Tales from Venice, Bologna, Pienza and Rome
Jun 25th, 2013, 06:37 PM
#101
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SUNDAY, MAY 5 – TUSCANY/ROME
We woke up to drizzling rain on our last day in Pienza. We packed up, ate a quick breakfast (the croissant was actually edible this morning) and went to check out. I had checked with Carlos before arriving that it would be okay to pay by credit card, but we never saw him all weekend, and the older woman who had helped us all weekend either didn’t know how to let us pay by credit card or didn’t want us to. Her English was worse than my Italian so rather than try to get it figured out, we just paid the 180E in cash. After that, we were down to our last dollar. The first ATM we tried did not work with our cards, but the second one did – though the machine had a 250E limit.
We walked back to our car, piled in, and got gas on the way out of town. We tried to use our credit card at the pump, but it wanted a PIN (which we only have on our ATM card, not a credit card), so we just used cash there as well. With our errands out of the way, we said goodbye to Pienza.
We really enjoyed our time in Tuscany, as it is one of the most stunning places that I have seen, and I would like to believe that I have seen many. I don’t know how that would change if you visited in the fall, but during the late spring/early summer, it was remarkable. We enjoyed our tiny town of Pienza, as well as the other small towns that we visited (though didn’t see what all the fuss about Siena was). Especially because it was only the two of us, we were glad that we stayed in a town where we could walk around at night and go to restaurants nearby. If I returned, I think that it would be fun to go with a larger group including kids and rent a villa for a week outside of a town. We could explore during the day but cook big meals in the villa at night.
So we headed out of town with easy highway driving into Rome. Initially, I thought that we might stop in Orvieto or Civita di Bagnoregio, but we were a little burnt out on hilltowns and the weather wasn’t great, so we decided to save those for another trip and head straight to Rome. About halfway, we stopped at a rest stop for some barely edible pizza and snacks (13E). The drive took three hours including our stop, not the 2-2.5 hours that I originally expected, though I’m also convinced that we drove way under the speed limit for most of the time because I swear that we never saw a speed limit sign once on the highway. Maybe it’s like the autobahn where there are no speed limits?! We decided 110 kmph was a reasonable speed, with Italian drivers whizzing past us regularly.
Heeding advice in this forum, we decided to avoid driving in central Rome and dropped the car at FCO instead. Having returned a car in central Madrid on a previous trip, I knew how awful it could be and how difficult it could be to find a gas station. So while the airport was a little out of the way, it was absolutely worth it to avoid hassles. We found the dropoff with no trouble (again relieved that we were never asked for an international driver’s license), with no car damage and no wrong turns the whole trip! We were absolutely thrilled to have had a rental car for this portion of the trip. As long as you have two people (one to drive, one to navigate) and a little patience, I don’t think it’s a big deal and would recommend it to everyone. I don’t see how you could effectively visit southern Tuscany without one. Plus my husband loved to zip around the curvy roads! For reference, we paid a total of 18E for tolls and 60E for gas.
Up next…we head into Rome, check out our Trastevere apartment and enjoy a great dinner!
We woke up to drizzling rain on our last day in Pienza. We packed up, ate a quick breakfast (the croissant was actually edible this morning) and went to check out. I had checked with Carlos before arriving that it would be okay to pay by credit card, but we never saw him all weekend, and the older woman who had helped us all weekend either didn’t know how to let us pay by credit card or didn’t want us to. Her English was worse than my Italian so rather than try to get it figured out, we just paid the 180E in cash. After that, we were down to our last dollar. The first ATM we tried did not work with our cards, but the second one did – though the machine had a 250E limit.
We walked back to our car, piled in, and got gas on the way out of town. We tried to use our credit card at the pump, but it wanted a PIN (which we only have on our ATM card, not a credit card), so we just used cash there as well. With our errands out of the way, we said goodbye to Pienza.
We really enjoyed our time in Tuscany, as it is one of the most stunning places that I have seen, and I would like to believe that I have seen many. I don’t know how that would change if you visited in the fall, but during the late spring/early summer, it was remarkable. We enjoyed our tiny town of Pienza, as well as the other small towns that we visited (though didn’t see what all the fuss about Siena was). Especially because it was only the two of us, we were glad that we stayed in a town where we could walk around at night and go to restaurants nearby. If I returned, I think that it would be fun to go with a larger group including kids and rent a villa for a week outside of a town. We could explore during the day but cook big meals in the villa at night.
