Four Friends, Eight days, Easter Week in Rome-a Trip Report

Planning:
I did the bulk of the research and planning of the trip (because I'm obsessive like that) which included booking the apartment (we used www.RentalinRome.com), airport transfers via www.romecabs.com, reservations for the Borghese Gallery, RomaPass research, Scavi Tour tickets, and booking private guide Francesca Caruso for the Coliseum and Forum. I also researched day trips for Orvieto and Ostia Antica and car rentals.
For the details of the planning process, including the hunt for the perfect apartment for four, the drama of the rise of the euro and its’ effect on our travel choices, and all about buying an international cell phone and SIM card, please see my web page:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/ROMEplanning.html

In addition, while planning the trip I wanted to keep my friends involved so I started sending them emails called “Rome Daily Tidbits”. They were interesting things I’d found during my research or things for which I wanted to get feedback on from them.
They can be seen at : http://www.wired2theworld.com/RomeDailyTidbits.html

I also created the 5 “Golden Rules” of travel for our trip:
1. Always eat lunch before it gets too late.
Most restaurants in Italy are not open between lunch and dinner. (Hint: Make sure Kristina gets food before 2PM. or she gets cranky).
2. Speak up.
If you are unhappy about something, want to do something else, don’t want to go somewhere, it’s your fault if you don’t communicate. The rest of us aren’t mind readers.
3. Don’t be a martyr.
No one will respect you for it and you will be miserable. This goes hand in hand with rule #2.
4. Be brave when it comes to food. Taste everything.
5. Roll with it.
Plans can go awry. Strikes happen. Museums close randomly. Have a back up plan.

Everyone was required to abide by the rules or risk banishment.

Finally, I created “20 Questions” for the trip which included things like “How many gelati can 4 people eat in 8 days?”, “How many times will Jessica say, “I can’t believe we’re really here!” like a gleeful schoolgirl?” or “Who will have the first jet lag induced meltdown?” For the rest, go to http://www.wired2theworld.com/RomeQuestions.html
The questions have not yet been answered, but will as soon as I can find the time to tally up the number of cups of coffee we drank and the number of photos of food among the 2000+ photos taken.

Now that's all out of the way, on to the rest of the report!

Sounds like a great beginning! Thanks, Kristina!

Sounds like this will be a wonderful report! Do continue!

Hi Ekscrunchy! Many thanks to you again for your restaurant recs before the trip. I'm sure you will see some familiar ones in here.

Flight to Rome, or, The Saga of the Seats

When we booked the tickets almost 9 months ago, we were able to get our seat assignments for the LAX to DC leg, but not DC to Rome. Every few months I would call the travel agent only to be told, "still nothing available". In the meantime, the aircraft on flight #1 changes and our seats are suddenly in "Premium Economy", an added bonus for the first flight.

Then, about a month before departure the agent says we have seats for flight #2, but they are not together and are in the back of the plane, none of us even in the same row.
Later we discover that J and T's seats on flight #1 have been split so they have no seats together or with us.
Much stress follows as we call United, call the travel agent, try online, all to no avail. Then, in a stroke of luck, the girls get seats, one behind another in Premium Economy for no extra fee! At this point they can do nothing else and plan to get to the airport at 5 AM to see if they can get their seats moved to be side by side.
I check in online 24 hours before departure and am offered the opportunity to upgrade on flight #2 to Premium Economy for $89 per person. Sold! This allows us more leg room and the certainty of seats together.

March 15, 2008 Departure Day

We are up at 4 AM.
Ok, I'm up at 4 AM after about 5 hours fitful sleep. David, in his usual pre-departure way, has not slept at all. The typical pre-trip chaos ensues. Do the cats have enough food and water? Do we have our passports? Can we find all the cats? Do we have all our bags? Are we ready?

Ready or not, we are in the car on our way to LAX by 4:50 and are there by 5:15. Thanks to Mom for the ride.
Because I have checked in online we have our boarding passes printed. We try one of the self serve kiosks and it does not work for us. We're directed to the check in desks next door and find ourselves at another kiosk, this time with someone who can make it work and give us bag tags. J and T are at a counter a couple of stations down and have managed to get their seats changed to be together. All is right with the world.

We are so early, we end up spending an hour and a half in the Terminal 7 Starbucks, drinking coffee and watching the Cowboy next to us get drunk.
Yes, I said "Cowboy", complete with weathered black hat, scuffed boots and shiny belt buckle. Why he was knocking back beer after beer at 6:30 AM in the La Salsa next to the Starbucks is beyond me.

At this point I give the girls their "wired2theworld Big Lasagna Tour 2008" goodie bags for the plane. The bags include the guidebook I created from my Google Map, a guide I created for Ostia Antica, our itinerary, Burt's Bees lip balm, gum, granola bar, dried cherries and almonds, emergen-c packets and wet wipes. Everyone needs a little something fun to start a trip, don't you think?
(for photo of the goodie bag and link to Google map see http://www.wired2theworld.com/ROME2008flightday.html )

The flight to DC is fine and only takes 4 hours. We're on United and no food is offered, only food sold on board. When we arrive in DC we head to Gordon Biersch for lunch of garlic fries, salads and burgers.

When we get on the plane for Rome, we're told it's going to be a full flight.
Then we sit and wait for other passengers. And we wait some more. Finally, everyone just gets up and moves, hoping to take some empty rows of seats. Of course, it is then that our missing passengers arrive.
This is the first time in a long time when I've been on an international flight where they have charged for alcoholic beverages. I'll usually have a glass of wine, but I'm not willing to pay $5 for bad wine. J does and confirms that the white is terrible.
Dinner is pretty bad; choice of "salisbury steak" and pasta. Breakfast is even worse; a fruit cup and inedible, cold, hard, pastry. The best things about the flight are the on time arrival and getting to finally see the movie Juno.

Kristina,

Looking forward to the rest! Your hubby is brave, to go on a trip with 3 women.

Love this! Looking forward to more.

March 16, 2008
Arrival, Palm Sunday
1 Euro= $1.57

The flight arrives on time and we have a 20 minute taxi to the gate. It takes so long I think, we've landed in Florence and the plane is driving us to to Rome. Lines at immigration are slow and long, but we don't need to fill out any immigration forms (another first in a long time) and we get a stamp in our passports. When I ask one of the flight attendants why we do not have to fill out any arrival paperwork on the plane he says "Because we are a civilized country."

As soon as we land, I turn on my new phone. Sure enough, it works just fine and within about a minute I see "Vodaphone IT" and I have service. For more on the phone and the Global SIM card, see the "Pre-Trip Planning" page on my website. Initially, J's Blackberry "worldphone" does not work and she's furious until she discovers the people at Verizon have installed the SIM card backwards. After that, her phone works fine too and everyone is happy.

An aside- this is the first time I've traveled internationally with a phone and now I'm hooked. I used it to make restaurant reservations, call home and was able to give out my number in case someone had to call us (which Francesca Caruso did on the day of our tour). J was able to get email and voicemail on her Blackberry (vital for her job) and to be honest, I would have loved for my phone to do that too since we had no wifi access in the apartment. However, I don't think my SIM card will do that even if the phone has email capability. Anyone know?

All of our bags arrive and we walk straight through customs to find Stefano from Romecabs.com waiting for us. The drive from the airport is quick and while he is concerned we'll face street closures due to the Rome Marathon, everything is easy and we arrive around 8:30, an hour before our scheduled meeting with the person who is to let us in to the apartment. Stefano drops us at a little bar/cafe about a block away with a gift of a bottle of Chianti and a promise to return in 8 days and pick us up at 4AM for a return trip to the airport.

We sit for an hour and have our first cappuccinos and pastries. There are many people walking up Corso Vittorio Emanuele II toward the Vatican (about 6-8 blocks from us) most likely for Palm Sunday mass. Many are carrying some sort of greenery but not palm fronds (later we figure out these might be olive branches). We see many nuns in full habit and even a group of what I dub "baby priests"; 8 or so shockingly young young men all in black suits with white collars. Seven cappuccinos and 3 pastries cost us a whopping 23.5 euros. Don't forget when sitting at a bar the cost is usually 2x the cost of standing at the bar. In this case, cappuccinos are 1.3 euro at the bar and 3 euro at the table. It's worth it to be able to sit outside for a while after being on the plane for so long.

I'm loving this report! I laughed at the comment about the length of taxi time and the plane drving you to Rome! Looking forward to more.

This is a fun read -- thanks for writing it -- now back to the housework while daydreaming about Rome.....

The apartment

We walk the block down the street to the apartment and the RentalinRome contact person arrives about 10 minutes after we do. Checking in is painless. She briefly shows us the apartment and we pay her the balance of what we owe in euros. It was nice to have the euros in advance and not worry about the airport ATM. However, I wish I'd separated out the money for the rent, because in my jet lagged state I could not do the math and ended up giving her 60 euro extra (which of course she hands back after counting it). She departs, also leaving us a bottle of Chianti so we now have two bottles and we've only been here an hour. Is this an omen?

The apartment is called the "Accetti Palace" on the RentalinRome website . To me it looks a little smaller than in the photos, but J thinks it looks larger.
There are two bedrooms, one with double bed (a queen size mattress on a frame of 2 antique twin beds pushed together) and a bedroom with two twin beds (also antique). The double room (ours) has only one window which looks out on the small side street. The twin room has two windows, one on the side, one facing the piazza and consequently gets much more light. The rooms are good sized and have very high ceilings; ours coffered, the other bedroom and the living room have the original 16th century wooden beams.

J and I decide we have to unpack. The double room only has a dresser in which two of the drawers are locked. It has no closet in which to hang clothes. The twin room has an enormous armoire and a big dresser so the girls let us share the "closet" for hanging clothes.
There are sets of towels (one large, one small) for each person, but no extras, something I would have liked considering we are here for 8 days. There is only 1 pillow per person, again no extras. There are extra blankets in the armoire however. There is radiator heat around all the baseboards and while it is cold outside, we are never cold inside so the heat works well.

The living room, dining area and kitchen are all one space. The kitchen has a large refrigerator and freezer by european standards and a dishwasher. It looks like it's been recently remodeled along with the bathrooms. There are two bathrooms, one with a jacuzzi jet tub, one with a shower. For the size of the apartment, two full bathrooms is a nice luxury. The living room has a comfortable sofa with two matching chairs in slightly worn upholstery. There is a TV with channels only in Italian and a VCR. No internet access to be found.

The location is fantastic, on Piazza Sforza Cesarini right off Corso Vittorio Emmanuel and about a 10 minute walk from Piazza Navona. There are 2 restaurants and a small cafe right on the piazza. Yes, there is a little noise from the traffic on the busy street, but I only notice it when jet lag wakes me up at 3 AM.

After unpacking, the exhaustion is starting to hit, but I'm starving. It's too early for a restaurant lunch so we go to a grocery store about a block away to the left. The store is an unusual warren of tiny rooms, but we find everything we need for a fantastic lunch. We buy four different kinds of cured meats, 4 different cheeses, mixed olives, marinated sardines and bread along with other supplies and bring it back to the apartment. With one of the bottles of Chianti, it's a fantastic first meal. Afterward, most of us decide to nap while David cleans the kitchen (he slept a lot on the plane, I slept not at all).

Piazza Navona

We get up around 2:30 pm and decide to go out walking toward Piazza Navona and the Pantheon.

We hit the Piazza Navona first and admire the smaller fountains at the end. The stunning Bernini Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (the Four Rivers) us still under restoration scaffolding, but we are able to peek inside through the viewing areas.

We check out the Church of St Agnes in Agony and then walk to the far end of the piazza and around the outside where we check out the ancient underground entrance to the racetrack on which the template for the piazza was created (photo below). The old arch is 25 feet below current Rome street level.

Pantheon

Meandering through the narrow streets, we make our way to the Pantheon. It's pretty incredible to 'round a corner and have something as magnificent as the Pantheon come into view. Rome is filled with moments like this; around every turn is something new an amazing.

The Pantheon is truly "awe-inspiring" and even though it's crowded, we hang out and take tons of photos. I'm still learning how to use my camera and David and I spend a lot of time trying to get the sky outside the oculus (the hole in the top of the dome) to be in focus with the inside ceiling of the dome. I learn later that this is impossible.

From the Pantheon, we're in search of a restroom and end up wandering the streets, going into the McDonalds (too crowded), and traipsing through a hotel next to the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. However, we can't find the hotel's bathroom and stop in a little place nearby called Cafe Minerva for panini, lemon soda and T and J's first gelato. It may be 7 euro for a panini and soda, but sometimes it's worth it for access to a bathroom. At one point during the trip we consider calling it the "bathrooms of the world tour". Public restrooms are few and far between, even in museums.

Don't be a martyr or your head will end up in Sienna

After the snack break we head back to Santa Maria sopra Minerva church, first admiring the elephant obelisk in front with it's unnaturally long trunk.
Santa Maria is a gothic church on the inside (one of the very few in Rome), but from the outside you can't tell; it's quite plain. Walk inside though, and it's a mass of soaring arches, gold and stained glass.

Apparently, St Catherine is entombed here, yet her head is in Sienna.
Thus, we coin a phrase which will resonate throughout the rest of the trip, "Don't be a martyr or your head will end up in Sienna". This later morphs into the lighthearted warning of , "I have a box big enough for your head..." for anyone of us verging on martyrdom (and thus at risk of breaking Golden Rule #3).

We continue walking and end up at the Trevi fountain at sunset. It's very, very crowded but we manage to get in the obligatory coin toss before heading back to check out the Pantheon at dusk.

Frigidarium, our new Friend

On our way walking toward the Piazza Navona, we see a gelato place called "Frigidarium" (Via Del Governo Vecchio, 112).
David is so enamoured with the name that he insists we return on our trek back from the Trevi fountain.
We stop, and there is a jovial man behind the counter who spends lots of time chatting with us. His English is limited, as is our Italian, but he is incredibly patient and we have a great time talking with him. The gelato turns out to be fantastic.
We have:
J: Tiramisu & Coffee
T: "Mozart"
K: Coffee & Chocolate
D: Choc & Lemon

Stay tuned for more on Frigidarium..

Trattoria Da Luigi

Our first dinner is right on our Piazza Sforza Cesarini at a place called Trattoria da Luigi. It's Tris' birthday, but we're all a bit out of it from the jet lag so figure it's best to stick close to home. The restaurant ends up being the perfect choice.

For antipasti, we have zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies. They are are dipped a batter similar to tempura and then deep fried. They're wonderful, and in my opinion the best of the trip.
We also have an order of Abacchio a Scottadito (lamb chops), orecchette with broccoli and panchetta, penne with tomato/vodka sauce, 2 orders of eggplant parmesan and a side of spinach with lots of garlic.
Everything is absolutely fine and tasty and with 2 beers and a bottle of house white wine, dinner for four is 80 euro.

A little tipsy from the wine and jet lag, we're happy to be so close to home and while D takes the stairs up to the 3rd floor the rest of us take the miniscule elevator.
When we open the door, David is standing there and says, "you need to push the up button". Loopy, we think we haven't moved at all, and move to push the button, but we've already arrived.
Really, it was funny at the time. Hilarious. You had to be there.

