Welcome to Italy: Roma
Reading: between book 1 and 2 of the Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante
Italy was an incredibly anticipated trip on our part, as we both LOVE Italian food, and I have some Italian heritage, and of course we were excited to see all of the Roman ruins and historical areas.
So, boarding that plane to Italy and being on the verge of actually being there was an amazing feeling. It was something we'd talked about ever since we met, "maybe one day we can go to Italy together!". And there we were.
We flew AirItalia direct from Amsterdam, which actually was quite a good experience; they gave you a nice snack and beverage service, with free wine and beer. It was a bit of a bumpy flight, although short.
We arrived at Rome Fiumicino airport at around 8 pm, and upon exiting the terminal, the air felt positively balmy compared to Amsterdam, which had had pretty terrible weather during our week stay. We got a taxi since it was late evening and we wanted to grab dinner before restaurants closed (being a Monday night). We couldn't see much along the drive to city (actually a bit of a drive at 35 minutes or so), but we were passing by ruins that we couldn't exactly make out, the taxi driver said they were the Roman baths. Before arriving and scoping the layout of Rome, we had no idea the ruins were so ingrained in the infrastructure of the city.
Once in the city, the buildings are just "big", although not big in the sense of skyscrapers, but huge granite blocks and large doorways and floors. Maybe they seemed especially so coming from Amsterdam where the buildings are all narrow and quaint, but all of the buildings in Rome felt grand and tall, and important. You get the feeling that there is a lot of beauty inside, and taste.
We stayed the first couple of nights at Hotel Residenza Argentina, one I had found a good deal on through booking.com (all hotels come with breakfast in Italy for the most part, a nice plus). The hotel was on one side of Largo di Torre Argentina, a busy area of the city centered around the ruins of the Area Sacra, four temples built between the second and fourth century BC, and near the area where Julius Caesar was assassinated. You wouldn't know there was a hotel inside if you weren't looking for it. It was through a massive door, through a couple of courtyards, and up a flight of stairs. The hotel occupied half of one floor of the large old building, and the room was very small but the bed was really comfortable, and the room had a cool carved wooden ceiling detail. We were elated to finally be in Italy!
We went to a place recommended by the hotel for dinner, right around the block. It was a super affordable place, very empty by the time we arrived, as it was about 9:45. When we had asked the hotel if places would still be open, they had laughed and said, "are places open yet?". I guess Romans go out late, like the spaniards and most of the rest of Europe. It was called Ristorante di Santa Anna. We had a couple of pizzas, the house wine, and a great salad with fresh arugula, shaved parmasean and pears. Nothing fancy, but with some salt and pepper, and with some flavorful Italian olive oil and balsamic vinegar it was amazing. The pizzas were of a thin crust, and to us at that moment seemed like the best we'd ever had. Little did we know, the best was yet to come!
The next day, our first day, we walked around the city more than 9 miles (I was definitely glad I brought my good sneakers) along the river, through Trastevere (a very quaint neighborhood across the river), where we got some pizza for lunch from a street side shop (marinara pizza which is focaccia dough with tomato sauce, oil, and herbs, and sausage and broccoli) had a coffee at another little place and sat people watching, then walked back to central Rome and saw the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. The Pantheon is one of the most well kept monuments because it has been in use all of its life, it was built around 100 AD. It is an amazing structure to stumble upon in the narrow, bustling streets of Rome, with its massive columns. The inside is also incredible, a round room with paintings, and a beautiful textured dome, with a circular opening at the top, to the heavens.
We were exhausted by late afternoon, but we had a great day just exploring the city. It was so nice to just walk around the cobbled streets, appreciating the surroundings. One thing of note was that there were lots of army guards outside popular tourist areas, with machine guns, due to the November 13th Paris attacks, just two months previously, and the threat of more attacks across Europe. It was also a beautiful day, very welcome after the rainy and cold weather of Ireland and Amsterdam. We both were in love with Italy so far, and excited to try some pasta for dinner.
We went to a traditional Roman restaurant in the northern central part of the city for our first pasta. It was very good and inexpensive, and popular with the locals. I wish I had written down the name of it! We were excited to try some other places as well, and wanted to have some other places to compare our experience to.
We switched hotels after two nights, and moved to the Prati neighborhood, closer to the Vatican. Our new hotel was called Hotel Isa, and was a larger hotel. The room was small and a little outdated but was clean and nice. They had a great breakfast spread (included in the price of the room), there was a really nice terrace on the roof, and nice staff. The only downside was the slightly uncomfortable beds, and the fact that it's a little bit out of the center of Rome. It's in a nice neighborhood though, and you can walk to all important sites (some farther than others though, the colluseum took about 45 minutes).
