Bike around Rome and go to our favorite restaurant

Another sunny day in Rome. I had a leisurely morning drinking coffee and reading on-line news. I don't think I got out of my PJs until 11am. Then I hooked my IPOD into the stereo and did some yoga before taking a hot bath. When Josh came home from his ride, we hopped on our bikes and rode into Villa Borghese for a picnic. Then we rode down into Piazza del Popolo and over to the Trevi Fountain. It was crowded -- as to be expected, on such a beautiful day. It was fun touring around centro on our bikes.

After school, Charlotte went with a friend of hers to Marymount where their artwork had been entered into an International schools competition. Avery, unfortunately, was sent to his room as soon as he came home as a punishment for bad behavior at school today. Josh went for a haircut. So, that left me and Olivia, sitting outside on our terrace while she read to me. How lovely and sweet sitting there among the lemon trees, the late day sun fading, while Olivia read the story of "The jar of green crystals."

In January, when we were in Bologna, Josh shared a cab to the art fair there. During the ride, Josh discovered that his cab-mate is from Rome, but has been spending a lot of time in Chicago since he is working with the Pritzkers (the Hyatt hotel family) to build a Park Hyatt Hotel on Via del Corso in Rome. His girlfriend, a gallery owner in Rome, was presenting her artists at the fair. Once at the fair, Josh met Federica Schiavo of the Gallery with the same name. It turned out to be a very successful weekend for her as one of her artists, Rob Sherwood, won the "best artist under 30" competition. One evening, a few weeks later, Josh and I were in centro on our way to the Calder exhibit, when we ran into Darius, the man from the Bologna taxi ride, in a supermarket. What a small world.

So it was destined that the four of us get together for dinner -- which we did tonight. Federica made reservations at a restaurant that is located around the corner from her gallery -- one of her favorites: Osteria al Pegno -- the very place that Josh and I have frequented a couple of times because we liked it so much. It was a very lively, two-bottles of wine, affair. I really liked Federica and her sensibility. As for Darius, he was terrific as well. But anyone who chooses to be a real-estate developer in Rome ought to have their head examined. It must truly be a result of a tremendous passion for the architecture, because getting anything done with the various city ordinances -- and the people you have to deal with -- sounds like a complete nightmare. In any case, I'm sure we'll see them again.