Photos for Day 1 can be seen here:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/ROME2008Day1.html

There are lots of pictures of the apartment, the Pantheon, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, and of course, food!

Kristina...

Love your writing style and this report! Looking forward to the next installment!

Kristina: I've been reading your report and sneaking a peek or two at your website, which I think is strikingly good!! Your photos are marvelous. What camera did you use? I also love the way you have set up your photos, and the souvenir tickets, etc. I wish I could do that. I've been doing it in photos albums but would love to do it on the web.
Great writing also. Brings back Rome so vividly. Ohhh, that Pantheon - just so perfect!
Will keep watching...

Thanks for the nice comments! It makes all the time and effort worth it to know that people enjoy or benefit from it. I know I learn so much from other's reports, that's why I always post them here too.

I use a Nikon D40x which is a digital SLR. I just got it for Christmas, so I'm still learning how to use it with the manual settings. All the the photos on the site are by me unless otherwise noted. T took as many photos as I did so there are quite a few on there by her as well.
This is my first trip with a "big" camera and multiple lenses and I wasn't sure how it would go, but carrying it around was rarely a problem. I had a good bag, so that helped a lot.

Continuing to be a wonderful report. Thank you for the all the details, and the links to your website and your photos. They are fabulous. My first trip to Rome [or Europe for that matter] is less than a month away, so I'm soaking it all in!

a_cafe-
I know just how you feel. Right before a trip I'm looking for every little detail I can find. How many days will you have in Rome?
I have to say, spending 8 days there was just heaven. So many people go for just two or three (myself included in the past) and hate it. I loved not being rushed. Still, we were pretty busy! Even if you only have a few days, you can still get a good taste, so I'm not trying to discourage anyone, but I think for Rome, the more time, the better. My friends had never been before and they absolutely loved it.

Love - love - love the way you set-up your report. Thought you might be an artist until I read you are in the restaurant industry but then, there is art in food as you have shown.
Please DO continue ... with thanks.

Rhea-Thanks so much! It's a labor of love for me!

Monday March 17, 2008

We begin the day with breakfast in the apartment. Coffee made in the typical Italian "Moka" pot, heated milk foamed with a whisk and I am a happy girl.
David goes out to get fresh baked bread and pastries while I make scrambled eggs and pancetta. Because the apartment's one frying pan is truly a health hazard and unusable (old, nasty, scratched teflon), I cook up the diced pancetta in a soup pot and then scramble the eggs into it which works just fine.

Campo di Fiori

Today we have the morning free and have to be at the Vatican at 2:15 PM for the Scavi Tour so we decide to do another walk, this time down Via del Pellegrino & Via dei Cappellari toward the Campi di Fiori and the Torre Argentina cat sanctuary.

We love the little winding streets leading up to the Campo and Via dei Cappellari has many antique furniture repair places on it. We also admire some interesting graffiti along the way.

The market in the campo is in full swing by the time we arrive. It's definitely geared toward tourists, but there's still some beautiful produce, a couple of vendors who sell spices (individual and mixed blends) in plastic bags, and even a few vendors selling kitchen small wares. And of course, there are flower vendors. Looking back, I wish we'd bought flowers for the apartment given that we were there for a week.

There was a woman cleaning a vegetable called Puntarelle, which I'd read about, but never tasted. I tried to ask her about it in Italian, but she ignored me so I vow to try it in the next restaurant we are in which serves it.

On the way out of the south end of the Campo we pass a restaurant I'd read about called Ristorante Da Pancrazio. While it may not be known for it's food, it is known for the ruins of the ancient Theater of Pompey down on the lower level.
We stop to look at the menu and one of the waiters offers to let us go downstairs and check out the ruins. They are really interesting; arches, columns and even a few frescos remain. J is so excited that she suggests we make reservations for the following night. So, in my best practiced Italian, I actually manage to make us reservations for Tuesday at 8PM. I am so thrilled I can do this and the hours of listening to Italian language cds have paid off in this one moment, that I don't mind the reviews of the food have been less than stellar.

Torre Argentina

We continue walking and somehow manage to get turned around and a bit lost on our way to the Torre Argentina. Finally we find it.
The ruins are about 20 feet below street level encompassing a full square city block. One can walk around all four sides, but not down into the ruins (as I though we could).
There are cats everywhere; lounging, sleeping, sunning, frolicking among the ruins. I look at my notes and realize the cat sanctuary does not open until noon and it's now 11:45. We find a small bar across the street where we can use the toilet and get coffee. The bar's toilet is of the "squat" variety (also known as a "Turkish toilet") and while I'm fully versed on their use from our travels in Asia, I'd almost forgotten they are still in use here in Europe. The "toilets of the world" tour continues...

At noon, we walk down the steps into the cat sanctuary offices which are underground. Inside, there is a caged room where the sick and injured cats are kept for their own protection.
We are allowed inside for a visit. Most cats are free to roam the room and the very ill are in cages until they get better. There is another area which is open and the cats are free to come and go at will. They give tours of the ruins every day at 4PM and we hope to come back but never make it.
Cats there can be adopted at a distance or even sent home. Their web site is www.romancats.com. It's worth a visit.

Thanks so much for the wonderful report on your trip to Rome. The format you have used makes it so enjoyable. Your photos are some of the best I have ever seen.My daughter and my trip to Rome the 1st time was for 8 days. You really need that much time and more to do the city justice, and then you know you want to return.
Last trip(2nd one) we got to the cat sanctuary which my daughter and I loved as we love our cats. The guided tour is well worth doing as it give you alot of history of the surroundings.
Thanks again for one of the best reports I have ever read.

Hi Kristina,

ditto congrats on your trip report format. I hope you'll forgive me if elements creep into my report on our recent week in Venice - immitation being the sincerest part of flattery of course.

I was interested in the cost of the meal you told us about - it co-incides with what we were paying in Rome two years ago. unlike Venice, where the same sort of meal costs another 20-30E at least.

we had an expensive week!

keep it coming,

regards, ann

Enjoying your report. I'm a fan of Trattoria da Luigi and so was glad that it did not disappoint.

Hi Kristina!
Great report so far! Thank you for sharing your detailed and helpful information!!

Dina

Maryanne-Thanks so much for the nice comments. Yes, eight days was great but I feel we barely scratched the surface. I could easily go back for more-there was so much we did not get to see. And yes, I want to go back and spend more time at the cat sanctuary.

Ann-unfortunately, that was one of our least expensive meals of the trip! As you'll see in the ones to come, some were more than double that (though not necessarily that much better of a meal). I was shocked at how expensive dining out was there!

Kristina-

I unfortunately will only be in Rome for 3 1/2 days. I'm actually going on a study abroad program that starts in Amsterdam and continues on through several other cities [one of them being Rome]. Although this is a slight disappointment, I can't complain!

For Rome, along with all of my other destinations, I have tried to limit my sightseeing wants and just truly enjoy myself.

Your trip report gives me hope!

Ashley

I'm really enjoying your report.

The Scavi Tour

We make a quick trip back to the apartment for a snack (must attend to golden rule #1) before walking to the Vatican for the scavi tour.
Once again, we turn the corner onto Via della Conciliazione and, bang!, right in front of us is St. Peter's Basilica. We're a bit early so we scope out the square which is set up with chairs and roped off for Holy week festivities. Still, the colonnades, statues and fountains are a spectacular sight. On the right side of the square is the line for the security entrance to the Basilica.

The Scavi tour entrance is on the left side, through the colonnade, about 25 feet, on the right. The Swiss guards at the entrance tell us to come back 10 minutes before the scheduled start of the tour. They are both gorgeous and we (us girls) wonder if this is a requirement to being chosen for the guard.

At the appointed time, we go back and though the gates to the Scavi tour office. I wrongly assumed there would be restroom facilities there and had not used the one on the piazza (which had about a 1/2 wait). There is nothing available to tourists here. The option was to go back out, wait in the mammoth line and miss the tour, or hold it. So, fair warning, go first because there are no facilities inside and the tour lasts about 1.5 hours.

"They are dropping like flies"

Our tour is led by a man who tells us his name is Christian and he's from Transylvania. He asks us all where we're from and it seems as if just about everyone in our group of a dozen or so is from the US or Australia, including a young seminary student from Oklahoma. After about 10 minutes on the tour, while we are still upstairs in the room with the sarcophagi, one couple decides to leave the tour because she needs a restroom. She's very angry and upset.

We head down underground and see the first part of the necropolis. It's fascinating, filled with intact, above ground (they were in the 1st century anyway), crypts. This is the area outside the ancient city of Rome where people buried their dead. It was an entire "city" filled with narrow streets and lined with crypts. Later, Constantine would build a basilica here in the 4th century after asking the Christians where they wanted it. The theory is that they wanted it here because it's where St. Peter was buried and thus a holy place. In the 16th century, the current basilica was built on top using some of the columns from Constantine's basilica.

After about 10 more minutes, a family of 4 decides to leave because mom is feeling claustrophobic. You could tell the teenage daughter was bored, by the incredulous "you're staying?" she asks of her older brother. "Yeah" (read,"duh!") is his reply. He stays and very much seems to enjoy the tour. A few moments later, a guide ahead of us works his way back with two of his charges, leading them out of the tour.

I mention all this, not to warn people off, but just to let you know in case you have severe claustrophobia you may want to reconsider the tour. On the other hand, I suffer it mildly and was not bothered (perhaps because my focus was on my need for the restroom and not the fact that the entire basilica sat right over our heads).

"Rush hour in the Necropolis"

The rest of the tour is fascinating, but we get held up several times as there are 2 or 3 groups ahead slowing our progress. This leads to the comment "It's rush hour in the necropolis". We see rooms with frescos, intricate carvings on the outside of sarcophagus, and mosaics. To the ancient Romans, it was incredibly important to take care of the dead and to be "remembered".

Next, St. Peter's Basilica...

St Peter's Basilica and our Personal Tour

About half way through the tour, the seminary student tells me when the tour is over he can lead us to a restroom where we won't have to wait.

The tour takes about 1 hour 40 min and when it is over, we walk outside with Cory (the seminary student). As we are walking, he asks if we plan to see the inside of the basilica now and since we are, he offers to give us a tour "if we have time". Do we have time? Of course! How can you say no to that? He leads us to where people are exiting the front of the basilica and we walk up the steps and cross over the front. To the right side of the basilica we find the public restrooms with no wait.

Cory is from Oklahoma City and will be studying in Rome for about 4 years. When he is finished, he will return to his parish in Oklahoma to become a priest. In the meantime, he is learning all he can and will eventually be leading Scavi tours. He has to take 10 tours before he can lead them himself. His tour with us was only his second. During our tour he asked our guide if he too was in the seminary. After a lengthy pause, Christian replied, "not now."

Cory leads us to the front of the Basilica where he explains some of the history behind it (see above). Once inside, we stand at the end of the main aisle (which is roped off) and he leads us in a prayer before we begin our tour. As he says the Lord's Prayer, I watch the feet of the tourists swirling around us and feel blessed to be there, if only to have the chance to see the place through a true believer's eyes.

We spend about an hour walking around the perimeter of the basilica with Cory explaining the significance of the various sculptures, chapels and structural details. He points points out that all of the "paintings" are no longer paintings, but rather, painstakingly intricate mosiacs replicating the originals. One has to get right up close to them to see that they are indeed mosaics. He tells us the letters which band the top edge of the walls are six feet high. It's difficult to grasp the perspective.

Even though I've been inside St. Peter's before, I certainly don't remember being aware of all the details. It's hard to take it all in and we are so fortunate to have this personal guided tour. Our time with Cory turns out to be a highlight of the trip. He is so knowledgeable about the history of the basilica and so passionate about his faith it is inspiring. None of the four of us are particularly religious, but I know we are all completely touched by the experience.

Dinner at Armando al Pantheon

Dinner tonight is at Armando al Pantheon. This restaurant comes highly recommended on both Fodor's and Chowhound message boards and is the only restaurant for which I've made reservations in advance (via email through their web site). I'm glad I did because they only have 12 tables and are full when we arrive. It's terribly hot inside and I say a silent thanks that smoking is not allowed because otherwise it would have been unbearable.

Because it is so warm, we order my favorite Rose, Regaleali, Tasca de Almira. My mom and I had this wine when we stayed at the vineyard to do cooking classes with the Contessa back in 2003.

For our Antipasti we order 2 Carciofo alla Romana (artichokes), bruschetta a la pomodoro, and scamorza (grilled, melted cheese).

For Primi we order two pastas to share; spaghetti alla verde (with arugula and cheese) and carbonara. Both are great but the "alla verde" gets rave reviews by all at the table.

The Secondi are (veal) Scalopini alla Marsala, Abbaccio a Scottadito (lamb chops), and Guniea Hen with olives and mushrooms. The lamb chops are the best of the three. I ask about the Oxtail which is on the menu, but we're told it's only available on Thursdays and if we want to come back, we can "reserve" an order. We make a reservation for Thursday night then and there and reserve two orders of Coda alla Vaccinara.

Even though we are planning a return visit to Frigidarium, we order the semifreddo and the homemade "roman cake", a ricotta cake with strawberries.

David wants an Amaro and we order the waiter's recommendation called "Lucano". We end up with 5 glasses and Tris is hooked. For those not familiar with Amaro, it is a typical after dinner drink made of herbs and used as a digestive.

Overheard at Armando's, 9:45 PM, noses hovering over glasses of Amaro Lucano:
T: I smell sage
K: I smell Rosemary
D: I smell Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel

Dinner for 4 with all of the above plus a second bottle of Rose, a bottle of water, and coffee was 151.50 euro. Armando al Pantheon is open daily for Lunch and Dinner, closed Saturday night and all day Sunday. Salita de Crescenzi, 31, tel:06/68803034

Up next, St Patrick's Day chaos...

As today is St. Patrick's day, someone (who shall remain nameless) gets in in their head that we should stop for a pint of Guinness at the faux Irish pub called the Abby across the street from Frigidarium.
I think, why would I come to Rome to drink Irish beer?
The place is packed with drunk American youth and the doorman is allowing people in, a few at a time. Against my better judgment, we go in and are immediately assaulted with a crush of humanity.
There is no room to move, it's impossible to reach the bar and there are people pushing from all directions. My anxiety kicks into high gear and I say "I am outta here!" and elbow my way back out on to the street.
I'm furious, practically hyperventilating, and near tears, until the other three appear a few seconds later and I am consoled with gelato and reassurances that I "was right". Ha! In addition, J almost lost her beloved gray hat in the crush, but fortunately recovered it.

At Frigidarium, we chat more with Fabrizio who is again behind the counter. It turns out that he is the owner and makes all the gelato himself, right there in the glassed-in back room. The sign above the door even says "Gelateria Artigianale", indicating that it's homemade.

Tonight's flavors are:
J: Creme, Banana, Cherry
T: Zabaione
D: Caffe, Tartufo al Rum
K: Chocolate, Fragola

All is now right with the world and we head back to the apartment after a very long and exciting day.

