Getting into the Rome thing. Yes!

We spent the morning getting groceries.  First stop, the fresh pasta shop called Il Tortellino, with oh so many choices. 

Then into the San Cosimato market for produce.  

From there we took a little detour to see some sensational street art my friend Yvonne told me about.  The artist is called “My Dog Sighs”.

Moving on, we walked to Antica Carciara for some cheese and prosciutto and the Conad for yogurt, wine and sparkling water.  And we stopped for coffee. On the way home, we grabbed 2 sandwiches from Le Levian for a quick lunch.

Later, we walked along the river to the Vatican.  It was interesting coming in at the Porta Santo Spirito instead of crossing the bridge.  Plenty crowded and decorated a bit for Christmas. And there it was, St. Peter’s Square. 

What was really powerful for us was a new sculpture installed by Pope Francis in September 2019, by Canadian Timothy Schmalz.  Entitled “Angels Unaware” it shows 140 refugees from all over the world and from different eras together on on a boat.  The artist said he was inspired by this bible quote:  Hebrews 13:2: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”  You can see the wings of the angel in the center of the crowded boat. Timely and very powerful.

Passing Castel St. Angelo, we walked back into Rome on the Umberto pedestrian bridge and followed the river back to Ponte Sisto.  Again, we had really good views of the Kentridge mural. 

We stopped for a spritz at the bar we like in Trastevere and had a nice processing and planning session there.  Getting home from there, an easy walk, I really started to appreciate Trastevere for the neighborhood it is.  With the lighted stars strung over the streets I can really feel its magic.  And to top it all off, we saw these happy, red clad monks enjoying the lovely autumn night.

Dinner was easy, leftover chicken soup.  We were pretty beat from the day, but really satisfied.