Day 97...All roads lead to... - 1st October

Breakfast was included at our chalet here, so we went outside expecting the usual coffee and pastry. We were happy to find out they whipped up an inredible scrambled eggs with chives, croissants and cerial. Nate ate a little later than I, as he found out the F1 was on. I enjoyed the morning sun on the hills, wrote in the travel diary and chilled out. We packed up and drove through more Chianti region. By chance we found a really nice restaurant perched on on top of a hill. It was accessed only by a small, winding road that didn't fit two cars. We had only a small Chianti red as we had to drive, and I ordered tuscan beans. Ah, "fava beans and a nice Chianti! tsp tsp tsp...." Very Silence of the Lambs. The pasta we ate was small portion, 5 star and creatively cooked.

We then shot straight for Rome. It took us longer as the road we were on turned into dirt and we had to turn back. We zipped through tiny tuscan roads before hitting the major motorway and zoomed down, dodging crazy Italian drivers. Nate drove well, but the traffic was busy so we arrived at the Peugot leasing office a half hour late. The guy was extremely kind and waited for us, which was a lifesaver. No way did we want to struggle through ROman traffic this afternoon, only to battle out of it the next morning! As we dropped the Peugot off, we high-fived each other. Yee hah! No crashes, no tickets!!! We rule!
The Peugot guy dropped us off at the airport, where we caught a shuttle into the city to our hotel. We booked the hotel a couple of days ago, and it was located in the historic city centre. Because of this, no trains went there. (Although they will by 2008 I think.)

We shuttled in as it was getting dark and found Rome was more modern than we thought. It was very nice - the usual city stuff. OUr hotel was pretty cheap for Roman standards, right in the thick of things. It was right near Camp de Fiori (a popular square), and we had a large double room with shared shower and toilet. It was on the third floor with shuttered windows opening onto a small square.

We were tired so we didn't walk far for dinner - there were heaps of restaurants around our hotel. We were stoked to find a place that specialized in salads. but the waiter was rude - he walked off on us mid order! And I didn't get what I ordered. The italians (especially the romans we were to learn) are shit with service.

Home to bed.