My kids were in Italy with their school choir during Holy Week-in rome Wed-Sat. I'm hoping you don't post of any encounters with obnoxious American choir kids!!!

Kristina - the work you put into this report (not to mention your planning) is unbelievable. Have only scratched the surface; need to bookmark in case I lose it. Thanks

Yay! It's you! I read a previous report of yours a few years ago - Spain? - which led me to your website... I think I read your entire RTW trip. And I was crazy-jealous. Glad to see another report from you!

Kristina - I'm loving your trip report and was so happy to see, finally, another fan of the Frigidarium's gelato. Last May, we stayed on Via Governo Vecchio and I went there every day. I never see them mentioned in other trip reports, and I honestly thought their gelato was the best of our entire trip.

Kristina,

I am enjoying your trip report. I wish I wasn't so busy today so that I could read the whole thing including all of the comments. Nice format!

Aloha

Kristina:
What a phenomenal trip report! The photography is amazing, the composition so professional. I particularly enjoyed the "foodie" sections.
Travelchat

Kristina, I'm loving your report. Isn't it great to have 8 days in Rome? I can't wait 'til I'm back there.

The photos for Day 2 can be see at:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/ROME2008Day2.html

Missypie-no, I don't think I saw your kids, but we did see quite a lot of groups!

Ceb-Yep! that was my report on Southern Spain you read in '05. There are a few more trips on my website since then.

Hazel- We LOVED Frigidarium and adored Fabrizio. He was such a sweetheart, I just want to tell everyone about the place!

Everyone else~Thanks so much for all the lovely comments! I really appreciate it.

Loving your trip report and am echoing everyone else's comments on your travelogue site - it's fantastic.

Reading reports like this make me wonder how I'm ever going to survive until my September trip to Rome!

Have started reading, and your report is quite engrossing, Kristina. Marking it to thoroughly digest later (and to use for early planning of a possible trip to Rome next year!)

Fantastic, Kristina! I will take the time to savor your website this evening, but I wanted to let you know that I am thoroughly enjoying this trip report.

Kristina...

I'm glad to see your comments on Armando al Pantheon. I really want to have a meal there.

I was in Rome for Christmas and failed to note Armando al Pantheon was closed on Saturday, until I was standing at the front door! Live and learn! I ended up at another place not far away that was another Ekscrunchy recommendation!

I'll be back in Rome this Christmas and will be sure to make a reservation before I leave home!

Also, I'm LOVING your website...Amazing Detail!

My Hubby loved your website. "It's like we're there!" was his comment.

And it seemed to me that most of the polizia in Rome were oozing cuteness. And that Swiss Guard in your pic -- yummy!

Reading your report has been a lovely way to relax after a long day of screaming kids -- Thanks!

Kristina: I am so enjoying your trip report and your description of Armando al Pantheon put me over the edge. I got on line and sent in my request for a dinner reservation for our trip in May, for a Thursday night, naturally, for the Oxtail. I can't wait for the next installment of your report. Thank you. J

jdraper- about a week before you go, email them again and tell them you want to reserve an order of oxtail for your Thursday reservation. If not, you may not get one!

mebe-yes, the polizia were pretty cute too. Wait 'til I get to the story about one in the ladie's restroom at the Borghese gallery. I haven't written it yet, so don't let me forget.

LCI-Yes, Armando's is worth a trip and reservations are essential. They are really small.

Thank you for the reminder to reserve the oxtail as well. I marked my calendar so I will remember to do that before we go. No, the next installment please???

hey -- wondering if you ever did that free Angel Tour pantheon tour that you mentioned in one of your tidbits?

Dina-No, we didn't do the free Pantheon tour. We were there for 8 days and there was still so much on my itinerary we didn't do, I just have to go back!

Tuesday March 18, 2008

Vatican Museum

For breakfast, we do what will become our habit; coffee, foamed milk and fresh bread along with the optional yogurt or sometimes eggs.

Today we have a guided tour of the Vatican Museum scheduled at 10:30 AM through the museum itself. Before we left, I'd emailed for a reservation for a guided tour in English. The email address is not on their web site for some reason, but it does work: visiteguidate.musei@scv.va .
Tell them the date you want, how many people and the language of the tour. The tour costs 29.5 euro (regular admission is 14 euro), though the ticket says 25.5 I think there is now some sort of 4 euro surcharge.

We leave around 9:30 to walk over to the museum and about half way there I have a sudden sinking feeling; I've forgotten the print out of the email confirmation for the tour.
We decide to press on since we have not paid for this in advance, the worst thing that can happen is we are turned away, miss the tour and have to wait in line to go through on our own.

We arrive at St Peter's square, go though the colonnade to the right and begin following the outside wall of the Vatican around to the museum entrance. Almost as soon as we leave the square, the line begins and it goes the full width of the sidewalk, for the entire way around; almost a 1/2 mile (we think, it seems longer).

I'm really nervous now, thinking we may not get in, but there is a separate line for "groups" and a guy with a clipboard. We approach him and say we have reservations for the tour, but not the confirmation letter. He frowns and asks "Name?". I tell him and there it is, my name on the list! We all breathe a sigh of relief.

We wait another 10 minutes (as we are really early) and then are allowed to go inside to buy our tickets. There is a special line for reserved tour tickets and we must wait in that one and then another to pay. It's possible to pay with a credit card so we do and then wait in a special section for our guide. While waiting, J and T try to go check our coats, but the "check" area is only for large bags, not coats.

The guide shows up and issues everyone a headset and receiver so we can hear her talking and she won't have to shout. Of course, the museum is very crowded and we will have to struggle to stay near her during the tour- if she gets too far away or into another room, we lose reception.

Our guide's name is Tzetana and she explains she will lead us through the various rooms ending at the Sistine Chapel where she will leave us. However, she will explain the details of the chapel before we arrive. Photos are allowed throughout the tour, just no flash. No camera, no photos at all allowed in the Sistine Chapel.

The tour takes us outside for a moment to see some of the gardens and get a little history of the building, then back inside where Tzetana finds a display of the Sistine chapel to go over the details. Then we're off; we go out into the central courtyard and in and out of so many rooms and halls I cannot remember them all.

By the time we arrive at the Sistine Chapel I am exhausted. David and I spend about 15 minutes in there listening to the guards admonish everyone not to talk with a loud Shhhhhhhhh! every 3 minutes or so.
We agree to meet up later with J and T who want to spend more time in the chapel and in the museum. David and I want lunch and I want to see if I can find a local market I'd read about. J and T end up staying in the chapel for almost an hour and the have a have a "surprisingly great lunch (pasta, salad & boxed white wine!) in The Vatican Cafeteria" (according to J). They then explore The Vatican Museum and gift shop for another two hours or so and meet us later at home.

Lunch at Dal Toscano

It's about 1:30 when we exit the museum and by then, the line is nonexistent.
We look at my list of restaurants and sights and determine that we've probably missed the best of the market due to the late time so we opt to go straight to lunch. The closest place on the list which isn't a pizzeria is a restaurant called "Dal Toscano al Girarrosto".
The place is known for its big hunks of roasted meats, and while we see plenty on other diner's plates, we order lighter fare.
When we arrive, the place is about half empty, but quickly fills with a mix of mostly locals (businessmen, groups of friends, and even a few priests) and a small percentage of tourists.

We order a bowl of Pasta e Fagioli for David (excellent) and a Carciofo alla Romana for me. We also get Picatta di Vitello al Limone (Veal Picatta) for D and a pasta, Mezzemaniche alla Melanzane e Ricotta for me. The pasta is very al dente and also includes olives and a tomato sauce. It's very good, but I wish more more eggplant.
Our orders meet with the approval of the locals at the table next to us; an eighty-something woman and her daughter. Lunch with a bottle of beer, a bottle of water and the bread/cover and additional "service" was 46 euro.

An aside about the bread/cover charge you see in most restaurants in Italy: We wondered if they charge you even if you do not eat the bread. Indeed they do.
In fact, this restaurant was a bit confusing because the "baskets" of bread (small, medium and large), were listed on the menu with their corresponding prices.
In this case, we did not eat any of the 3 slices of bread in the basket, yet we were charged 3 euro ($4.50). We asked the waiter about this and he said (in a good natured way), "well, we don't charge you for the napkins and the plates!".
I think this is just a fundamental cultural difference for us. I work in the restaurant industry and of course, we do not charge for bread, but we serve it. The cost is built in to the menu items instead of being separate. This would make sense if the menu items in Italy were correspondingly less expensive, but they are not. Personally, I think to charge (extra or separately) for something a person does not touch or consume is unreasonable, but I understand this is way things are done there and I'm certainly not going to stop dining out when in Italy. Ok, rant over.

After lunch we walk back past St Peter's stopping to take a few more photos. Then, back to the apartment for a rest.

Late in the afternoon David and I walk back up to the Castel Sant 'Angelo to buy our Romapasses.
The Romapass allows entrance to two sites on their list for free and then discounted admission to others. It it valid for 3 days and includes a three day transportation pass good for busses, metro and regional commuter trains. It is not good for the Vatican museum or for the Leonardo Express to the airport.
The passes are 20 euro a piece and we wanted to buy them today because we will need them for our first use at 9AM Thursday morning at the Borghese Gallery and tomorrow we will be gone all day.
The purchase is easy and the castel looks so interesting I want to come back when we can use the pass to enter. On the way back to the apartment we stop at a small house wares store and buy 2 dishtowels as there are none in the apartment.

Kristina...

I'm interested to know if you felt the RomaPass was worthwhile. I am considering purchasing it when I am in Rome in December and was wondering what your thoughts were on it.

Thanks!

Kristina

I have a question, but first, comments: I'm loving your report and your trip website. Both are fabulous.

But I couldn't sleep last night for fear of being in the Scavi tour with a full bladder. I am freaked out.

Our tour is at 9:15 on Monday morning. We will have coffee and a roll then probably get a taxi or bus from Trastevere.

If we get to the Basilica in plenty of time, do you think we can go to the bathroom without lines (the one the seminarian took you to) before we check in to our Scavi tour, or is it inaccessible from the Scavi entrance where we show our email to the Swiss Gaurd?

And I wonder what the regular bathroom line is like at say, 5 to 9?

What a weird problem to have, but due to a health problem, I need to know.

Kristina? Anyone? Should I repost?

tuscan- Fear not. I'm sorry if I caused you undue stress.
Just try to get there with plenty of time to spare. The restrooms on the left side of the Basilica (the ones with the lines) probably won't be as crowded when you are there. We were there during Easter Week so it was very crowded. Hopefully they won't be that bad earlier in the morning.
In order to get to the restrooms on the right side of the Basilica, you will have to wait in line to get through the Basilica security, so that really doesn't make sense. And yes, it's really not accessable after you pass the Swiss Guards. You would have to leave and re-enter, I think.

LCI- Yes, I think the romapass is worth it. We used it for free entrance to the Borghese and ostia antica, so there it paid for itself. Then we got reduced admission to the colliseum and castel sant angelo (admission half off plus 1 euro), plus we must have used it for at least 6 bus rides (1 euro each) and the train out to Ostia, so I think it was a good value. I would have liked to use it to see more sights, but we just didn't seem to have the time.

Kristina,

Thanks for the feedback, I was leaning towards buying the RomaPass, now it's a definite!

Tuscanlifeedit,

I did the Scavi tour in December (Christmas week) and had an early start time like you. We got to the Vatican about 30 minutes early (8:30am-ish) and there were very few people in the piazza. I've got pictures of the basilica with no one in them that's how deserted it was!

There was no line for the public toilets to the left of the Scavi entry (near the Vatican post office). Now, this may have been the case since it was during the holidays (Dec. 28th,), it may be another story when you are there. When we finished our tour the piazza was much more crowded.

Enjoy your tour...I thought it was GREAT!

Ristorante Pancrazio

Tonight's dinner is at Ristorante Pancrazio where we'd visited yesterday to look at the ruins of the Theater of Pompey. When we arrive, the restaurant is practically empty and we are sat on the main floor near a cool caged in "cave" with dusty old bottles of wine. Apparently, they only seat the downstairs when very busy (something they'd told me when I made the reservation).

D and J both start with a Kir Royale and T with a Beer. I am saving myself for the wine and the waiter gives me a hard time. We can tell he's going to be a joker and he is, mugging for photos, taking our pictures, bringing us postcards of the restaurants (the one for me says "My Love!!"-Enzo and includes his email address). The man has no shame.

For the wine, we order another Sicilian, this time a Nero de Avola called Passo delle Mule, 2005.

For Primi, we order an Octopus Salad with Pesto and Potatoes, Steamed Clams, and Stewed Fava Beans with Peas and Artichokes. I very much like the octopus as it's perfectly cooked, J loves the clams and the fava beans are quite tasty.

For secondi, we order two pastas; Amatriciana Buccatini and Ravioli with artichokes. The waiter brings the pastas to the table and splits each onto 4 plates for us. Both pastas are fine, but the process of splitting them allows them to get cool by the time they reach the table.

For our main courses we have an order of Ossobucco, beef Tournedos w/Madiera and Fois Gras, and and some sort of Veal dish with melted cheese. We also get an order of mixed vegetables which comes to the table fried (suggestion of the waiter). Even though we all know he said "fried" we all envisioned something different. The ossobucco is good, the foie gras on the beef is a tiny quarter sized nugget and the veal is unmemorable. The fried vegetables are good, but we all wanted something a little more "healthy" so they go unfinished.

We did not have dessert (way too much food!) but did have a few glasses of Amaro, this time, the waiter's favorite "Monteverde".

Dinner for four was 181.50 euros.

This is a great trip report, please keep it coming.

Saving to read later...It's been over a year since I've been to Rome, and I still think about it every day!

http://www.wired2theworld.com/ROME2008Day3.html
This is the page with the photos from day 3.

Ok folks, future installments are going to take a bit longer as my posts have now caught up with my writing.
I calculate it takes me about 10-15 hours to do each "day" for both the writing and the photo post production, so bear with me.


I am working on day 4, our day in Orvieto...

Wednesday March 19, 2008

1:45 AM

CRASH! BANG! BOOM!

David jumps up and runs to the window in our room.
"What was that?" I say.
"An explosion!" he says.
I hurry out into the living room with the thought of turning on the TV or looking out the front window. We go to the window in front and can't see anything. My heart in pounding so hard in my chest, I'm certain David can hear it.

Just then, FLASH! BANG!
I'm certain we're going to die.
But it's only lightening, followed by the loudest thunder I've ever heard. Then more lightening which hits one of the buildings next to us, or somewhere close by, because all the lights go out the the buildings across the way. This also brings the girls out of their room and we all stand there for a moment completely bewildered.
Finally it sinks in that it's raining and this is a massive thunder and lightening storm sitting right over our heads. There is no time between flashes of lightening and the thunder for about half an hour. We all go back to bed, praying the lightening does not hit us.

Definitely not a way I'd want to be woken up while on vacation! I'm interested to see how this affects your travels.

Can we find our way?

Today is our day trip to Orvieto and we have reservations to pick up a car reserved through AutoEurope at the Villa Borghese parking structure which we know from previous experience is underground, underneath the park.

