Sidney wanted to see more of the hills of Rome but Scott’s knee or knees made walking a problem. During Black Friday, there were sales on tours by golf cart, which seemed a more environmental and close up way to tour the city. We picked one that included the most hills. It was done by EtukRome.

Before we met our driver, we ducked into Biblioteca Vallicelliana to see the interior of the building designed by Borromini.

I want a library like it.

We met our golf cart and driver near the Coliseum which is on Monte Celio.

We left the Coliseum area and went up the Aventino or Aventine hill to the Giardino degli Aranci or Orange Garden where there are good views of Rome.

Nearby is one of the oldest churches in Rome, Santa Sabina.

It contains an altarpiece painting by one of the few known late Renaissance women painters Lavinia Fontana. (Photo didn’t turn out.)

From there we crossed to Trastevere and then up the Gianicolo hill, where there are even better views of Rome.

Part of the way up the hill is the Fontane Aqua Paola, the biggest fountain in Rome which features in the opening scene of the movie La Grande Bellezza.

From Gianicolo:

We then went to the Vatican where Sidney mailed her first ever postcard. In fact, the first time she ever mailed anything as she didn’t know you need a stamp.

From there we went back across the Tiber towards the Spanish Steps and it began raining. Our driver must have thought we were an odd group as we opted to skip things that most tourists would want to see, like the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain. We did ask him to take us to Piazza del Popolo and we climbed the Pincio hill to get there.

The photo taking died out with the rain. But we managed to not walk four hills.

We popped into San Luigi dei Francese as Scott had not yet seen the Caravaggio paintings. The church was rather crowded.

For dinner, we returned to Ad Hoc.