Really enjoying your report. It keeps the mind active to try and keep all the S's straight.

I am enjoying it too, lol.

Well not sure if anyone showed up for the GTG as we didn't get back from Naples until almost 10:00 at the designated meeting place. No one looked like Fodorites and we stood there for awhile, just in case anyone would say, hey, there's the two hot blondes, from Fodors, ha.

Sorry for the confusion about "S" and no, SU will certainly not share him with me. I'm using "S" to protect the identity of my landlady - I did not ask her permission to the tell the world about her.

So on to L'Orso 80. Well, let's just say, it way exceeded my expectations. We did indeed order the famous antipasta misto della casa - actually, we thought we would "start" ha, with that and were planning on sharing two pasta dishes and the grilled mixed fish platter. What a joke that was. After we ordered the antipasti and started to order more, our waiter said "I will get you this first and then we will see". He took our menus away! SU went to the ladies room and while she was gone, the bowls, platters and dishes started coming - first meatballs in a marinara sauce, then, tiny marinated mushrooms, grilled eggplant, green beans, canneli beans in a tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, proscuitto, sliced fennel with a delicate oil/vinegar dressing, THE freshest slices of celery w/little chunks of cheese, artichokes alla romana, peppers, stuffed zucchini w/parmesan, eggplant with parmesan, bread and two bottles of vino, red and white. When SU came back to the table she was stunned - she felt she had been a time warp! All of this for 58€!!! They had to put an extra little leaf on the table just to hold everything. We couldn't imagine eating anything more than this. I'm already planning a trip back there - I wonder if they would do that for one. I think next to the restaurant in the sky, this was the eating highlight of this trip. Run, do not walk, to this place.

Yes, we were wondering what happened to those 2 hot footloose blondes :).
I showed up at 6pm and Suki and her husband Bob arrived ~10 minutes later.
Suki and Bob had arrived that day and I was leaving the next morning, so we just had a drink and talked alittle over an hour before we left. It was very nice meeting them and I enjoyed myself.
Sorry you couldn't make it but a beautiful day on the Amalfi
Coast would be hard to pass up for anything :).
Well maybe next year! I'm glad you, SeaUrchin and Seashell had a wonderful trip and love both your trip reports.
Regards, Walter

Barb, yes they would indeed serve the the antipasti for one at a cost last year of 11 euros. I did make the fatal food mistake of ordering a "main" dish. It's quite a layout. Mike

barbmike, thanks for the confirmation that it's possible to get the antipasti for one, because with barb's mouthwatering description, i'm definitely there!!!

and at this rate, i might just be able to eat on $40 a day, just like rachael rae LOL!!!

Walter, Suki and Bob --- we are SO sorry we missed you guys. We emailed the day before, but weren't sure if you would be checking Fodors. Yes, it was an offer we certainly could not refuse. Hopefully we can do another GTG in the near future. How did you like Bar San Calisto?

Cont. our next stop was the Trevi Fountain to throw in our coins. It was very crowded but we managed to get to the fountain and throw in our coins, hopefully ensuring our return to Rome and with my three, hoping to return, hoping to fall in love and hoping to fall in love in Rome!

SU and SS did some shopping for family and friends and even bought a suitcase to haul it all home in. I told SS that this is the ultimate shopping cart. It was a great idea until at about P. Navona and her arm felt like it had grown about 5 inches, we then took turns hauling it back to Trastevere. What a perfect day so far, the wonderful weather, being blessed, the great lunch, fun shopping. We were all looking forward to our last dinner together and just as perfect an evening.

And it was. Dinner was at Dar Poeta - and I will have to continue this tomorrow - it's 5:00 and I'm going home!

Hi Barb, we just returned yesterday and I feel like my head is underwater right now! Wonderful jet lag.

We had a lovely walk over to Trastevere where we met ParadiseLost at Bar Calisto. The bar was pretty basic but Trastevere is so charming that we took our daughters back the next night for dinner. And meeting a fellow Fodorite was great! Thanks for the phone card, Walter - my daughter called her boyfriend every other day I think. It made her happy so that was OK by me.

Sorry we did not meet up Barb but your day on the coast sounds great.

I am also sorry we didn't get to meet all of you, especially since it was our idea in the first place! We did go over to the bar in the off chance that one or some of you might still be lingering. I peeked around but didn't see anyone that I thought might be a Fodorite, and I have to demur, I am really sort of luke warm not that hot, ha.

Maybe next year?!!

Ah, yes, Dar Poeta - Vicolo del Bologna, 45 (06-588-0516).