So we headed out of town with easy highway driving into Rome. Initially, I thought that we might stop in Orvieto or Civita di Bagnoregio, but we were a little burnt out on hilltowns and the weather wasn’t great, so we decided to save those for another trip and head straight to Rome. About halfway, we stopped at a rest stop for some barely edible pizza and snacks (13E). The drive took three hours including our stop, not the 2-2.5 hours that I originally expected, though I’m also convinced that we drove way under the speed limit for most of the time because I swear that we never saw a speed limit sign once on the highway. Maybe it’s like the autobahn where there are no speed limits?! We decided 110 kmph was a reasonable speed, with Italian drivers whizzing past us regularly.
Heeding advice in this forum, we decided to avoid driving in central Rome and dropped the car at FCO instead. Having returned a car in central Madrid on a previous trip, I knew how awful it could be and how difficult it could be to find a gas station. So while the airport was a little out of the way, it was absolutely worth it to avoid hassles. We found the dropoff with no trouble (again relieved that we were never asked for an international driver’s license), with no car damage and no wrong turns the whole trip! We were absolutely thrilled to have had a rental car for this portion of the trip. As long as you have two people (one to drive, one to navigate) and a little patience, I don’t think it’s a big deal and would recommend it to everyone. I don’t see how you could effectively visit southern Tuscany without one. Plus my husband loved to zip around the curvy roads! For reference, we paid a total of 18E for tolls and 60E for gas.
Up next…we head into Rome, check out our Trastevere apartment and enjoy a great dinner!
Jun 25th, 2013, 07:25 PM
#102
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SUNDAY, MAY 5 - CONT'D
After dropping the car at the airport, we headed to Trastevere using public transportation. We could have sprung for a cab, but I wanted to save a little money (again, part of our scrimp/splurge traveling style). And honestly, sometimes I feel more comfortable taking public transit than dealing with cabs whom I have to direct in my crappy Italian and may be ripping me off. Having lived in NYC, Berlin, and DC for short stints probably helps. When we got to the train station, we had just missed the regional FM1 train, so we purchased tickets (8E each) and waited about 20 minutes. We didn’t take the express train because we were heading to Trastevere, not the Termini area. After validating our tickets, we boarded the train and rode for about 30 minutes to the Trastevere station. Once there, we went to a tobacco shop just outside the terminal and purchased a bunch of single tickets for the bus/tram/subway (1.5E each). Then we took the #8 tram for less than 10 minutes to the stop closest to our apartment. It sounds a little complicated, but I had researched a lot and it was pretty easy once we were doing it. And I was glad to have a practice run when we were under no time pressure, since we would be doing the reverse route to catch our departing flight several days later!
We walked about five minutes to our apartment, once again patting ourselves on the back that I had printed out directions and that we only had carryon luggage. We were also very happy with our apartment:
http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/rome/110408
I found this place because an acquaintance stayed there about a year earlier and recommended it to us. The owner (Carlo) was responsive and helpful, the balcony was amazing to enjoy a glass of wine or morning coffee, we were thrilled to have more space than in a hotel plus a little kitchen, and the price was right (460E for five nights, plus we paid a 100E deposit that was promptly refunded upon our return). But most importantly, we loved the location in Trastevere. We stayed long enough that we weren’t rushing from sight to sight so it wasn’t as important to be in the historic center, but we were still close enough for sightseeing to be convenient. It just felt so much more “neighborhoody” in Trastevere and every time we crossed the Tiber back to our neck of the woods, it was like a sigh of relief. Far fewer crowds, more locals, amazing restaurants. Without even intending to, two of the restaurants that I selected were in our area. And honestly, with the Vatican and the Colosseum being somewhat outliers to the historic center, I’m not sure why that area is considered so much more convenient anyway. So if you hadn’t figured it out by now, I would recommend the apartment, as I would all of our lodgings. Certainly all of our choices were on the more basic side of things, but we were happy with them and liked the locations.
Once we got settled into our apartment, we went for a walk to check out our neighborhood. We walked towards the main street (Viale di Trastevere) and happened upon a Conad grocery store that was on the lower level of a department store. Since we wanted to stock up the apartment a little, we went in and proceeded to get various items. We waited in line at the checkout and once it was our turn, found out that unlike in the US, you need to weigh your produce yourself back in the produce section – they do not weigh it at checkout. Oops! The very understanding checkout lady went to weigh our produce for us, while the very understanding people in line waited behind us. But eventually, we made it out of there with 30E of goodies and then stopped at an ATM on the way home, since we had to pay for our apartment in cash. Because we ended up arriving earlier than expected (as we did not stop in Orvieto), Carlo was not able to meet us, but had the cleaning crew wait for us with a key instead. We arranged all of this by text, so again, we were pleased to have the use of our phone. At any rate, that meant that we did not pay on arrival, so Carlo just trusted us to pay at some point later in our stay!