I have a print out from the Rome city transportation website which shows we need to take the 116 electric bus up to the Borghese Park. It even tells us which stop to get off at. So this should be easy, right? I also know we have to buy bus tickets before we get on the bus.

We're out of the apartment early, but later than we want to be due to lack of sleep. No time for breakfast or coffee.
First, we go to the news stand about a block from the apartment and they don't sell bus tickets.
Two blocks in the other direction and we find a Tabachi who does. Armed with the map, we actually find the right bus stop and we are in luck, there is a bus coming when we walk up. On board, we fumble a bit, trying to validate our tickets in the machine which sells them instead of the validation machine behind it. Finally, a kind local takes pity on us and shows us what to do. It's nice to know the "tourist bus" has a machine which sells tickets onboard for all us dumb tourists! Doh! We file this info away for future use (the machine only takes coins by the way). I believe only the small electric busses have this machine.

I'm so proud of myself and my planning until we get off the bus in the park in the middle of freaking nowhere.
Yes, there's the "street" where the rental place should be, but we are literally on top of it, with no clear way to figure out how to get underground from where we are.
Every trip must have a moment like this, a comedy of errors where you wander in circles saying , "I know it's here somewhere".
Twice we ask a young man in a snack kiosk for directions.
Finally, we end up walking down a ramp for motorbikes and wandering inside the enormous parking structure.
We figure out we have to go down one more level and go down some stairs which lock the doors once you are inside. We had to crawl through a mesh gate to get out. After what seems like years and with everyone is starting to get cranky, we find the car rental office.
Ask me now how to get there now and I still could not tell you.

The rental process goes smoothly, $97 pre-paid for a Fiat Punto 4-door with only 5000 k. on it. We're asked for David's passport and he hasn't brought it. Fortunately, this does not derail the day and the guy lets us have the car with a credit card and his CA driver's license.
By now, all of us need another stop on the Bathrooms of the World Tour. Of course, there is nothing at the AutoEuropa office, we have to go clear across the garage to where there is an an entrance to a shopping mall and supposedly a bathroom, only we can't find it. Finally we find it, and of course, there's no toilet paper in any of the stalls. I tell the girls "Wait here!" and run down the stairs into a coffee bar where I grab some napkins and get a dirty look from the barrista. Hey, a girl's gotta do what she's gotta do!
"Two for you, and two for you, and two for me".

Once we are in the car, David drives, I navigate. We don't have a decent map, only the one the rental place gave us with directions out of town. Looks easy too.
Yeah, you can guess what happens next. We somehow miss a turn on our way out of the park and end up spending 45 minutes trying to find out way back. They say "all roads lead to Rome", but whoever "they" are didn't have a clue about getting out of Rome.

Finally, we are on our way and out on the autostrada. Before we can even hit the toll road, we stop at an Autogrill we we have cappuccinos and grilled panini. It's been a long morning already and we did not have any breakfast before we left the apartment. In the autogrill I also buy a really good road map for Lazio in the hopes that we will be able to stop in some of the other small towns I wanted to see on our way back.

An aside: I love Italian AutoGrills.
What is an Autogrill? Think big truck stop, but instead of fast food, you've got at least a bar where you can order good coffee and grilled sandwiches. Some are even bigger with full scale cafeterias inside with decent affordable food. The mini-markets in them have a better cheese and meat selection than your local Whole Foods (only a slight exaggeration). The restrooms are clean and some have showers. I believe if we had these on our highways in the US, we'd have less road rage.

I also remember waking up to a thunder and lightening storm. Very exciting!

When we went to pick up our rental car at the Borghese location, we took a taxi. And it took our driver ages to find it in the underground parking lot maze.

DH and I had a heck of a time getting out -- so I'm curious to see how you guys did.

I loved your pictures of the Vatican museum. It has inspired me to risk the crowds and book the Vatican tour, if I can. I leave in 6 weeks...

You did get lost getting out! We keep heading INTO Rome instead of OUT -lol.

Kristina,

I can't wait to hear why you rented a car for Orvieto instead of just taking the train?? Did you end up with any time to stop at other towns?

Dayle-
We rented the car because when I calculated what it would cost for 4 people to take the train, it almost broke even.
Standard 2nd class fare is 15 euro each way. Unrestricted 2nd class could have cost us $180 for four. Discounted fares can be as low as 7 euro each way, if we could get them and if we wanted to go only on those times/trains.
Plus, the plan was to be able to stop in other towns and have the flexability to come and go as we pleased, not being tied to the train schedule.
You'll have to wait and see how it all worked out.

Great report....and I think I want to go on your next trip!

<When I ask one of the flight attendants why we do not have to fill out any arrival paperwork on the plane he says "Because we are a civilized country.">

Brilliant reply!

Thanks so much, Kristina. You're report is wonderful and brings me back to fall 2006 when I visited with my sister. I cannot wait to return to Rome. It was Sis' choice (I lobbied for Venice - which I love)and it was her birthday trip, so Rome it was..and I fell in love with it!

Great Report!!!!

Orvieto

By the time we arrive in Orvieto, it's almost noon. We park down at the bottom of the hill and take the funicular up, catching the waiting shuttle bus to the Piazza del Duomo. It necessary to buy a ticket for the funicular/shuttle and this can be done in the office at the car park. Parking is free.
Once in the piazza, we go the the tourist office, pick up some maps and get directions to one of the restaurant recommendations I have for lunch.

Trattoria Dell Orso

We meander though the streets, checking out some of the little shops, most of which are closing for lunch time. We arrive at Trattoria Dell Orso around 1 PM and decide we better stop for lunch now or risk missing it all together.

We are determined to make this a lighter lunch than normal. I order faro with vegetables (a type of thick barley soup). J and D order fresh fettuccine with mushrooms and truffles and T orders Fillete with a balsamic sauce. We get a half carafe of house red and a half carafe of house white and a bottle of water. The faro is very good, but the pasta is spectacular.

It's so good D and J order a third plate of it to share. After lunch we order a couple coffees, a lemoncello and an Amaro Montenegro. Both the drinks end up "on the house".

We spend a good deal of time talking to Ciro who runs the front of house and his partner Gabriele who is the chef. They both speak English well and have spent time in LA because Gabriele's sister lives in Santa Monica. They were both incredibly friendly and gracious. Lunch for four was 80. Thanks for buying, Jess!
Antica Trattoria dell Orso-Via della Misericordia 18-20, Tel: 07 63 341642, closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

I had to laugh at your description of trying to find the car rental place in the Borghese Gardens. We decided to return our car there during the trip, so I had not printed a map or gotten directions. My husband got the street address when we changed drop off locations, and as I was looking at my map, I thought it just didn't make sense - a car rental agency in the middle of a park? After driving in, out and around the park we were getting pretty frustrated and my h turned down what looked like an overgrown path in a fit of road rage and there we were in the parking garage with the car rental places.

After lunch we walk around some more, spending time in the small church and looking at the views.

David decides he wants to find a famous well he's been told we have to see and the girls want to go souvenir shopping.
I am outnumbered and realize my best laid plans are about to go awry. I must bow to Golden Rule #5 and "roll with it". I'm not going to see my other "cute towns" today. Oh well.
I don't have the patience to shop in every little store, so I set off with David to go find this well which is at the bottom of town near the top of the funicular. We agree to meet up with J and T at 5:40.

Before we separate, we do get a chance to go inside the famous Duomo which has reopened and is preparing for afternoon mass.

Pozzo di San Patrizio

David and I walk down to the "Pozzo di San Patrizio" which is also known as St Patrick's well. This is no ordinary well; it's gigantic and has a double helix staircase. One for ascending one for descending. It's 150 feet deep and almost 40 feet wide.

Donkeys were used to carry water up one set of stairs while others went down the other. There is a bridge to cross over to the other stairs at the bottom.
Of course, we had to go down all 248 steps and back up the other 248. Like most things built in the 1500's, the steps are wide, shallow and uneven; perfect for pack animals, not so easy for humans. Entrance fee was 4.5 euros. Considering this was my third time in Orvieto and I've yet to see anything other than the Duomo, it was certainly interesting.

While waiting for J and T, we investigated the fortification and little park next to the top of the funicular station. It's possible to climb up to the top ramparts and the view of the surrounding countryside is spectacular.

At this point it's almost 6PM so we decide the best thing to do is head back to Rome so we can return the car. Technically, we could keep it until tomorrow morning, but that would mean finding a place to park it safely and potentially getting a ticket for driving in the restricted historical center. One of the reasons I chose the Villa Borghese rental location is because they are open late (9:30 PM) and I prefer to have a human check the car back in, rather than just drop the keys.

The drive back was uneventful other than the stop at the huge AutoGrill which spanned over the highway for a coffee to keep David awake. The woman at the cash register yells at me for not knowing the name of my panini (one must pay first, telling the person at the register what you want and then bring the ticket to the bar). Oh yeah, and then there are the prostitutes on the highway from the ring road to the center of Rome. How do I put this delicately? Let's just say they were shockingly underdressed for the weather and I am surprised there weren't dozens of car accidents caused by "looky-loo" drivers. These girls are not shy.

After dropping off the car, we walked out of the garage and tried to find the bus stop again. We ended up walking quite a distance, but eventually found a stop way outside the park down on the Via Veneto (I think, it was late...).

Kristina

After seeing your blog, reading your report thus far, and looking at your Google map, I was feeling like a planning failure. I thought I was good at this.

Then I read about your car rental and trip to Orvieto.

Just joking with you, of course, but it's nice to know that you're human.

kristina,

you motivated me to try and make my own google map, but I can't figure out how you found all those cool icons -- the fork/knife, the snowflake, etc. All I can find is a basic blue marker.

Thanks,
Dina

oops -- posted too soon. i figured it out myself!

Dina-The google map is addictive. The problem is that there's no easy way to print the information, especially if you have a lot of pins.

Enoteca il Goccetto

It was late, so instead of dinner we chose to check out some wine bars. Our plan was to go to a few, but we ended up staying at one just around the corner from the apartment.
Enoteca il Goccetto is a tiny little place with a nice wine by the glass list on a chalkboard behind the counter. I think we had almost everything on it. They also have some light snacks; meats, cheeses, marinated vegetables, etc. There are maybe 10 small tables and the walls are lined floor to ceiling with bottles of wine.

We each start with a different glass of wine:
K: Badiola, 2005 Mazzai (4 euro)
D: Barolo, 1993 Poderi Colla (10 euro!)
J: Pinot Grigio 2006 Rittata (4 euro and her favorite wine of the trip!)
T: Gati Franciacorta Brut (6 euro)

When we say we want to get some food to go with the guy behind the counter suggests he make us up a meat and cheese platter. What we get is a big wooden platter covered in prosciutto, salami, mortadella, spicy salami, gorgonzola, brie, truffled goat cheese and peccorino. We have no idea what it's going to cost and later take bets. Jessica comes closest as it turns out to be 25 euro.

Next, we get some artichokes, stuffed peppers (some with tuna, others with anchovies) and a diced tomato dish along with the second round of wine:
K: Dolcetto 2006 Dogliani (4 euro)
D: Crognolio 2004 Toscana (7 euro)
J: Segreta 2006 Planeta (3 euro)
T: Bruno Giacosa Spumante (4 euro)

Of course, we all get to taste each other's wine and Tris writes down all the wine in her little wine notebook, complete with a drop of each wine on the page. All together, wine and food for 4 was 81.50 euro. Enoteca il Goccetto (Via dei Bianchi Vecchi, 14, Tel:06 6864268)

Kristina,

I am utterly in love with your report. Can't stop looking at all the pictures, they are conjuring up such good memories and a huge, huge desire to book a flight back to Rome.

I can not believe how organized you are, I bet your house is really clean too ; )

Thank you so much for sharing all that you have, it's wonderful!

Eileen

If you had Roma passes, why did you need to buy separate bus tickets for the electric bus to the Borghese park? I thought the Roma Pass included bus transportation.

I'm enjoying your report, and envying your commitment to preparing it.

ecat-I wish my house were really clean, but it's not. I spend too much time on the computer (plus I hate cleaning).

butnotrmpt-Yes, we had romapasses, but we did not validate the the transportation passes until the next day. While you don't have to use the transportation passes at the same time as the romapasses, it just so happened that the best use of them for us was on the same 3 days.

Well, this is the last of what I have already prepared, link to photos from day 4:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/ROME2008Day4.html
It may be a few days until I have more ready.

Coming up, day 5, the Borghese Gallery and another fatastic wine bar.

I'm loving your report! I've been reading it on your website since the pictures really make the report come to life.

I'll be in Rome this September, but reading your story makes me want to be there right now!!

Loving your trip report! All of the details, prices, etc. that you include are very useful. Thanks for sharing.

Kristina, This is a great report, and so is your website! We spent a week in Rome last year and loved it so much more this time than our first trip, because this past time we stayed a week and really got to know the city. It seems like this is what you were able to do, too.

Where's your next trip going to be?

Your website is great. We were in Rome at the same time, staying in an apartment in Trastevere. We also experienced the thunder and lighting storm. The Giancolo with the statue of Garibaldi was right above us. It felt as though Garibaldi himself had been hit by a bolt of lightning. Looking forward to the rest of your trip.

What a great report and I love your website, it is so creative. Thanks!

We discovered the Auto Grills on a bus trip through Italy last year. You are right. They are great. Many have a cafeteria that is very good. Especially remember one on the way to Milan. Can't imagine these being our truck stops here in the US. Don't remember these grills being mentioned before in reports.

Also enjoyed Orvieto,but did not go down all those steps to the well.

Just read you Spain report. Very helpful as my daughter and I are leaving for Southern Spain April 24,but will also go to Lisbon.

Samsaf-Yes, being there a week was ideal. I'm not sure "where next". I was hoping to go to Vietnam this summer but wasn't able to score the FF tickets for my dates, so that may have to wait.

Opaldog-wasn't that the scariest storm? Tris' mom told us it made the news back in the US.

Maryanne-Enjoy Spain! It's one of my favorite places! And yes, I love Autogrills. I wish we had them here.

I hope you make it to Vietnam where I have been 3 times. One of my favorite places in the world,but Rome maybe more. Love your post about Rome. You have a real passion for sharing travel to spend so much time to share with the rest of us lovers of travel. Thanks again.

Absolutely beautiful web-site. Leaving for 1st trip to Italy (Rome) in about a month. You have made it more real for me than you can possibly imagine. Any advice for a 1st timer? Thank you.

znstravels-Thanks! I'm so glad you found it helpful.
Hmmm...first time advice? Take a deep breath and jump in!
How much time do you have?
I think one of the things which worked best for us was the luxury of time. We had one "big" thing planned for each day and let the rest fall where it did. We didn't try to fit too much in and get overwhelmed. I've seen people try to pack as much into 3 days as we did in eight. Inevitably, they can't do it all and are disappointed. I think these are the same people who come away thinking Rome is dirty, crowded and chaotic. Yes, it can be, but it's also so much more if you take the time to find it.
So, have a loose plan and then follow "golden rule #5".

