Rome and a Pizza Making Class

I wish I could say we woke up bright and early and we were out the door early.  But nope. However, we did wake up early around 7 am because of the noise outside.  We read for a bit and closed the window and we fell back asleep.  

The next time we opened our eyes it was 10 am!  WHAT.  Oh well - we get up and shower and have some brunch.

Out the door just prior to 11 and our first stop is to get some cappuccino.  Again do like the locals, enjoy it at the bar and pay half the price.  No need to sit and linger when all you need is a hit of caffeine.  1.10E each, double if you sit.

We start walking along the Tiber river.  You can see a lot of remnants from the storm the other night.  Tons of leaves, a lot of branches are on the ground.  Even some trees have blown down.  Some of the river bank is even closed due to damage.  But Rome got off easy compared to the coastal northern parts.

Soon we are at the Vatican and all things religion.  Bernie points out that all the vendors that are here are selling plastic items made in China.  

We can not go five feet without someone asking us if we want a tour, a ticket, a guide, to buy something.  It is bad - feels like I am back in Acapulco (where it is really bothersome).  But just goes to show that street vendors/guides/hawkers are all over the world.  Even within the Vatican.

Our goal this morning was to get up early and head to St. Peter's Basilica.  But obviously we did not get up early and we are having to pay the price now. The queues to get through security and into the church is LONG - at least a thousand people.  We knew this would be the case and we end up moving on - we hope to get up early one day and come early.  It opens at 7 am during this winter season.  Well maybe we won't be there at that hour, but hopefully by 8.

Also wanted to add that we see a much larger presence of security.  Large armored vehicles block high tourist areas.  Armed guards watch the crowds.  It is sad to see that we have come to this but it is understandable (or is it) after recent terrorism attacks.

Note for those that are newly following my blog.  We have visited the Vatican Museum and the Basilica before so this is a second visit so if we miss it, that is okay.

We walk all around the area of Via Candia and stop for a glass of wine at Secondo Tradizione.  It wasn't cheap but it sure was lovely.  

There are some nice shops around here and we window shop.  You can see this is a less touristy area, lots of locals live here.  

I booked an Airbnb Experience the other day for today.  It was a pizza cooking class where you make six different kinds of pizza and enjoy them with wine along with the hosts.  You can find this tour by clicking here.

Make sure that if you have not signed with an Airbnb account that you do so by clicking this link and saving money off your first booking.  

Max our host meets us at the Cipro Metro station and we are waiting for one more person to come - a single woman from the US.  After waiting 15 minutes after the arranged time Max finally hears from her that she will not be coming.  So sad that others are rude and did not even have the decency to inform Max that they would not make it.  I do have to say Max handled it very well and even arranged for her to come a different day.  A sign of a good host.

A short drive away we arrive at his home where we meet his partner and we start making pizza.

Now I make pizza at home but I find the crust to be too doughy and thick.  Max provided us with a recipie and we each made our own dough.

We even rolled it out and topped off our pizza before baking it.  Max made the four other types of pizza.

Soon we were sitting at a lovely table with some nice music and enjoying some wine and the pizzas we made.

Six different pizzas.  I only had a slice of five of them and I was full - thankfully they were not huge slices.  But you do get your money's worth.

Overall it was a fun activity and something different.  It would be a great thing to do with kids I think.

Max dropped us off close to the Vatican museum and we started trekking back to the apartment which was about 30 minutes walk away.  Sure we could of taken transit but the roads were jammed with rush hour traffic.  

By the time we got home we had logged 17,000 steps. Bernie is exhausted and feeling drunk.  He does not feel like going out again tonight so at 7:30 we are relaxing in the apartment watching shows we downloaded on our tablet. 

It was a great first day in Rome.