After our goodbyes, we leave Abruzzo to return to Rome. It’s a scenic three-hour drive and we arrive back to the Eternal City content but exhausted from the previous two days. We stop to have a cold beer, which is refreshing after all of the wine we’ve been drinking.

Mieke and Umberto head home after we make plans to have one last lunch together tomorrow at the Enoteca wine bar. We head back to the hotel for a nap so we can be refreshed and ready for an evening in Roma.

Our evening passes quickly as does the next morning. Just before 2:30, we stroll the route to the Enoteca. We pass the Four Fountains, the Spanish Steps (in an earlier post I referred to the film Roman Holiday and it was Gregory Peck who stared with Audrey Hepburn, not Carey Grant. Sorry ladies.), the Trevi Fountain and countless other sites in Rome. We arrive at Enoteca and we’re practically a regular at this point, since this is our third meal here in the past six days. I love the staff, I love the concept and hope to bring some of this dining style to the Mansion’s newly renovated patio and bar, which will be, by far, the best al fresco dining in Texas. We are greeted by our usual servers: a smiling Italian waiter and a pretty young Italian woman who is also a sommelier. The wine glasses are already up on the bar and filled with a wine the sommelier has chosen for us.

Shortly after our arrival, Umberto and Mieke arrive on scooter, a popular mode of transportation in Rome as traffic is heavy and parking is difficult. We start with the antipasto misto, a mixed plate of vegetables, cheeses, salumi, olives, the sweetest roasted peppers I have ever had, and then the pasta, Bigoli, a thick spaghetti with a ragout of duck in a spicy tomato sauce. Umberto is in charge of the wine list today and he decides that we will go to Tuscany. We start with a white to match with the first course, which is rounded out with more pasta, tortoloni with four cheeses which is so light, tender and cheesy. Then we try the smoked swordfish and smoked salmon and pair it with another white from Tuscany. Everything is fresh and delicious – it is a wonderful meal. We have so enjoyed our time with Umberto and Mieke. They are so special and have become our good friends.  We hope to see them again soon. With our bellies full and our heads dizzy from the wine (and a gift of some grappa from Umberto and Mieke), we sadly exchange hugs and kisses and thank them for everything they’ve done for us on this truly wonderful journey. I walk down the avenue reminiscing about some of the moments we’ve spent together.

We stop in a gelateria for some cold gelato to enjoy as we walk back to the hotel.

Just as I turn the corner, a scooter beeps its horn and startles us, I jump straight up in the air and turn around, only to see Umberto and Mieke give us one last wave good bye, Umberto has a smile that is still frozen in my memory as he drives his scooter off into the sunset. Ciao, I miei amici!