That afternoon, we went to the Vatican Museum. We bought tickets in advance in order to avoid lines. The whole place was incredible, the building, the architecture, the ceilings, the sculpture and painting, but especially, of course, the Sistine chapel. We spent a good 30 or 45 minutes inside with the hordes of other visitors admiring the masterpiece.
Afterwards, we walked out and around the walls, and to Saint Peters Cathedral, and Square. On the way, we had lunch at Duecento Gradi, Piazza del Risorgimento, 3, a little sandwich place that had amazing sandwiches... We shared one with hot salami, broccoli rabe and mozzarella, and another with beef carpaccio, arugula and balsamic vinnagrette. Sooooo delicious! It's also a quick and inexpensive for a lunch option, their breads are great, it has a reputation as one of the best sandwich places in Rome.
I knew cannolis were a Sicilian specialty, but I figured since we were in Rome there had to be good cannolis somewhere. I was right. There was a little shop in northern central Rome near the river called L'Ulvieto Shop on Via di Monte Brianzo 66. They fill the cannoli shell for you right there, and you can choose chocolate, pistachio, and various other toppings. They have small and large, and I probably should have gotten a small, but I got a large and ate it all happily! The shell was delightfully crunchy, and the filling delicious. We got a little cup of espresso on the side. I highly recommend this place. They also have a great selection of other Sicilian cured meats and cheeses and crackers.
The climate in Rome reminded us of Morocco a bit, where we'd visited the previous year. Although it was winter, it was somewhat mild out. In the evening, we had wine (Montepulciano) on the roof of our hotel and the guy working at the bar kept bringing us little complimentary snacks, like they do in Spain, we got so full! Cheese, salami, little sandwiches, mini pizzas, fruit... We finally had to tell him that we had had enough food. He was very nice.
We were not that hungry anymore, but we'd already planned to go to Flávio al Velavevodetto on Vio di Monte Testaccio, 97, for their reccomended Cacio e Pepe (spaghetti with Romano cheese and pepper) and ravioli with fresh ricotta. When in Rome! The spaghetti was perfectly al dente, as were the edges of the ravioli. Both had the perfect balance of flavors. Amazing, highly recommend.
We of course had been waiting for the right day to go see the Colluseum with great anticipation. In the end, we thought we had chosen a good one, a moody morning, with dramatic, photogenic clouds, but it started raining as soon as we got into the Colluseum (after our long wait in line)! It was still incredible, and quite fun to try to call to mind what life may have been like back in the days when people would fill it to the brim and watch the strength, brutality, intention and despair of the people under and inside the ring. It's also amazing that it was built so long ago, and is such a massive feat of architecture. They were doing work on it when we went, in order to ensure that it stays intact, which was kind of a shame, but I suppose it's for the best! It was also super crowded. We should have bought our tickets in advance online, but we didn't, so we had to wait in the cue. A piece of advice... always buy tickets in advance. It will save you time, and since there is so much to see (and eat) in Rome, time is of the essence.
We then walked back towards our hotel through the neighborhood of Monti, and stopped for some pieces of pizza and a beer in a little hole in the wall place called La Boccaccia on Via Leonina 73. This place was really, really good. You can tell it's been around for awhile, and it was bustling with locals stopping by for a slice during lunchtime. There were so many good types of pizza to choose from. Broccoli and sausage, pesto, tomato and mozzarella, plain old marinara, the list is endless. And, as a plus, they were super inexpensive. About 5 Euros for two large slices enough to fill us up for the afternoon. At the time, the exchange rate for the dollar was quite good.
Our appetites satiated, we wandered up Via del Boschetto, a nice street in Monti with lots of little boutiques, and vintage shops, and some cafes and bodegas. You can tell it's quite a hip neighborhood.
