enough a small number of people in robes and with banners pass
the crowds then thin out and we head to the river and are drawn down
we walk amongst markets, bars, restaurants set up in various sized tents
the sun is setting and party mode is building with a great atmosphere
corn on the cob from an elder gent is purchased and eaten as we walk
we have deliberately placed ourselves in the historical centre of rome
before long we are peering into the sprawling ruins of the roman forum
this being the epicentre of the roman empire for thousands of years
it is simply mind-boggling to consider the long history of this place
we are feeling decidedly ignorant and agree some research is required
what a great evening for wandering though - next stop around the corner
the equally impressive though much newer monument of altare della patria
the altar of the fatherland - otherwise known to tourists as the wedding cake
gleaming white marble the reason for that name - and a mountain of it used
flags are at half mast (the tragedy in nice?) and there's a full moon above it
there's only one word to describe it - awesome - and here that word fits
even in the fading light of the day this structure is strikingly beautiful
as we walk off we once again feel vindicated in our choice of time
these evening visits to rome are just so enjoyable and relaxing
wandering back to our car we pass along lanes of revellers
so many restaurants and even at 10pm doing a roaring trade
we strike more congestion on the roads leading out of rome
but with that we self-congratulate on the here-and-now of this
we are in rome on a summer's evening and driving like locals
an hour later we are back in torrita tiberina and the party is on
the music is pumping, people are dancing and hanging out
there are people of all ages simply enjoying the occasion
happy - us too - as the music outlasts these 2 weary people...