Kristina, your homepage is amazing! As for Rome, I agree that you need a week. This past Feb, my partner and I spent a week there. The first 3 days we saw everything. On the 4th day we sat in the park got the map out and said OK now what. We got up from the bench, tossed the map and started our trip. The last 4 days was the highlight of our trip.

Thursday March 20 , 2008

Borghese Gallery

This is another early morning for us because we have 9AM reservations for the Borghese Gallery. We are a little better prepared for the bus this morning however. We know where to go and we know we can use our RomaPass transportation passes. We validate our passes when we get on the bus and they are now good for 3 days. The ride is easy and much less crowded than yesterday morning for some reason.

As the bus enters the park we start looking for the museum. We are the only people left on the bus and we're a little uncertain as to exactly where the correct stop is for the mueseum. We think the driver will stop but realize one second too late that he won't. We push the button to ring the bell to indicate we want to get off and he keeps driving.
Now really? We are four obvious tourists, on the "tourist bus", at the end of the line and we don't want to get off? Is this his sick sad way of getting revenge on us for the fact that he hates his life because he drives in circles all day?
We get off at the next stop and walk back. It isn't that far, but we all think he did it deliberately and there will be future karmic payback.

The Villa Borghese is a beautiful building and there are a fair amount of people milling about outside when we arrive.
We go though the open door at the bottom, underneath the staircase, and there is the ticket counter. We wait in line a few minutes and present the cashier with our reservation print out and RomaPasses. He validates the passes, hands us our free tickets and recommends we use our 2nd visit at the Coliseum.
We're told no bags at all can come in so we must wait in another line to check our camera bags and purses. They do not check coats, so I keep mine on with my "wallet on a string" underneath. I see them giving a woman a small plastic bag in which to carry her wallet.

bookmark
I'm sorry, I read that this is rude to do, but I'm learning my way around this site, and do want to return to this helpful thread (thanks so much Kristina, haven't visited your web site yet).
Why does 'bookmarking' mess up the thread? I couldn't follow that reasoning. is that what all the 'bookmark' posts w/ smiley faces are? I thought they were just complimenting the originator of the thread that they like it enough to save.
I have noticed that replies i've posted (genuine replies), if I click on my user name, come up for me easy to access.

soliera

Bookmarking is not rude--it's more a point of debate among those who post here. Some people think that bookmarking a thread in that way makes it unnecessarily long. Others see it s you do--a handy way to mark a thread and comment to the OP.

My feeling: Until Fodors create with a better, equally easy way to mark threads or a better search function, I will continue to bookmark in that way.

Soliera-Personally, I don't mind if people bookmark by posting, especially when a thread is current. It's only irritating when someone "tops" a very old thread by doing it.
I also think if someone is going to bookmark by posting, they should say something nice about the post when they do it (which you did, thanks!)

Anyway, I hope to get some more writing done this weekend, but I'm currently in the SFO airport awaiting a flight to go see my Grandmother who has just been placed into hospice care. We'll see how it goes...

Kristina, I am very sorry to hear about your grandmother!

We are going to be in Rome for 5 nights; 4 full days. Prior to Rome we are spending 12 days in the countryside of Tuscany.

Thanks for your advice and now off to your web-site to read next installment

Kristina: Wonderful post. I can't wait to look at the photos.

Your grandmother will be in our prayers.

Bookmarking...I like your travel web site...nicely done!

Hi everyone, I'm back.
Thanks for the well wishes for my Grandmother. She had last rites administered today. I really wish I'd thought to light a candle for her in St Peter's when we were there but we had no idea this would happen so soon. Still, it was good I went and saw her.

Ok, on with the report...

We all decide to get the Audio Tour for 5 euro, so we have to wait in another line. It's now 5 minutes to 9, but the line is moving pretty fast. In line ahead of us are a group of Americans, obviously all traveling together. I can't tell if they are on a tour or not. They are all "of a certain age" and if you were to ask me, judging by the accent, from the south, most likely Texas. While we are waiting, they are talking loudly, but having a good time. The line moves.
Then I hear,
"Do you take American?"
I turn to Jessica and say out the side of my mouth, "She did not just say that"
"No Madam, we only take euros"
"Well, I just don't know if I have enough. Do you take credit cards?"
"No madam, we only take cash."

I take a very deep breath and then another. We are all appalled. Then I try to be gracious and say to Jess (who looks as if the top of head is going to explode), "maybe she's never been out of the country before and doesn't know any better". I'd really like to give her the benefit of the doubt.
(But seriously people, why the heck would they take American dollars anywhere in Rome? Would a museum in Houston take Euros? How about Thai Baht or Chinese Yuan? Sigh.)

We get our audio guides and pay our euros with no problem. I really did want to ask if he'd take Baht for it as I'd just found some in my bag but wasn't sure if the joke would translate. We agree to meet J and T at the end of our 2 hour allotted time at the gift shop and we all go outside and upstairs into the museum.

Of course, the museum is very crowded with everyone starting at the same time. David and I stick together, going through the first 5 or 6 rooms before deciding to skip ahead and go upstairs to the Painting gallery. This was a good move as it was much less crowded. We finished the second half of the downstairs last. I won't go into detail on all of the sculptures and paintings, but it is certainly worth the visit.
Bernini is truly the master that everyone says he is. No one could turn marble into living, breathing flesh like he could. I love both the Apollo and Daphne and the Rape of Persephone. Canova's sculpture of Pauline Borghese (Napoleon's sister) makes me want to reach out and touch the chaise she is reclining on because the marble cushion looks so soft. I also think Pauline looks a little bit too much like her brother from certain angles, but that's a different story.

Besides the "main" sculptures in the center of each room which are roped off, the rooms have sculptures up against the walls and in corners. Of course, one is not supposed to touch or take pictures of any of the sculptures. More than once we saw people (including our Texan friends) leaning up against the sculpture bases. At one point David says to someone, "Please, do not lean on the Bernini". Later, we see a man taking pictures with his cell phone.
Coming soon, the top ten of "Bad Tourist Behavior"....

We end up downstairs where there is a bar/cafe next to the small gift shop. We each get a cappuccino and a pastry and wait for J and T. I go into the ladies room and there are three stalls and two women in line, Americans who are talking to each other. One of the stall doors opens and out saunters an absolutely gorgeous man with shoulder length dark hair, wearing a police uniform. The two women in front of me are completely incredulous, and I think one even says "Well, I never!"
This has to be one of the better stops on the "Bathrooms of the World Tour". I think, "He was beautiful. Nice eye candy." and appreciate every moment of it. It still makes me smile every time I think about it.

After the Borghese, we debate what to do next. It's tempting to wander through the park, but if we want to have lunch, we'll need to go someplace else. I don't have much in the way of restaurant recommendations in the area, but there's one place which looks interesting called Enoteca Buccone. We agree that we're going to walk down to the Spanish Steps first. It's a longer walk then it looks on the map, but I choose the street that brings us to the top, right in front of the Hassler Hotel. We spend some time up there, admiring the view and trying to avoid the endless annoying street vendors.

We wander down the steps, pausing in the middle to take a photo for a woman who is traveling alone and check out all the other tourists including several nuns and a group of young men from Spain. Suddenly, the clouds roll in and it begins to rain fat drops. In an instant we are in a deluge which then turns to, yes, hail. It's crazy.

Both D and I had talked up the Mc Donald's at the Spanish Steps as being so cool and unusual so we head there to get out of the rain. It's just not as cool as I remember. Oh sure, there's an espresso bar, marble everywhere, Roman columns, a fountain, and statues, but in the end, it's just a McDonalds. We buy nothing and head back out into the rain to find the enoteca.

Enoteca Buccone
It's a long walk down the Via Condotti to Via Ripetta, but the trip is worth it. Enoteca Buccone is a small place, about 3 blocks from the Piazza del Popolo. The entire place is lined floor to ceiling with shelves of wine, olive oil and vinegars. There is a tiny room in the back with a few tables and a smaller area with only four tables, where we sit, surrounded by the wine.
We each order a glass (Brunello, Barolo and Chardonnay) and breaking our rule of "everyone must order something different", we order two tortellini and two Buccone salads. The salad is just what I want after days of eating heavier foods. We also get a slice of "torta" with artichokes and a plate of mixed grilled vegetables which are lovely.

After lunch, we ask for some Amaro Lucano and the waiter asks us if he can recommend another. It is Amaro Nonino and we like it so much David and Tris each buy a bottle to take back to the US. The wine, food, 3 coffee, 2 glasses of amaro and a lemoncello are 88 euro for four. The bottles of Amaro Nonino are 16 euro each.
Enoteca Buccone, Via di Ripetta, 19-20, Tel: 06 3612154, Lunch every day except Sunday.

Bumping this up for those who did not see the new posts last night.

Hope to get more done tonight, but must do taxes too!

I'm in the throes of tax work, too, but thanks for a lovely distraction

From Buccone, we walk over to the Piazza del Popolo to check it out. It's huge, flanked on one side by "twin" churches ("fraternal", because they are slightly different in order to fit into the space).

We're standing at the fountain, and I notice a large banner for an exhibit of Leonardo da Vinci's machines. I'd read about this exhibit online, but everything I could find indicated that it was closing at the end of February. We go over to investigate and it turns out the exhibit is alive and well, with no plans of closing. The curator tells us the other exhibit we'd come across in the centro storico is an imposter, with fewer pieces to view.

Since we're here now, we decide to see this one, but first we have to find an ATM for J and T. There are several banks outside the Piazza, but Tris' card will not work. Fortunately, J's will work, as will ours.
On the way back into the Piazza, we pass a young woman on her cell phone and hear a very whiny, "It's been like a week - I haven't been like this for the whole semester!" It strikes us all as a very odd statement and we all get a giggle. I figure she's an exchange student on the phone with her mother. She's been sick and she's trying to reassure her mother she's fine. I know that tone, and it's one reserved by exasperated daughters only for their mothers.

The da Vinci exhibit is really interesting. There are models of around 70 of his inventions, many of which can be moved and touched by the viewer. He invented many things which weren't actually built or created until hundreds of years later; a prototype for a helicopter, a bicycle, a scuba-type underwater breathing apparatus, many machines utilizing ball bearings, etc.

What a wonderful read. We'll be in Rome for several days this June and plan to take the family - teens, 40 somethings and 60/70 somethings there for a week next year. You have included something for everyone. Thanks,

FLJudi

After the exhibit, the girls go in search of a bridge where young lovers leave a lock along with declarations of their love, and us old married folk talk a very long walk back to the apartment. I know from my bus map that buses run one direction up one side following the river, and the other direction down the other side. What I did not know was that the buses do not run south on the other side of the river north of the Vatican. This was a poor assumption on my part. I thought we'd be able to pick up a bus, but instead we had to walk all the way back. It wasn't that bad and was fairly picturesque.

About two hours later, we get a call from J and T saying they had taken the bus to their bridge, but could not find a bus back. Surprise! They too have a very long trek back to the apartment and arrive exhausted, about an hour before we need to leave for dinner.

Dinner #2 at Armando al Pantheon

Tonight we have reservations at Armando al Pantheon so we can try the oxtail. We arrive and our table is ready and waiting for us.

Jessica wants to try an antipasti made with Smoked Herring, red beans, olives, red onion and a balsamic vinaigrette. It sounds odd but was really, really good and the fish was not as strong as herring sometimes can be. Tris also orders Stracciatelle (egg drop soup) which has great flavor. We have another order of the excellent spagatini alla verde and an order of gnocci alla gorgonzola which was a little heavy.

For our main courses we get two orders of Oxtail; it's tender, meaty, and so delicious, very much like Osso Bucco. We also get duck with prunes, grilled beef strips with arugula on top, two orders of artichokes and I finally get to try the vegetable puntarelli, which comes like a salad with an anchovy dressing. It's slightly bitter and with the salty dressing, I love it. For wine, we have a bottle of La Scola Gavi di Gavi Bianco and a 1/2 bottle of House Red (mediocre). Some guests at another table offer us a taste of their wine; Valle Reale Montepulciano de Abruzzo and it's excellent. Dinner for 4 is 146.50 euros including coffee and amaro.

After dinner we walk over to Frigidarium but it is closed! We are shocked! Something has to be wrong...more to come....

David and I make a long late night trek in an unsuccessful quest for "other" gelato. Nothing is open near the house and we return defeated, with no gelato.

The lovely polizia in the bathroom -- did he KNOW he was in the women's bathroom and did he look embarrased when he left?

Did he leave alone?

Oh yeah, I think he knew where he was. He took his time walking over to the sink to wash his hands. He did not look embarassed at all.
And no, he was alone.
Gosh, if he hadn't been, that would have been an even better story.

I love that he washed his hands.

Photos are now on my website for Day 5:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/ROME2008Day5.html

Kristina,

What bus did you take from the Vatican to the Ponte Milvio?

Thanks!

Tug-My friends took a bus from Piazza del Popolo to the bridge. I'm not sure which one. If you want me to find out, I can ask, but it's not from the Vatican...

Great report, fabulous photos - now I want to go to Rome!

Lee Ann

Your photos are fantastic! Wish I was back in Rome right now...

a la cobbie....your photos are fantastic. we'll be back in Rome in Dec ...can't come fast enough.

Thanks so much for all the nice comments about the photos. I put a lot of effort into it.
And maybe the new camera has something to do with it too!

Friday March 21 , 2008

Testaccio Market and Ostia Antica

The day starts with another breakfast of pancetta and eggs. The bread, bought the day before is absolutely horrible. Like much Italian bread it has no salt and to me, is tasteless. This particular loaf is also so hard, (it was when I bought it so it's not because it's 12 hours old) it could be used as a doorstop.
Outside, the weather is beautiful with blue skies and it's fairly warm. We all leave the house with nothing more than light jackets and no sweaters.

The first course of action is the bus to Testaccio to see the covered market there. I love markets. I love the beautiful array of produce, the gleaming fish, the wet floors, the smell of meat and flowers. This is a real locals market where people come to do their daily shopping. It's not for tourists except for food geeks like me. We see no other non-locals except a small film crew shooting what looks to be a food TV show. The market is located in the Piazza Testaccio.
We wander about for ½ an hour looking at produce and fish, cheese and salami, and stop in a small stall selling magnets, buttons and comic books. J and T buy X-Men comics in Italian for a friend and David buys a few magnets with interesting graphics. I am content with taking pictures.

Volpetti

From the market we walk over to a deli I'd read about called Volpetti (Via Marmorata 47, Open mon-Sat, closed Sundays). This is a very small place packed with more delicacies than it's possible to take in at one time. I am overwhelmed with choice.
There's no shortage of offers of tastes of just about anything. They have a case with only goat cheese in it and David and Tris park themselves there while J and I deal with our lunch order.
One of the guys behind the counter offers to make us sandwiches which is exactly what we wanted for our trip out to Ostia Antica. At first he offers sandwiches of buffalo mozzarella and prosciutto on pizza bianca. This sounds great, but I ask if we can have each sandwich with a different meat and he agrees.
We end up with the prosciutto and mozzarella, one bresaola, one mortadella, and one with spicy salami. He cuts them into four pieces and and places it on a big paper platter wrapping it all up for us. We also get some marinated eggplant and marinated sardines. He asks if we want wine but I veto it. I need break from the wine. Plus we have no wine opener or glasses with us. Our lunch to go is 17 euros and we're out the door.