What a perfect place for our last evening together. This must be a Roman hot spot as it was packed and not with tourists. We all agreed that we hadn't seen so many gorgeous men gathered in one place before AND a table of four were sitting right in front of us AND one was openly flirting with me. I could hardly eat! In the end he raised his glass to me, mouthed a kiss and got up to leave, but at the door he turned around and gave me "the look" - OMG heart be still. Oh did I mention he was gorgeous and young! The later it got the more interesting the people coming in were. We were sure they must be artists, poets, writers and a few looked like Communists, or at least what we thought a Commy might look like, ha. After 10:00 it really gets busy. I highly recommend Dar Poeta - great pizza, not expensive and really friendly service. We strolled through the little streets back to P. Santa Maria and my apt. Saying goodbye was hard, we'd had such a fun time together. We hugged, shed a few tears and I went up to my little apt.

Woke up a little hungover, but it was so worth it when I remembered what a wonderful evening I'd had. I finally made it to Villa Farnesina. The beautiful frescos by Raphael are just outstanding and the Villa is in a lovely little garden. It was built in the early 16th Cent. Via della Lungara, 230 Mon-Sat 9 a.m.to 1 p.m.

From there, with the help of "S" and my trusty little map, I wound my way up hill and found the steps to S. Pietro in Montorio, which was thought to be built over the spot where supposedly St. Peter was crucified, skeptics do not agree. The steps are off Via Garibaldi, but it's much nicer walking through the little side streets to get there so you are not breathing in all the gas fumes from the cars and skooters. The view from here is pretty good, but I continued up the hill past Mausoleo Gianicolense to the monumental fountain created by Pope Paul V. As I was standing there trying to figure out how I was going to take a pic of it all, there was a huge boom, the ground shook and birds took flight. It really shook me up too and as I was trying to decide if I should seek cover somewhere, I noticed no one else seemed to notice it! I later found out from S that it's a cannon at the top of the hill that goes off every day at noon. After the big boom, all the church bells in Trastevere started ringing. I continued on up to the top of Gianicolo, or Janiculum Hill, one of Rome's original Seven Hills. Sitting in the cool shade off the P. Garibaldi, I felt like I was on the top of Rome with the panoramic view laid out before my eyes. It was very peaceful here w/lots of benches and a few places to buy food/beverages. After writing in my journal, I wound my way down the hill in search of a place to have lunch.

Sorry this is such a long report - you get me going and I cant' stop, ha. I had lunch at Osteria dell'Aquila, Via Natale del Grande, 52/53. A very nice, young waiter who spoke with an English accent - actually he's half English, half Italian suggested I try the daily special, pasta with ham,peas in a cream sauce - so yummy and roasted chicken and salad, with 1/4 ltr vino = 15€
Sitting on this quiet street, soaking up the sun, not in any rush to go anywhere, heavenly. I love that they do not rush you out and being able to just enjoy the rythym of life.

Back home and after a little nap, I decided that I would try La Cisterna where SU had gone for dinner. Great dinner and just as SU mentioned, the little old musicians came to each table for requests. I requested That's Amore, just because I couldn't think of anything more classical, and then because I couldn't think of anything else, I requested musica romantica. The old guy sang this incredibly beautiful song and quite unexpectedly I began to tear up. I have never done this in public before, but somehow I didn't seem to care and thankfully no one seemed to notice, except the little old guitar player who took my hand and patted it. Ah, only in Roma. (HINT: IF YOU NEED A GOOD CRY, GO TO LA CISTERNA). After dinner my waiter escorted me downstairs for the tour of the wine cellar and a glass of champagne. I walked back through P. Santa Mara, which was quiet that night. I was feeling a little melancholy, maybe because of the musica romantica and my unexpected reaction to it and missing SU and SS, but more probably because I was feelinlg the overwhelming intenstity of "living" in the center of one of the most exciting cities in the world.

Barb-

Love the info! We are traveling to Italy in May and would love to try out the restaurant L'Orso 80 that you mentioned. Is that in Trastevere? I am not too familiar with that area. On our last trip to Rome we spent a lot of time in the Piazza Navona and Vatican area.

Any help in directions you could give would be greatly appreciated!

Dejais: Orso 80 is in the centro storico area, not Trastevere. If you have a good map you should not have any problem finding it. If you exit P. Navona on the north end, just keep going towards the river and you should find it - via dell' Orso. You won't be disappointed. You can also go to multimap.com - plug in the address and you will get a map that you can print out.

Perfect! Thank you so much for the info!

Contin. I couldn't believe it but I awoke to another sunny day (had sun every day I was there)how lucky is this. Did I mention how much I loved my apt?

