Wednesday, 28 March – Naples to Rome

Roger:

Last day in Napoli. Left some Euro notes under our plates in the breakfast area for the staff that took care of us. Also, gave the desk man a bottle of American wine. This proved helpful as he was then inclined to assist Valerie in loading the car and getting the gate up so I could bring the car to the front door. Normal traffic on the Tang. We stopped at the Navy Base and did laundry. Then onward to Fiumicino/Ostia and the hotel. We had lunch at Ristorante Monumento. For dessert had pastiera and a complementary glass of homemade grappa. I thought the front house guy was a BSer and Valerie kept urging me to overlook this trait. I was almost tempted to ask him where his still was to make the grappa. The food was very good. I would go back. The BSer turned away some people who wanted to set at the tables outside. As we walked back to the car we saw them setting outside at nearby restaurant.
Late afternoon we drove into Rome to meet Francesca and Massimo for drinks. The navigation system gave us a good directions to miss most of the rush hour traffic parking the car at EUR Palasport and taking the subway to Termini. The subway trip was easy. Finding the place to meet (Mercato Centrale) was more difficult but we finally found it. We arrived first and got our drinks. Valerie passed on a suppli. Francesca and Massimo arrived and we gossiped. When it was time for their train we left retracing our route back to Fiumicino.