Kristina: I am enjoying your trip report and can't wait to be in Rome at the end of May. You have provided so much useful information. Thank you. Jackie

Kristina: Our trip sounds somewhat similar to yours in that we were there at basically the same time and we also did some of the same things. We were at Ostia Antica on Wednesday, March 19th. It was sunny and warm. We left for home on friday, March 21st. It was sunny and bright when we walked around the morning of our flight. I think I know where you are going with this when you refer to how you were dressed the morning of your trip to Ostia Antica.

Jackie-Thanks! Let me know if I can answer any questions.

Opaldog-I think you caught my foreshadowing.

In June,2006, it rained on us when we were at the Spanish Steps, too (had hailed on us an hour before while surreying in the Borghese park)....only we actually had a snack at that McDonalds. All the "charming" little places were packed, so we had coke (with ice!!!) and fries at McDonalds. It kept us dry for a while, at least!

My kids talked quite a bit about the AutoGrills, but you did a better job of explaining.

Using instructions from the thread on the Fodor’s message board by poster Paradise Lost,
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=34619236
(thanks!) to get to Ostia Antica, we walk to the Pyramid metro and train station which is only a few blocks from Volpetti. There really is an ancient Pyramid there built in 12 BC by a wealthy Roman named Cauis Cestius as his tomb. How egocentric was this guy? It is so odd and out of place. At the train station we use our transportation passes from the Romapass to get on a train to Ostia.

By the time we get off the train about a half hour later, the weather has turned freezing cold, grey, and threatening to rain. What happened to my sunshine? We press on and walk the 3 blocks or so to the entrance of Ostia Antica. Entrance is free with the 2nd use of our RomaPass, or normally 6.5 euro. There are no audio tours available, but it is possible to buy a small guidebook there (I think with same info I printed out online).

An aside: Before we left home I went to the official Ostia Antica website (http://www.ostia-antica.org/) and copied their guide along with some other info I'd found online and made my own little Ostia guidebook. I did this because I'd read they often do not have audio tours available, which turned out to be true.

Ostia Antica

Ostia Antica is a fantastic site but it’s getting colder and windier by the moment. We love the theater, the mosaic tile floors, having the ability to walk though almost all of it without restriction. About half way through the site we reach the cafeteria and see if we can eat inside out of the cold. It’s crowded but we find a table and it’s nice an warm inside. We purchase enough water, soda, coffee, wine and dessert to justify taking the table for our picnic. Our Volpetti lunch is wonderful and I think the envy of others at the tables around us. The cafeteria food looks pretty good too however so eating there is also an option.

After lunch we walk a little more but shortly, it’s just too windy and bitter cold to keep going. I think we only get to see about half of the site, and someday I want to go back for sure.

We take the train back to Pyramid and then the bus back to the apartment. We all take a rest but not before David says he wants to try to eat a restaurant we’d eaten in our last time in Rome called Osteria ar Galletto. It’s a place my mother and I had found on a previous trip. I don’t have the number, but there is a phone book in the apartment and not surprisingly they are in it. I call from my cell phone and ask if the person answering the phone speaks English. He does not, so I try again in Italian and manage to secure a reservation for 8 PM tomorrow night.

Around 5PM we get up to go for a walk and do a little shopping on the same street as Frigidarium. Jess buys a super cool brown leather coat with a faux fur collar in a vintage clothing store. The rest of us try stuff on here and there, but nothing works. However, we do stop in a liquor store and buy bottles of Amaro Lucano to take home for 12 euro each.

We go to Frigidarium and find our friend Fabrizio there with his wife, Italia. We ask why he was closed so early last night and he says it's because he had an accident on his motorbike; someone hit him with a car! He's fine, but a little shaken and his wife looked worried. But all was well and we each get some gelato and converse in our struggling Italian with him for a while before walking around some more.

Kristina...

I hope you will get to return to Ostia Antica. It was one of the highlights of my trip last December.

Fortunately we had a glorious day there, sunny and not cold. And we did have lunch in the cafeteria there and I was pleasantly surprised, the food was really rather good there.

Loving your report, I'm looking forward to reading about your experience with Francesca Caruso, we had her as a guide for the Coloseum and Forum and thought she was terrific.

Pizzeria Baffetto

By now, it's early dinner time and some of us (David) are hungry but we're not all in the mood for the huge feasts we've been having. Five days of nonstop eating and drinking are beginning to take their toll. So, since we are right there, it's starting to rain, and there's not much of a line, we choose to have dinner at the famous Pizzeria Baffetto. Every time we'd been by there in evenings past, there's always been a huge line. But I was sceptical, because I'd read mixed reviews. Plus, I refuse to wait more than ten minutes to eat anywhere, just as a matter of principal.

We get lucky, and are ushered in very quickly, much to the dismay of the four German ladies who are waiting nearby. They are not in the "line" and therefore are ignored by the guy manning the door. I'm happy because now it is dumping rain and we get very lucky with a table for four right next to the action, where the pizzas are being made. I can't tell how large the place is because it has many small rooms, but the rate at which they are putting out pizzas leads me to believe it's quite large. We sat for 45 minutes before our pizzas came and we must have watched them make 40-50 pizzas within that time.

As I said, we weren't that hungry, so we ordered 2 pizzas, one regular, one large, and a small vegetable salad. We also ordered 3 beers and a bottle of water. The waiter seemed visibly disappointed with our "meager" order. I know in Italy, typically everyone gets their own pizza, but we just weren't hungry enough for that.

For the pizzas, we ordered the "baffetto" with everything (tomato, mozzarella, mushrooms, sausage, green peppers, onions, artichokes and an egg in the middle) and the "vegitariana" with eggplant and zucchini flowers. It was really fun to watch the guys making the pizza. One would roll out the dough (no flipping and spinning in the air here) and the other would put on the toppings and put them in the oven. These guys were serious and would do 5 at a time.

While waiting, we spot the man himself, Sr. Baffetto. He's an elderly man with large glasses, working the room, talking to everyone, helping seat the tables. We know it's him from the cartoon portrait of him on the wall.

Jess and I share the salad. The pizzas arrive and are good, with an exceptionally thin crust. My personal preference is for a thicker crust pizza, but these were just fine. We had a couple more beers and two orders of "tiramisu" which came in small glass bowls. My recommendation would be to skip the dessert here and go across the street to Frigidarium. When the server dropped the check, he made sure to tell us no fewer than three times, in as many languages, that "service is not included".

As we go to leave, Baffetto is there and has to give each of us girls a big hug and a kiss. I swear if I hadn't turned my head, the man would have kissed me on the lips! You could tell he was quite the Romeo in his day and still adorable.
In all, the pizza is decent and it was a fun experience sitting where we did watching it made. If we'd had to sit in another room, I don't know how I'd feel. I don't think it's worth a trip across town, but not a bad choice if you're in the area. Dinner for 4 was 46 euro (plus tip). Via del Governo Vecchio, 114.

Tonight is good Friday and back at the apartment, we contemplate trekking over to the Colosseum to see the Pope and the Stations of the Cross. But it's pouring rain, and after turning on the TV, and finding it televised on CTV (of course!) we decide we can see it better from home. The people chosen to carry the cross through the various stations get soaked. The Pope stays dry at a distance under a canopy.

Kristina, WOW on your report, I finally had a chance to read it and so entertaining, have just read it all in one sitting. I love your installment titles.

You are so right about those rules, 2 and 3 hit home! BTW love the website!

Kristina,

I'm glad to hear Pizzeria Baffetto wasn't too bad. I'll definitely be a budget traveler on this upcoming trip, so this seems like a good option!

Laartista-Hola chica! How are the preparations going for the move to BCN?
Glad you like the web site. Make sure you check the photos for day 6 (not up yet, hopefully later today). I have some cool pictures of the mosaics floors of the bath houses out at Ostia.

Cafe-Yes, Baffetto wasn't bad, and not that expensive. In general, pizza isn't anywhere. Are you staying in an apartment? If so, the grocery stores are stocked with fab food and if you can, get out to Volpetti. Also, there's a trattoria that we ate at on Sat. which was really good and affordable too, so stay tuned!

Hi-Day 6 is now posted on my website. I know I didn't write a lot about Ostia Antica, but there are lots of photos there. Plus, pictures of Baffetto's pizza and the man himself! Not to mention the Testaccio market and Volpetti...yum, wish I could be there now!

http://www.wired2theworld.com/ROME2008Day6.html

The pix are great Kristina. It always amazes me when I hear someone at an art show say, " oh, mosaics are out". I always say OUT? they've been in for thousands of years! It's crazy how well preserved they are.

To answer your question, yep BCN still on pushed back til June cause been so busy here, but am getting siked and nervous at same time.

Thank you, Kristina, for sharing your experiences and bringing them to life by sharing your photos. Loved all your details.

Wow, Kristina, this has to be the best trip report I've ever read, not to mention your fabulous photos. You took some of the same shots I tried for at the Pantheon, etc. Love your restaurant and wine reports, and I know there's more to come but wanted to say thanks! Now I wanna go back!!

Laartista-Mosaics will never be "out". If you go to Rome after you move to BCN (and you should!) make sure you go into St. Peter's. All the huge "paintings" in the side chapels were replaced with mosaics in the 1800's. They are incredible and almost impossible to tell because they are so detailed.

Janeyre and Sheri-Thanks so much for the nice comments.
Yes, more to come! Must get working on it...
Day 7 includes the Forum and the Colosseum tour with Francesca Caruso.

Saturday March 22, 2008

Swimming though the Colosseum and the Forum

Today is our day to tour the Coliseum and the Forum with Francesca and we need to be there by 9:00 AM. We wake up late to pouring rain and not enough time to make breakfast. At 7:45 I get a call on my cell phone. It’s Francesca, saying the weather is bad and if we want, we can “wiggle out” of the tour. "Nope", I tell her, "we’re all in."

I get out the bus map I printed before leaving home (you can get a PDF here) and see that we can take a bus from about a block away straight to the Coliseum. Once again, a bus appears right as we walk up. We get there and of course we’re very early. Another check of the map and it looks like the church of San Peitro in Vinculo is nearby so we’re off and walking, looking for it. We find a church, but it’s closed and I don’t know if it’s the right one or not. Instead, we head off to find a bar for coffee. Because it’s raining, it’s very crowded, but we manage to snag a tiny table and get coffee and pastries. We finish with enough time to spare to walk back to the Colosseum Metro where we are supposed to meet Francesca.

She is there at the appointed time; a very perky, petite blond with bright blue eyes. We learn that Francesca’s mother is American and her father is Sicilian. She was raised in Rome and speaks both English and Italian fluently. Rick Steves recommends her in his guidebooks and she often leads his tours locally when they are in Rome. She can be reached at this email address: chris.fra@mclink.it At the time of our tour, her rate was 45 euro per hour.

We start off in front of the Colosseum in the middle of a downpour. Francesca is very passionate about Roman history and asks us to set aside our preconceptions and imagine Rome in the way she presents it. The security line outside the Coliseum is enormous, filled with busloads of people on tours. Somehow she angles us into a shorter line and we get through quickly to the ticket area where she purchases our tickets with our RomaPasses for a discount (6.50 euro).
Inside, Francesca explains to us the history of the Colosseum and debunks some of the myths (no, there were no mock naval battles fought here and gladiators only fought each other, never animals). She tells us that the emperors would let the public in for free to show their largess and to promote their conquests in far off lands by showing captured slaves, exotic animals, and recreating battle scenes. The wealthy had the equivalent of "season tickets" with their names engraved on the marble seats in the best location (the "50 yard line"). Because it's raining so hard, I have to put my camera away and end up with very few photos and none at all of the iconic exterior. This just means I have to go back someday in better weather!

Ooops. It should be Swimming "Through" the Forum...

When will we ever get the ability to correct our posts?

Your report is just wonderful! Bookmarking for future rainy-day reading.

Thank you for putting so much time and effort into this.

Thanks Debbie!

Tour of Forum, continued...

After the Colosseum, we head over to the Forum, stopping first at the Arch of Constantine where Francesca explains the different styles of sculpture on the Arch. Oddly enough, the more refined carvings come from a much earlier era. There used to be an entrance to the Forum near the Colosseum, but it is now closed because the Forum is no longer free to the public. Entrance now requires admission, combined with the same ticket as the Colosseum. She told us the reasoning was not to make more money, but to keep out the rampant pickpockets and help control vandalism. We entered at the Largo Romolo and Remo entrance and then walked up to the Arch of Titus to begin.

As we walk through the rest of the Forum it continues to pour rain on us. At one point, we stop at the place Caesar was cremated. There is a couple there, taking photos of each other. The man puts his camera on a mini-tripod and sets it on a stone which is part of the entrace to the cremation area. Francesca is appalled. The couple is speaking Spanish, so David tells the guy (in Spanish) he should not be setting his tripod on the 2000 year old ruins. The guy feigns ignorance. David presses on a bit and the guy blows us off. Francesca is clearly irratated, but we move on, choosing to pick a different battle. Francesca tells us stories of bad tourist behavior, one of which included a drunk tourist urinating on the ruins (another reason it is now not open to the public).

We pass by the newly opened temple of Romulus, and indeed the doors are open, but it is roped off. There are people inside, but Francesca tells us they won't let us in and it's probably only open today for VIPs. It has an original bronze door which still works. I'd read it was now open to the public, but I have not idea how one goes about getting in.

We check out the other ruins, including the temple of Antonius, the Basilica of Constantine and the Curia building. Suddenly, it's been 3 hours. Francesca asks if we want to go anywhere else and we are all done for the time being; cold and wet and hungry. Francesca tries to tell us she only wants to charge us for two hours since we didn't make it to the Pantheon, but we won't hear that (she was with us for three, why would we pay for two?).

After leaving the forum, we peer at the ruins of Trajen's forum and ponder what to do next. There is just so much to see here it's overwhelming and I wish we had time (and weather) for the Palatine and the Capitoline Museums. I now completly understand why people come back year after year.
But right now we're hungry and wet and decide to go back to the apartment to change and find lunch. We have a bit of difficulty finding the right bus and have to wait a while. Once we get on it's packed and we end up getting off a couple of stops too early, but it's nice to walk and not raining for the moment.

bookmark

Kristina...

It's nice to hear about your tour with Francesca. We had her for the same tour in December and also had a very rainy and cold morning with her. But she is so captivating that the rain didn't seem to matter to us and she really brought the history lesson to life!

Loving this report because I am reliving Rome and if I haven't already said so, your website is terrific!

LCI-Yes, Francesca is a gem. And now I just want to go back to the forum on a warm day and wander. Sigh.

Lunch at Boccon Divino

Once we change into dry clothes, we decide to go to a little trattoria around the corner from the apartment. We'd passed by it yesterday, on a little street between our piazza and the grocery store called Via del Pavone. It's so small, it's not even on my map. We'd seen a sign saying "Osteria Romana" and it looked a little touristy, but it looked ok once we'd walked down to check it out. So, today, we're hungry and think it's best not to go too far. We get there around 1PM and it's empty save for one other large family. The proprietress gives us the menus and they are handwritten, in Italian only. Maybe not so touristy after all, I think.