My plan for the day was to tear myself away from Trastevere and go "the other side". I walked along Via Giulia, which is lovely street with lots of galleries and antique shops, to P. d'Oro (I think)and then walked through the back streets of the centro storico to Via di Ripetta and up to P. del Popolo. What an amazing piazza! It reminded me a little of the Arch de Triumphe in Paris in that so many streets run from this huge round piazza. I sat on the steps of the big fountain and basked in the sun. I felt so happy to setting there and very happy with myself that I can find way around so well. I watched a groups of school kdis, lovers strolling hand in hand, tourists clutching their cameras and a young man introducing himself to a very pretty young girl with red hair. She was hesitant at first, but by the time I left, she was gazing into his eyes.

Dejais - when will you be in Italy in May? We'll be there May 3- 17. Maybe our cities overlap.

Wanderlust...

We arrive in Rome May 19th. We will be touring through the country (Venice, Naples, Capri, and back to Rome)until the 30th and then off to Paris!

Ok, I'm going to try to shorten this up a little -

After walking down Via Margutta and peeking in at all the beautiful shops and galleries I tried to find a recommended by Fodorite restaurant that served grilled scarmoza and finally found it - Il Barroccio, via dei Pastini 13. Nice place, a little touristy, but the food was excellent and I finally got to eat the grilled scarmoza - OMG how good!! As I was eating I was just imagining every single artery in my body clogging up, but I didn't care, I ate away.. Also had the papradelli (sp) alla cinghiale with 1/2 ltr vino = 20.35€. Also enjoyed the "Italiano ristorante dance" w/a young 30 something very attractive, intellectually intense - jeans/scarf short hair man. He fixed on me as soon as I was seated and was constantly doing the eye contact thing, but never smiling. As he was leaving he gave one last glance and I smiled and he smiled ever so slightly and left. I loved it - it was like we shared a special moment in time together. I walked back to the apt. with a definite smile on my face. Dinner that night was at Pizza San Calisto - I would really recommend this for young couples, or singles, not necessarily a single woman of a certain age. Talked to my sister on my wonderful little cell phone after dinner and told her about my affair over lunch. ha.

Today was my grande passagiatta (sp) I walked from my apt. to Testaccio - on my quest to find Volpetti to buy some cheese. (HINT: KNOW HOW TO ORDER CHEESE IN ITALIAN) Volpetti is a wonderful cheese shop deli and an absolute must for a foodie like myself. It's not just cheeses, but every kind of salami you could imagine, oils, vinegar, wine, pastas, chocolate, tiny jars of pate, jams, you name it. Great place to buy gifts for home. But.. as I said, you really need to know how to order the amounts you want because they don't speak much english. I ended up with about 20 lbs of various cheese, which is great, but I certainly hadn't intended on buying that much. I thought the man who was helping me was getting very frustrated and angry with me, but as it turned out, he wrapped my cheese like a huge present with a big pink bow on top and gave me some little chocolate easter eggs with a big smile - all this for 36€. I also did not think about how far I would have to carry this back home and I still had to go to the big market while I was in Testaccio. It was all worth it though as I look at my big present with the pink bow on top. Volpetti - Via Marmorata, 47.

The market is huge and so many varieties of things I've never seen before. In amongst the fruit, vegetable, flower, meat, cheese stalls are little stalls selling hardware! I wanted so badly to take some photos of the displays, but I felt if I did I would be almost intruding on their privacy and it would certainly mark me as one of those pesky tourists, which were few and far between, if any, there. As my present was starting to get heavy, I trudged back across the river and home. Met S at the lift and we agreed to meet for a glass of wine around 6:00, she even carried my cheese for me up to the apt. After a little rest, I headed for my traditional lunch at Da Giggetto, Via Portico d' Ottavia, 21-2. I don't care what anyone says, they have the best carciofi alla giudia (fried artichoke) in Rome. I was hoping to sit outside, but the tables were not set up, so I was seated just inside at a table by the open windows. The atmosphere was warm and friendly, and my waiter was very nice. I started with the carciofi and had my usual, and again the best in Rome, bucatini alla Amatriciana (sp. It was heavenly, rich sauce, little crisp pieces of bacon, so good, together with a nice little salad and a small bottle of vino. Love this place.

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking through the little streets around the Campo dei Fiori area and a stop at Blu Ice for gelato - chocolate and coconut. I headed back for my date with S.

I actually have to do some work before I go home, so the conclusion tomorrow.

Barb...Must know. What is "scarmoza"?

Love the reporting. Especially the "Italian ristorante dance". Makes me feel like I am there watching you both.

Volpetti? Normal business hours? Would love to try and find it.