That night, we went to La Tavernaccia da Bruno a restaurant located in kind of a funny, run down neighborhood, south of Trastevere. We took a taxi there, since it was, alas, too far to walk. It was a place recommended by an article in Conde Nast Traveller, for the best lasagna in Rome. Josh LOVES lasagna, so I thought, we have to go see what Italian lasagna is like, and if it lives up to expectations. We got way too much food by accident, but let me tell you, this meal was stellar. First, we had their famous focaccia with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, we got fresh buffalo mozzarella, that had such a rich, earthy, musty flavor unlike any mozzarella I've ever had before. It felt like you could picture where it came from based upon the taste. It was so fresh that when you cut it, fresh milk seeped out. (Buffalo mozzarella is made traditionally with the milk of the water buffalo). The olive oil was so strong an olive-y tasting, with a slight bitterness, but also a smoothness. We also got two bruschetta with fresh tomatoes, basil and fresh ground pepper. That was just the beginning. As a main we got, of course, the lasagne. This lasagne WAS in fact very, very good. It wasn't the kind you'd want to eat on a consistent basis though, as it was super cheesy. The lasagne was especially good though because it had so many layers in it, and the sauce was incredible, along with the bubbly crispiness of the top. We accompanied all of that with a bottle of Chianti Classico. Even though we were beyond full at that point, somehow, we still got desert: a cheesecake to share. The cheesecake is not like your typical American or dutch cheesecake: it is lighter and creamier tasting, and with a bit of berry syrup, it was a perfect end to that exceeding all expectations meal. The service and staff were also incredibly efficient and very friendly, although they didn't speak a lot of english. We were SO full afterwards, but it was an incredible meal (I know, I've said it enough times) it was worth it. And didn't break the bank. I would go so far as to say it may have been my favorite meal of our time in Italy.
We went to the Roman Forum the next day, and spent some time exploring the different remains of structures central to the daily lives of ancient Romans. It's pretty cool that they allow you to walk around among all of the ruins. The scale of the structures boggles my mind, and I loved imagining what life was like in that old bustling city.
We had dinner that night at Colline Emiliane, Via degli Avignonesi, 22, another amazing meal, another recommended by the article, but also by many others, many claiming it was the best restaurant in Rome. It is a family run restaurant, and has been ever since it opened. Daily, they make their noted egg based pastas by hand.
We started with a big hunk of parmesan cheese, accompanied by fig, and orange mustards and traditional Italian crackers, and some black raspberries with honey. I have never had such good parmesan (not exaggerating). It is not something you really would think of eating on its own, in the form of a block, but it was very surprising how much we liked it. The mustards were incredible, and went perfectly with the sour, salty, bitter, hard cheese. For dinner, Josh got tagliatelle bolognese and I got this tortellini with pumpkin and butter and sage (their star dish, apparently).
As a side note, Italy also has great meats and in some places, fish, but we had come there to explore the pastas and pizzas mostly. Technically, pasta is a first, or "primer plato" on the menus, but for us it worked great as a main. The desserts at this place were all made by the mother of the family. Josh got tiramisu, a delightfully fresh confection, I got a type of traditional chocolate pudding, the texture a mix of flan and custard. We met a really nice Kazakh couple sitting at the table next to ours, who had flown to Rome for the weekend from where they lived in London. Overall, another exceptional meal in Rome. (Can you tell the thing we loved best was eating?)
Final notes on Rome.
We did eat at many other places in Rome, these were just some of the most notable. I don't think that we had a bad meal the whole time we were in Rome though.
We found everyone to be very nice in Rome, and never get the feeling they were trying to get one over on us. The taxis never went roundabout routes to get you to where you were going, the restaurant staff was always very friendly... that was only our experience though. I suppose as a city that is constantly seeing a lot of travellers, they must be used to it.
There is graffiti EVERYWHERE in Italy (at least the places we visited).
After Rome, we had decided to go north to Florence, Tuscany and perhaps Cinque Terre, although it was not the right season. We took the train from Rome Termini to Florence/ Firenze Santa Maria Novella. The tickets were not as cheap as you might think at 44 Euros a piece, but also not too pricey, and saved us from having to rent a car for that portion of the trip. It was a little chaotic and confusing finding the right place to buy our tickets, watch our stuff, find the right train. The final destination of our train was Venice, and it took us a little while to figure out that Florence was one of the stops along the way. There is also no security check, and no baggage check. After figuring all of it out though, we were very excited to be on our way to another Italian city. (The next blog post will be Florence and Tuscany!)
We did not like our hotel that much when we came back through Rome, so it's not worth mentioning, but we were only there for a couple more nights. We went again to eat at Colline Emiliane, since we had had such a good experience, and it was walking distance from our hotel, and it was equally as good the second time. The second time we didn't have dessert as we were trying to tone down the eating, and get ready for the tropics!
We definitely ate an incredible amount of food in Italy between the pasta, pizza, deserts, and cheeses, and drank a decent amount of good wine as well. But we had been walking miles around every day so felt a little bit better about it. We figured in Indonesia we'd shed all the pounds we'd picked up in Europe.
