“Holy Cannoli” – seven weeks have passed and we’re heading home in the morning.

When we last left our intrepid travelers on Saturday, they were both feeling better and looking forward to finishing off with a bang. It was more of a loud pop, but a fun finish nonetheless.

On Sunday, we attended a performance of “The Great Opera Arias” at the Palazzo Santa Chiara. Although nobody knew us, we held back on singing along.

We were able to enjoy the show smugly knowing that most of our Opera knowledge came from watching Bugs Bunny cartoons. “Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit”.

The show was delightful. There was a string quartet that played classical pieces and then accompanied the singers. It was very enjoyable and we actually did know most of the arias that they sang. Thanks, Bugs!

Monday was an easy day for us. We walked around a little bit then rested in the afternoon. In the evening, we booked a private night tour of the city’s major sites. Our driver, Marco, picked us up at our hotel at 9:00 pm and we were off.

Rome has some really beautiful architecture and historical sites, but you really have to see them at night for that extra ‘Wow’ factor.

Our driver gave us a whole new perspective on some of the locations. He also allowed us plenty of time to take pictures and regaled us with tales and insights not often shared in the guidebooks.

We would definitely recommend a night tour if you have the time. We used the folks at Miles and Miles for our tour since they charge by the group rather than by the person. And ask for Marco – he was a great driver / guide.

On Tuesday we just took a little walk and checked out some of the many piazzas. For lunch, we went to one of our favorite restaurants – Osteria del Sostegno.

They sat us inside and we felt like we were dropped into a scene from “The Sopranos”. Not much English was being spoken by this group and we did our best to not stand out. Sounding more like Harry Hazelnut than Paulie Walnuts, we ordered and nobody snickered.

In fact, an older gentleman turned and asked where we were from and made a little small talk about knowing New York City and San Francisco. We considered that a small victory.

As for lunch, we turned it into an early dinner. We didn’t sneak in pictures of everything, but it was fabulous. We started with a glass of Prosecco, then moved on to a half bottle of Vino Bianco (Trebbiano) and then a half bottle of Vino Rosso (Rosso di Montepulciano).

And then came the meal. We started with a potato, spinach and goat cheese combo that was great. Then Sue had a baked lasagne with asparagus points, while I chose a fusili pasta with artichokes and guanciale. Our main dishes were a thinly sliced roast pork loin with rosemary potatoes for Sue, and veal saltimbocca with the same rosemary potatoes for me. Everything was perfect and paired well with the wines.

Oh, yeah…and we snuck in a tiramisu for me and pistachio gelato for Sue.

It’s official…our recovery is complete!

A short walk back to the hotel led to afternoon naps for both of us. We decided that no dinner was needed, so we held our own private ‘Rave’ in our room.

Ok, it was breadsticks and chocolates while listening to Dean Martin tunes – but there was dancing and singing!

Wednesday became a walk-around day. After admiring the Pantheon all week from the outside, we waited for a break in the line and went in.

It’s such a unique structure, especially with the hole in the dome. On a sunny day, the sunbeams light up the space. On a rainy day – you have to walk around the puddles.

There are tombs and statues on the perimeter walls, in particular Umberto I & II. Originally a Roman temple to worship ‘All the Gods’, it was ‘repurposed’ by later Roman Catholics. The Pantheon is still used as a place of worship to this day, and has been in continuous use for over two thousand years. It’s dome is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome, and it remains one of the best-preserved of all ancient Roman buildings.

Our last official stop on our Italian Holiday was the hotel’s rooftop bar. The views across the rooftops and of the crowds below were a pleasant way to bid Italy – Arrivederci!

We had a chance to reflect on the trip and wonder just how many pounds of pasta did we actually consume? My guess – a lot!

We leave early tomorrow morning, so we finished the day by packing up everything we could. Buonanotte!