J orders insalata de calamari which turns out to be a simple calamari salad with arugula, our favorite green of the trip. The calamari is perfectly cooked. The owner also brings us a bread basket and an odd little amuse bouche of little plates with peas, beans and some sort of unidentifiable puree. We each order a pasta; ravioli with ricotta and spinach for D and T, Tonnarelli with shrimp in a saffron sauce for J and Trofe e cicoria e guanciale (chicory and bacon) for me. My pasta is so good I really do not want to share. We also have a 1/2 liter of red and 1/2 liter of white wine and a bottle of water. Lunch for four is 46.5 euros. Boccon Divino, Via del Pavone 28-30, Tel:0668135051

After lunch we go back to the apartment. J and T decide to go out for more shopping and D and I take a bit of a rest. However, I am determined to get to see the inside of the Castel Sant' Angelo and I want to take advantage of the last day of our RomaPasses so David agrees to go out with me. Before we leave, J and T return loaded with little packages. They've found a great little artist's shop, right around the corner from the apartment.
The store is called "I Colori di Dentro", Studio d'arte di Maria Grazia Luffarelli. It's on Via dei Branchi Vecchi, 28/29/30 and the website is www.mgluffarelli.com.

Hello Kristina,
I have enjoyed your trip report immensely. You have a real talent in putting words down that can be seen as a photo by another's mind (if that makes sense). Your photos are fantastic. I am going to Europe in September and planned to spend four days in Rome. Now I am planning to extend that time. We, a friend and I, will be visiting with friends in Germany and plan a 21 day trip altogether. Our first trip to anyplace outside of the US. I will be using your report in my planning.

Thank you for sharing your gift with us!

Connie Danison
Ohio

Castel Sant'Angelo

J and T go back out for more shopping and we leave for the Castel Sant' Angelo. We get to the bridge leading to the Castel and lo and behold, there is a huge line extending almost to the end of the bridge across the river. We are stunned, as we'd never seen such a line when we passed by before. Must be because of Holy Week. We go to the front of the line, just to be certain, but yes, it's the line for tickets. So we walk around for a while and then return finding the line shorter and moving. It still takes us 15 minutes to get tickets which are 4.50 euro each with the RomaPass (normally entrance is 7 euro). We ask for a guide or brochure and we're told to go to the bookshop. We walk, and walk, and walk, following the signs and seemingly walk around the entire perimeter of the Castel. Finally, we get to the bookstore and they are sold out of both paper and audio guides! Back we trek to the entrance and then inside.

The Castel was originally built as Emperor Hadrian's mausoleum and later used as the Pope's residence, a prison, and a fortress. Supposedly, there is an underground passageway connecting it to the Vatican palace. Once inside we walked down and then up a wide spiral ramp going through the center of the building. There are many, many rooms which can be viewed all with beautiful ceilings covered with frescos. Some of the rooms and passageways have walls still covered with original frescos. There's a central courtyard near the top of the building with a small cafe for drinks and it's possible to climb all the way to the top for spectacular views. We were incredibly fortunate to arrive when we did. It had stopped raining temporarily and the sunset combined with the clouds was spectacular, especially behind St. Peter's dome.

The picture of you and your husband at sunset at Castel Sant' Angelo is amazing!!!

Connie-How lucky you are to have 21 days for your first trip! Any extra days you can add to Rome will be fantastic, I'm sure.

Cruisinred-I know, I love that picture. It really was a magic moment. Just yesterday D was saying how he was happy that we'd had that time to ourselves because it was special.

Dinner at Osteria ar Galletto

Tonight's dinner is at Osteria ar Galletto on the Piazza Farnese, directly across from the french Embassy. In the summer, they place tables out on the piazza and somehow, in 1992, my mother and I stumbled across this place in search of another restaurant. This is the first place I ever had Penne alla Arribiata. I wish I could say I had it again this time, but I did not. When David and I came back to Italy on our honeymoon in 1995, I bought him back here. Again, we ate outside. This time 13, years later, it is winter and for the first time, I am seeing the inside of the restaurant.

We arrive, I give my name, and there is some confusion. Apparently, the older gentleman who took my reservation over the phone did not understand my name when I gave it to him and he was chastised (by his son?) when they finally figured out which table is ours. I do believe he was the owner pictured on the card and characterized on the plates as "the rooster".

An aside; in Italy, when you make a reservation, the table belongs to you. Often, you will arrive at the restaurant to find a little card on the table which says "reserved" with your name and reservation time on it. In the US, restaurants may take reservations, but they rarely hold specific tables for specific guests, which is why you often find yourself waiting, even when you have a reservation.

We are seated in the second, smaller dining room. On the way in, David had noticed a bottle of wine on display, but it's not on the wine list. He asks, and they have it, Tre Vigne Gattinara, 1999 (35 euro). He is no longer willing to order the vino della casa after a couple of poor showings.
For antipasti, we get a Antipasto Romanesco (a plate of mixed, marinated vegetables) and four Fiore Fritto (fried, stuffed zucchini flowers). The vegetables are tasty, and they bring a plate of cured black olives along with them. The zucchini flowers are not as good as the ones we had on the first night, these are much heavier.

We order two pastas to share, Fettuccine con Fungi Porcini and Rigatoni con Pajata. When I order the rigatoni, the waiter looks at me like "really?" and in Italian, asks if I am sure while touching his stomach. I say yes. He seems surprised.

A note about "pajata": Rome is known for it's "fifth quarter" food; whatever was left after the butchers took the prime cuts to sell, the poor would cook up. Of course, some of the best dishes evolved this way; oxtail, osso bucco, sweetbreads, tripe, etc. I'd read about pajata on a lengthy thread about Italian food on the Fodor's board and knew I wanted to try it.
Warning; this is not for the squeamish, but it is really tasty. Rigatoni con Pajata is short tubes of pasta cooked in a tomato sauce with (traditionally veal, but tonight lamb) tripe. The intestines are cut in short sections to mimic the shape of the pasta. In addition, the lamb (or veal) has suckled, and the milk is left in the intestines to cook into a sort of "cheese".
Ok, I can feel you cringing now, but let me tell you, it was really, really good. I'd meant to try this dish at the famous Testaccio restaurant, Checchino dal 1887, but we never made it there. So tonight was my last chance. Jessica (my fearless friend when it comes to all things food) and I ate most of it, but both David and Tris were brave and did not break Golden Rule #4. I am so proud. Everyone agreed it was good.

For our main course, we order Abbacchio al Forno (roast veal), Eggplant Parmesan, Straccetti con Ruchetta (beef strips with arugula), and Abbacchio Scottadito (lamb chops). This is not a "foodie" restaurant, but everything is very good. The lamb chops are much "meatier" than others we'd had. The beef with arugula is good. The sentimental value for dining here is high. And of course, I am thrilled to have had the chance to try the pajata. Dinner with all of the above, plus water, 3 coffees, and 3 amaro is 154 euro. Osteria ar Galletto, Vicolo del Gallo, 1, Piazza Farnese. Tel:06 686 0714 Closed Sundays.

You know I've been to Rome a 1/2 dozen times and am getting more history from this report than from all trips combined. All very interesting and informative. Going to look at the pix now.

Laartista-You are so sweet! Thank you.

To finish Day 7...

After dinner, we walk over to Frigidarium for our nightly gelato and chat with Fabrizio. He shows us the "Roman" way to have gelato; with whipped cream inside the cone first, then the gelato on top. Yum! He also dips J's cone in chocolate and gives us another mini cup with hazelnut gelato swimming in a shot of espresso. Grazie Fabrizio!

Photos for Day 7 are at:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/ROME2008Day7.html

Tonight I made my own version of a couple of the pastas we had on the trip:
Spaghetti with Arugula and Pancetta.

I put the recipe and a photo on my website:
www.wired2theworld.com/ROME2008Recipes.html

Day 8 coming soon...

you are wicked....i just bit my screen trying to taste this dish...

Bob, you always give me a chuckle.
You and Karen should make the dish; it's pretty easy!

Kristina - I am SO IMPRESSED that you tried the pajata! I read the same thread that you did about it and my curiosity was piqued. So it was thrilling to see the photo on your website and hear that you found it a very tasty dish.

I am traveling to Italy with my family for the first time at the end of May and looking forward to trying some new foods while there. Don't know if I will have the courage to try the pajata, however. Bravo to you and your companions!

Thanks for this trip report, btw - it has been most enjoyable and very helpful as I research our upcoming trip.

Karen

mariettamom- Be brave! Try the pajata. Adhere to Golden Rule #4.


Really though, try everything. The worst that can happen is that you take one bite, decide you don't like it, and order something else. Best case scenerio is you discover something new and fantastic.

Kristina,

Enjoying the report! I can appreciate your sunset from Castello Sant Angelo. The views from the roof really are great.

When I climbed the dome of St. Peter's, it was sunset, storm clouds breaking up and a gorgeous rainbow over Rome with the sunset. Great photos, great memory.

Do continue!

Dayle- I wish we had been able to climb the dome! I've never done it and wanted to on this trip, but we never had the time.

Thanks everyone for following along. I am working on the last few pages.

Love your report. I am considering your apartment for next winter. I can never seem to tear myself away from Rome for day trips, but just may do it next time, so thank you very much for breaking it down for me.

I think you also posted on the Africa board (?)--you *must* go to Tanzania. It is bliss! Kenya's great too. Although I've been saving all my pennies for a Rwanda adventure next...after another week Rome.

Thanks again. Looking forward to more.

Kristina - love your trip report and I'm molto impressed with the website you created. Fabulous job! Just wanted to add a hint about your recipe - you noted it seemed a little dry and added some olive oil, but the next time you make it, reserve a little of the pasta water and add 1/4 c. or so to the combined pasta and other ingredients. It's a age old trick for unsauced pasta to add moisture as well a helping the other ingredients mix with the pasta due to the starchiness of the cooking water.

Leely-It's a great apartment. Loved the location and having two bathrooms was essential for 4 people.
As for Aftica, that's a dream trip, probably not until summer 2010. But Tanzania is on my short list.
You know, people here complain about how expensive Europe is, they should start looking at African safaris! I don't know how will will afford it.

Hazel-thanks for mentioning the trick about the pasta water. I know that too, but unfortunately, I'd already drained out all the water! But you're right, that does work, and I may reserve some next time. Also, I thought there would be enough fat from the panccetta, but there wasn't, not for a full lb of pasta.

Kristina- I loved LOVED loved your report - you made me feel like I was back in Rome! Awesome job and thank you so much for taking the time to post it!!!!

Kristina, your report and website are outstanding -- thanks for sharing them with us. I've been using your Google map for my upcoming trip in June. (I feel a little guilty that you've done my homework for me again -- I used a lot of your info in October when we were in Seville!)

Thanks also for the I Colori di Dentro rec -- the whimsical paintings remind me of American artist Mary Bourke.

texgirlinbd and mvor- It's comments like yours and those above that keep me going, thanks!

I hope to get the rest done this weekend.

Sunday March 23, 2008

Easter Sunday, a Sea of Umbrellas

We all agree that today should be easy, given that it's Easter Sunday and our last day in Rome. Yesterday, David and I had stopped in the local bakery and asked if they would be open today for bread (of course we had to buy a pasty then too). They said yes, so this morning, since I am the first one up, I take the keys and head out with a fistful of euro coins to get some fresh bread. I arrive at the bakery and am greeted with a closed metal shutter. Oh no! What to do now? There is another bakery about a block farther down the street. It's more of a chain type bakery, but thankfully, they are open. There are six freshly baked loaves of bread and the two people ahead of me buy up four of them. Looks like I am just in time. I get the still warm loaf and a few cornetti and head back to the apartment.

We spend the rest of the morning eating, drinking coffee, and watching the Pope again on TV speak to a sea of umbrellas in St. Peter's square. I can't believe we came all the way to Rome for Easter and never once saw the Pope in person. But the rain is relentless and comes down in torrents, drenching all in attendance. The red plumes on the helmets of the Swiss guards start to bleed red rivulets of water down their necks into their white collars and a young woman in the front of a military brigade stands stoically in her dress uniform as she gets progressively more soaked. Again, the Pope stays dry under his canopy while dispensing the Eucharist to a parade of the faithful chosen to receive it directly from his hands.

Around noon, the rain lets up a bit and we decide we can't waste our last day sitting inside. Instead, we're going to go out on a walk and try to hit some of the sights we'd missed this past week.

We start by walking down through the Campo di Fiori and head to the Piazza Mattei to see the lovely little Fontana delle Tartarughe (the Tortoise fountain). The area is really interesting, filled with all sorts of ancient buildings, but today, almost everything is closed. The area must be part of the ancient Jewish ghetto because we see some Kosher restaurants and I can see on my map that the Synagogue is nearby. This is an area I would like to come back to explore.

We continue walking with the idea of heading down to the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin to see the famous "Mouth of Truth". We turn a corner to get onto a main street and suddenly there's another one of those surprises that keeps happening in Rome; the Theater of Marcellus. This ancient theater was built by the emperor Augustus and has been used not only as a theater seating 15,000, but as a fortress, a palace and in the present day there are apartments built into the top. What a cool place to live. Next to the theater are three remaining Corinthian columns from the temple of Apollo.

We admire the theater for a few minutes and then continue walking toward Santa Maria in Cosmedin. On the way, we pass two small jewel box temples; the Temple of Hercules and the Temple of Portunus in the park across the street from the church. When we arrive at Santa Maria in Cosmedin, there is a long line extending down the sidewalk for people waiting to put their hand in the Mouth of Truth. We figure we've come this far, we might as well wait too.

After the Mouth of Truth, we actually went inside the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin which, judging by the line of people outside and lack of people inside, probably only gets one tenth of the visitors. It's a small church with inlaid marble floors in a variety of patterns and colors. In addition, it contains the holy relic bones of Saint Valentine.

From the church we walk across the Ponte Palatine toward Trastevere, pausing on the bridge to admire the view of the island in the middle of the Tiber and the remains of an ancient bridge.

Enoteca Trastevere

Once across the bridge we walk into the Trastevere neighborhood, stopping at a little bar for a couple of Amaro and a bathroom break. We walk down Via della Lungaretta and decide we need further fortification and keep our eyes peeled for a wine bar. Somehow, none of us has the guidebook I put together with the list of recommended places to eat. Just as the skies begin to open again, we find a little place, Enoteca Trastevere.
It's the middle of the afternoon, and we are the only people inside, but they welcome us in. The wine list is filled with lots of interesting choices by the glass, with a lengthy description of each wine (in Italian). We use the translation software in J's Blackberry to decipher some of the details. We all order something different and get a typical assorted meat and cheese platter to share (10 euro).
The wines:
K: Nebbiolo delle Langhe, 2004, Batasiolo, Piemonte, 4 euro
D: Nero d'Avola, 2005, St Anastasia, Sicilia, 4 euro
J: Traminer Aromatico, 2006, Madonna delle Vittore, Trentino, 3.50 euro
T: Pecorino, 2006, Torre Zambra, Abruzzo, 5 euro
Later, when D wants to order an Amaro, the guy behind the counter lets him try a couple of different ones. There's a large outdoor deck with umbrellas and I'll bet this place is hopping on warm summer nights. The tab, with another glass of Pinot Grigio and a couple Amari is 36 euro.
Later, I discover this Enoteca is the only one I had on my Google Map list for Trastevere.

