Another Sunday down. Our third Sunday on this trip. It sort of helps you keep track of the passage of time.

This was a Sunday spent not at Simone’s. We are in Rome now, far away from the Umbrian countryside. Miles away in terms of distance and even farther in terms of everything else. The crowds are much larger here, big in fact even in this off peak season, and multilingual. You overhear a lot of English being spoken but other languages, too, that you don’t often hear in Umbria – Spanish, French, Russian. Rome draws admirers from all around the globe.

But Sunday is Sunday, regardless of whether you’re in Umbria or Rome. It is a day for relaxation. A perfect sunny, warm day helps our cause.

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We start the day at our hotel in Rome’s airport, scrambling to organize the twins and their friends for their flight back home. Unfortunately we have lost an hour’s sleep with the change to Daylight Saving Time here in Italy on Saturday night, making the task of getting four adolescents upright, dressed and packed even more difficult. The hotel has posted signs in conspicuous places announcing that “At 2am you must move your clock one hour forward to 3am.” We’re surprised that management has not sent the Trunchbull exercise room attendant to enforce the early morning edict. Nevertheless we are unsurprised by the time change and manage a smooth handoff of the boys to the airline. They keep us apprised of their progress throughout the day and arrive safely on campus by our dinner, having quite a different Sunday experience than us.

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After a few glitches we get a taxi and arrive in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood, our base for the next three days. We have rented an apartment from the son of a friend of ours and the meet up and exchange of keys goes smoothly. It is a charming two bedroom apartment with one larger bedroom and a smaller one, a small sitting room and workable kitchen and a welcoming terrace with an obstructed view of the neighborhood but a perfect view of the light blue sky that promises to be our travel companion for the next days.

We know the apartment from our friend and have recommended it to a number of friends and guests traveling to Rome. Paolo, the owner, however, lists the apartment for rent on a British “rent by owner” website and has had good success booking it to short term visitors from Britain and France. We use a similar American website – Vacation Rentals by Owner, or vrbo.com – to list our villa in Umbria. These sites and vrbo.com in particular, have become one stop shopping for landlords and potential tenants alike for easily finding quality accommodations for rent as an alternative to hotel rooms. The site is easy to search, presents information across properties in a consistent manner and encourages owners to post pictures of the interiors. Coupled with a touch of skepticism and some common sense it really gives you a good idea of the property. Next time you’re planning a visit to a new town with a larger group, such as your family, you ought to check it out. Www.vrbo.com.

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One nice feature of Paolo’s apartment is that it is only a couple of blocks from our friend Frances’ apartment, right in the heart of Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood. In the past, we have walked around the neighborhood, located on the other side of the Tiber from the main part of Rome, but we are hardly experts in it. It has always seemed a bit livelier and more residential and less touristy than central Rome and as we wandered up the few blocks to Frances’ our impressions were confirmed, with groups of friends massed in doorways and spilling out onto the sidewalk in front of caffes, bars and little neighborhood restaurants. We circled around past Frances’ apartment, waiting for her to emerge while looking for a place to grab a bite, preferably outdoors under the afternoon sun, when we saw a small mass of tables with checkered tablecloths set out in front of the church that is practically directly across from her apartment. The restaurant, Popi Popi, essentially takes over the church parking lot during the spring and into the late fall, providing overflow seating for its guests. We grabbed a table in the shade, despite the protestations of our waiter who strongly suggested one in the sun and were a few minutes later joined by Frances. An hour later our friend Erin arrived and joined us for some pizzas, salad, artichokes (‘tis the season) and various fried delights. The food was quite good, but passing the time outdoors, under the warming sun in a church parking lot in the quiet, hushed residential neighborhood was pure relaxation. A Sunday kind of day.

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After a siesta back at the apartment Erin, Suzy and I headed out for the twenty minute walk toward the Piazza Navona for dinner at the Ristorante Santa Lucia to celebrate Erin’s birthday. We have dined at Santa Lucia several times before with some of our Roman friends. Although there were plenty of English speaking patrons, it is a place enjoyed by the locals. And what’s not to like about it? The food and service are first rate, and if it’s not raining (and it wasn’t last night) there is outdoor dining in a small triangular park just across from the restaurant’s main doors.

Situated on a quiet street, Santa Lucia emanates the same sense of peace that we experienced at lunch. Despite crowds of tourists just blocks away here there is calm peacefulness that really allows you to enjoy the company and to enjoy the moment. It doesn’t hurt that the food – we had various primis including a risotto with artichoke and squid, a leek soup with sliced apples and bream and a fresh artichoke salad with parmigiano and guanciale and a sublime plate of grilled snapper and grilled giant prawns (mazzancole) – is great.

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Sunday in Umbria. Sunday in Rome. It doesn’t much matter where you are as long as you can relax, eat well, enjoy another’s company. As we turn the page on our third Sunday here in Italy, we’re batting three for three.

Ci vediamo!
Bill and Suzy