We made it, Rome.

So we arrived in Roma after a pleasant drive through Tuscany, specifically Montepulciano. The weather has been great with nothing but sun and mid to high 20s. We're doing a bit of a in/out in Rome as we're checking into the Crowne Plaza for the first night, since it's near the Vatican and has free parking, then moving over to the St. Regis for a handful of other nights. Leaving our car at the Crowne Plaza will save us over 100 € in parking and the fees charged to non-residents who drive downtown. Anyway, driving in Rome has seemed not unlike Paris, a bit more unorganized which is sometimes is of benefit. The general rule is, don't hit the person in front of you. Therefore you don't need to worry about who's behind you, cut over when needed, do so quickly and the person behind you *should* stop. It's working so far. Squeezing through any open space is highly recommended. After getting settled we headed to Osteria dell'Angelo which offers traditional Roman dishes. Finding parking was like the other big cities -- if there's a space without a car in it, then it's a parking spot. The resto offers a fixed menu which included toasted bread with the best olive oil we've had, chorizo (or similar), something that looked like humus but wasn't and a bean variety. Then you get a choice of 4 pasta dishes, I chose gnocchi and Julie spaghetti. Probably the best pastas to date. For the main meal I had oxtail and Julie opted for what we understood as rolled beef with cheese and bacon inside. Sounded like a heart-stopper so she went for it. We've been eating at less touristy spots (or no tourists) for the majority of the trip and have seen our fair share of waiters who speak only a few words of English, we're keeping it authentic. Food was great and topped off with some cookies, sweet red wine -- which actually was good. We hiked over to the Vatican city and hungout with the few other dozen people checking out St. Peter's square. You can't enter the square at night, but St. Peter's Basilica and the other buildings are all lit up. Off to bed and an early morning will put us at breakfast with the Pope.