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all the details here, especially regarding day trips--and of course food and wine. I've bookmarked your blog.

I do have a question. We are now considering renting an apartment on Piazza Sforza Cesarini in December, but not yours (it's already rented!). This one appears to be in the second building "in" from Corso Vittorio Emmanuele, #25. I am sure it's hard for you to speculate, but would you think that's a terribly noisy location (closer to the Corso, above a restaurant?, etc.)? Is the Piazza itself very noisy? Thanks for whatever insight you can provide.

Leely-
The Piazza Sforza Cesarini is a great location. It's perfect for walking just about anywhere and there are bus stops very within a block or two as well.

The Piazza is "L" shaped in that there are connected buildings on 2 sides of the square, an alley and detached building bordering side #3 and Corso Vittorio Emmanuelle on side #4. There are 3 restaurants, so pretty much all apartments are on top of the restaurants. We were in #41. I doubt #25 would be much closer to the street. Honestly, I almost never heard any traffic. Most of the noise we heard was from either morning trash pickup or one night, some people were fighting outside in the piazza. But both of those examples can happen anywhere, in any city.

We were on the 3rd floor, so we never heard any restaurant noise. Since you will be there in December, it's likely you will keep your windows closed to keep the heat in and unlikely many people would be dining outside.

If you do end up staying there, I can recommend both the Trattoria da Luigi and Ristorante Polese in the piazza. You will see my review of Polese coming up at the end of day 8.

Pictures of Puddles

After leaving Enoteca Trastevere, we walk down the street and find ourselves at a church. Perhaps it was the wine, but now I cannot remember exactly which church it was. It should be Santa Maria in Trastevere, given the location, but from the pictures in my guidebook, it looks nothing like that in my memory. No matter, we continue walking and make our way to the Ponte Sisto.

The day has turned truly lovely with absolutely gorgeous late afternoon light. Jessica says, "now I understand what everyone told me about "the light in Rome". Everything is washed clean by the rain and the light on the buildings looks like warm apricot jam.

At the end of the bridge we make a left onto the start of the Via Giulia. While this was initially just for the sake of expediency to get back to the apartment, it ends up being a very enjoyable walk down a beautiful street. In fact, there is a "One Hour Walk Along the Via Giulia" in the DK Eyewitness guide. I wish I'd had it with me when we were walking.

The first thing we see is the beautiful Farnese archway which was designed by Michelangelo to link the Palazzo Farnese with their gardens. We'd seen this arch when riding the 116 bus and both Tris and are are thrilled to be able to come back for pictures. And it can't be more picturesque, covered in ivy and purple wisteria hanging down.

The rain has left big puddles in the cobblestone street, and with the sun now out, Tris notices the amazing reflections of the buildings in the water. We both take way too many pictures of puddles.

The rain bring out things we've walked past but never noticed before. There is a building on the Via de Banchi Vecchi, right behind our apartment. My first impression had been one of frescoes covering the building, but now, with the lovely afternoon light, we can see that it's covered with intricate relief carvings.

Back at the apartment, we spend the rest of the early evening packing and waiting for Senora Ornella to return with our security deposit check. She comes back around 7pm as promised and all is well.

Trattoria Polese

For dinner, we decide easy is best and the day before had made an 8pm reservation downstairs at Trattoria Polese. For the wine, we get a bottle of Sicilian Nero d'Avola Rapitala. I appreciate it when the waiter brings better wine glasses than what is already set on the table.

For our antipasti we order a mixed vegetable plate and a fried artichoke since we have not tried one yet this trip. It's good, but I think we all prefer the "romano" version better. I order a pappardelle al ragu di cinghiale (wild boar) and the rest order pizzas. My pasta is excellent. The pizzas are large and we could have made due with only two. One had smoked mozzarella and arugula, and while it was good, the smoked mozzarella was overwhelming for the whole pizza. All of the above, with a 1/2 bottle house white, a beer and bread was around 100 euro.

After dinner we make our final pilgrimage over to Frigidarium. It's hard to say goodbye to Fabrizio. He's been so nice to us and he really does make the best gelato. He seems genuinely disappointed to hear it's out last night there. I get the feeling he may even miss us a little too.

Photos for day 8 are now posted:
http://www.wired2theworld.com/ROME2008Day8.html

Kristina: Just read your last posting about Day 8 and looked again at your site with the WONDERFUL photos. Thanks a million for such a fantastic report, but I am CRYING that I am not in Rome, and your stories and pictures make me want to go back. Those photos are so incredibly evocative.
Don't mean to carry on, but I am really feeling the "can't go to Europe this year" blues (DH is having EURO angst) (In fact, our European friends are coming here.) Thanks for great effort.

I have enjoyed your trip report so much. My fiancee and I are going to be in Rome for 8 days for Christmas and New Years this year. We are actually staying in an apartment on Via dei Banchi Vecchi, just around the corner from where you stayed.

I know your trip information will be very handy as we plan our visit. Thanks!

maestrette...

I'll be in Rome over Christmas and New Years too!

My mom and I are making a return trip, we were there that time last year and loved it!

There could be a possible Fodors Get Together in the making here!

Kristina..

Sorry to hi-jack your thread...I'm still loving your trip report and website...I'm getting a sad feeling to see the report end!

taconic-I'm so glad you enjoyed the report. I find myself missing Rome too and could go back in a heartbeat. But it's a big world out there and it's calling to me...

maestrette-you will have so much fun! It's a great neighborhood. If you like wine, make sure you go to the wine bar I mentioned on that street.

LCI-No worries! I'd love to see a GTG happen from my thread, though I'll be jealous not to be there!

Thanks everyone for sticking with me. I'm not quite done yet! I'll be posting the trip home and some follow up stuff; top 10 examples of Bad Tourist Behavior and answers to my "20 questions".

Hey now--my mom and I will be there over New year's as well. Haven't been since May '05.

Thanks for posting Kristina, both helpful and a joy to read. Thanks also to your husband and friends!

We are all up at 3:30 in preparation for our 4am (ouch!) pick up by RomeCabs. Fortunately, everyone has showered and packed before bed so it is relatively easy. David starts to bring the luggage downstairs and right on time, the driver arrives in a minivan. There is a last minute scramble to make sure we have not forgotten anything as we have to leave the key and pull the locked door shut behind us. Once it is closed that's it. As far as I know, we left nothing behind.

The driver takes us on a route out of the city through some residential areas. It's dark and I'm turned around but I trust he knows where he's going. Suddenly he pulls over and tells us to get out. No, it's not what you think. He's bought us to the piazza to see the keyhole view of St. Peter's through the door of the Priory of the Knights of Malta. How sweet! This was one of the few things left of my list we had not had time to do! It's still dark out, but sure enough, we can see the dome of St. Peter's lit up through the keyhole. Both Tris and I try to take pictures but none of them really turn out that well with the lack of light.

We arrive at the airport and have no problems getting our seats together for the short flight to Munich. Today we are flying Lufthansa from Rome to Munich and then direct to LAX. The flight is short and fine and we have a couple of hours in Munich to walk around and get something to eat. We have to go through extra security to get to where out gate is located. Apparently, all flights going to the US have to go through extra security. For the first time ever, I am asked to open my camera bag, remove my telephoto lens and open both caps so the TSA person can look through it. I don't mind, I just found the extra security notable.

The flight back to LA is long, but uneventful. Lufthansa Economy class has seat back video screens with on demand movies which means you don't have to wait for them to run on a loop like on United. I can't sleep so I watch a lot of movies, none of which I remember now.

LAX is a zoo and it takes almost an hour to get our luggage. We leave before J and T because their luggage takes longer to appear (it does) and the baggage area is chaos with 500 people trying to exit customs. Mom is there waiting to pick us up and we are happy to go home to see our house and kitties. We open the bottle of Amaro Lucano the next day.

Kristina...

It sounds like you had the same driver from Rome Cabs that we did last December. His name was Luca.

He picked us up at the airport (arrived on an 8am flight) and put us in his mini van and off we went. He asked if we had been to Rome before and we said yes, but it had been 20 years.

As we were driving to our hotel he took us through a residential neighborhood and I also started to wonder, where is he taking us?

We pulled over next to a building and he asked us to get out, we did and he directed us to look through the keyhole and POW, there was St. Peter's Dome...it was a great way to start our week in Rome!

LCI-Yes, I remember reading about your experience in your report. It probably was the same driver.

And now, I leave you all with this:

Top 10 Examples of Bad Tourist Behavior

1. Do you take American? - there is really nothing else to say now is there? See Day 5 at the Borghese Gallery for more on this.

2. Leaning on the exhibits - Yes, leaning on the actual 17th Century Bernini statues you traveled half way around the world to see...

3. Taking photos with flash - after you have been told 104 times by a guide not to -in the Vatican!

4. Taking photos when prohibited - because you've decided you can't comprehend the international "no" sign over a picture of a camera!

5 . Not keeping your freakin' mouth SHUT within The Sistine Chapel - even though the guards keep sssshhhhhing you every 10 minutes - last time I checked "sssshhhhhh" was a international word

6 . Urinating on the ruins in the Roman Forum (thanks Francesca for the graphic details on that one)

7. Putting your camera tripod on 2000 year old ruins - and then arguing about why you should be able to do it.

8. Talking at the top of your lungs in quiet restaurant in a voice that could cut glass for 15 minutes straight without taking a breath. Then, as the wine sets in - speaking louder and louder with absolutely no respect or regard for the tables around you.

9. Ordering steak "well done" in the language of that country and then blaming the waiter when shoe leather is served at your table.

10. Walking into a faux Irish Bar in Rome- and in all your early 20's American glory announcing: "I need to get more drunk!"

Many thanks to my friend J for adding to and embellishing my list with descriptive details.

And thanks to all of you here for the information and advice before we left as well as your wonderful comments and patience as I got this report out after we got home.

Kristina - your report was fabulous, I appreciated all the details. Your pictures are also wonderful.

Kristina...loved reading your trip report + foodie photos on your website. We'll be returning to Rome in December and can't wait to experience some of your suggestions

Kristina -- your report was one of the best. Thanks for sharing.
~M

Kristina,

I know your trip was many months ago, but I have a question about the car rental. You mention that you needed to pick up your car from the parking structure underneath Borghese Gardens. The pickup address I see from AutoEurope is Rome City Office Via Ludovisi 38, a couple blocks away. I wonder if they moved the office or whether this was the address you received when you booked the rental...? I'm pretty lame at finding things myself and can't imagine my mom crawling through a mesh gate and maintaining a positive attitude.

Also, how difficult was it to drive in and out of Rome? I've never driven in Italy before.

Leely- I don't know, it could be a different office than the one we used.
I plugged that address into Google Maps and it looks like it's outside of the park, so you will probably be fine. If you are at all concerned, consider having a taxi take you there. Might be worth it for peace of mind.

As for driving in and out of Rome, make sure you have a good street map. We didn't.
I am now of the mind that having a GPS unit is essential for driving in Europe, especially after my last trip to France. Mom and I got lost repeatedly, while our friends, who all had GPS in their cars did not.
Signs are not clear, roads have different numbers than the maps, etc. Regardless, keep an open mind and a good attitude and you will be fine.

Thanks, Kristina!

ttt

bookmarking. thanks

There should be some escalator on top of Via Veneto

What a wonderful report. Our family is going to Rome in April 09. I can't wait to follow your advice.

Thanks Julie! Have a great trip!

I wanted to add (since Julie so nicely topped my post), I recently made a book about this trip for my friends J&T for a Christmas gift for them. It's part travelogue, part photo album and has most of the content and photos from the website. It's a hard bound book with a nice dust jacket.
I mention this because I think it makes a great gift or keepsake/scrapbook and I'm sure others here might want to do the same.

I used a website called www.blurb.com and I think they have one of the best products around. There are many others out there too, just google "print on demand". I've made two such books now with them and I've been very happy with the end result.

If you want to preview my book, go here
http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/519704
There's also a long discussion about making these books on the Asia board:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=27&tid=35172666

Your preview link just leads to a sign in page.

Sorry about that!

Try this one:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/519704

Kristina..excellent trip report, I can use all your suggestion for my trip to Rome this July.

Also love your website. Do you mind sharing info as to how to create such an informative website? Some special software ?

ba739-Thank you.

About the website; it is something I've been working on for over 10 years. Currently, I use a web design software called Dreamweaver, but the design of the pages is mine.

If you are looking for something easy and free you might look into starting a blog. I recently started one at www.wordpress.com . It's fairly straightforward to set up and it's free.

Kristina,
I just found your trip report and enjoyed reading it very much. Your photos and web site are amazing.
Judy

bxl4373-
Thank you! It's so funny that you just topped this post!
I just got home yesterday from "Part 2" to this trip. My friends (same ones from this trip), my Mom and I just spent another week in Rome.
I'll be posting a new trip report in the coming weeks, so keep your eyes open for it.

Kristina,

I only read the first entry to this report and knew it was a keeper to bookmark. Your format is just in the style I like to read/write.

We haven't been to Rome yet, but I know I'll enjoy reading your report and get molto tips.

Grazie.
A/S

Oh, goody, another Kristina trip report coming up. can't wait!

hi kristina,

just came back to this as I'm currently planning our February trip to Rome. we'll be staying near the piazza navona, so I've already noted all your restaurant tips!

in fact I think that i looked at YOUR apartment, but I think it was more than we wanted to pay.

the website is great too. hope you won't mind if i come back with some specific questions once I've read the blog.

regards, ann

Kristina, I'm looking forward to your new trip report - we'll be leaving in just a couple days. Eager to hear your latest input on Rome and your restaurant reviews.

Glad people are still interested. The new report should start in the next few days.

hanabilly-
I'm unlikely to get enough of my trip report up in the next couple of days to be of use to you before you leave. However, I just put up a report of two of the restaurants we ate at on my food blog, http://formerchef.com
Without going into too much detail, in addition to those two, we enjoyed another good meal at Armando al Pantheon, great pizza at Dar Poeta in Trastevere, and a wonderful lunch at Sora Margarita in the Ghetto.

The rest is going to have to wait. This girl is still jet-lagged and going to bed early.

I'm so glad this report was topped as I am leaving for Rome in 10 days and it has such good information in it. Kristina, your report is so well done and your website fantastic! I look forward to reading your about your latest trip. Thanks for sharing with all of us.

Kristina, Going to in be Rome December 29 - Jan. 1. I read you are the restaurant aficionado for Rome. We have been to Rome before but I am always looking for restaurant recommendations This time we have an apartment near the Piazzo de Popolo. Twenty-something daughter and her friend wanted to be near the New Years Eve action. Mom Dad and Aunt are more into food. Thanks Lady's DH