Back in the apartment, we enjoyed drinks on our balcony. The apartment is on the corner of a building at an intersection so it afforded a great view of everything happening in the area. We people watched, felt like locals, and were thrilled to be in Rome! As in Bologna, the energy of the city really appealed to us.
We had an 8PM dinner reservation at L’Osteria di Monteverde.
http://www.losteriadimonteverde.it/
We hopped on the tram, rode a few short stops to an outlying, decidedly non-touristy part of Trastevere, and got a little lost walking to the restaurant. I will mention that we forgot to validate our tickets on this ride, but were never checked for tickets on this or any other ride during our trip. But we always tried to validate going forward because we figured that it was the least that we could do to support public transportation. Anyway, after a short detour, we found the restaurant…which was completely empty. We had tried to be locals with what we thought was a late reservation, but it definitely was not. It was also a Sunday, so my impression is that restaurants are generally less busy with many choosing to have family time at home.
Though the restaurant décor was pretty traditional, we were happy once we took a look at a menu. For the first time on our trip, we felt like we were somewhere with a more modern take on food. Not just giant bowls of pasta! As usual, we asked for recommendations and particularly at this place, I’m glad we did. We wound up getting dishes that I would not have ordered that turned out delicious. It was a great meal. Our amuse was a ricotta-filled zucchini blossom, which was fine. For our appetizer, we had beef tartare with onion slivers (it was on special) and it was amazing. We followed that with black ink squid ravioli with some type of fish filling, an incredible vegetable/phyllo-layered dish, and a potato-crusted bacala with a side of chicory. This was much more “high-end” food than we had eaten previously on the trip and we were in love. For dessert, we got tiramisu that was served in an adorable flip-top glass jar that my husband particularly enjoyed. He is the dessert man after all. With a bottle of red wine, a bottle of water, and the coperto, our total came to 71E. We did leave a small tip because we were so thrilled with the service and they did such a good job with the food recs.
Of course, by the time we were leaving, the restaurant was almost full with locals – typical! We took the tram home (remembering to validate!) and fell asleep in our apartment after a great first day in Rome.
Tomorrow, we will hit the Colosseum and Forum with Walks of Italy!
After dropping the car at the airport, we headed to Trastevere using public transportation. We could have sprung for a cab, but I wanted to save a little money (again, part of our scrimp/splurge traveling style). And honestly, sometimes I feel more comfortable taking public transit than dealing with cabs whom I have to direct in my crappy Italian and may be ripping me off. Having lived in NYC, Berlin, and DC for short stints probably helps. When we got to the train station, we had just missed the regional FM1 train, so we purchased tickets (8E each) and waited about 20 minutes. We didn’t take the express train because we were heading to Trastevere, not the Termini area. After validating our tickets, we boarded the train and rode for about 30 minutes to the Trastevere station. Once there, we went to a tobacco shop just outside the terminal and purchased a bunch of single tickets for the bus/tram/subway (1.5E each). Then we took the #8 tram for less than 10 minutes to the stop closest to our apartment. It sounds a little complicated, but I had researched a lot and it was pretty easy once we were doing it. And I was glad to have a practice run when we were under no time pressure, since we would be doing the reverse route to catch our departing flight several days later!
We walked about five minutes to our apartment, once again patting ourselves on the back that I had printed out directions and that we only had carryon luggage. We were also very happy with our apartment:
http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/rome/110408
I found this place because an acquaintance stayed there about a year earlier and recommended it to us. The owner (Carlo) was responsive and helpful, the balcony was amazing to enjoy a glass of wine or morning coffee, we were thrilled to have more space than in a hotel plus a little kitchen, and the price was right (460E for five nights, plus we paid a 100E deposit that was promptly refunded upon our return). But most importantly, we loved the location in Trastevere. We stayed long enough that we weren’t rushing from sight to sight so it wasn’t as important to be in the historic center, but we were still close enough for sightseeing to be convenient. It just felt so much more “neighborhoody” in Trastevere and every time we crossed the Tiber back to our neck of the woods, it was like a sigh of relief. Far fewer crowds, more locals, amazing restaurants. Without even intending to, two of the restaurants that I selected were in our area. And honestly, with the Vatican and the Colosseum being somewhat outliers to the historic center, I’m not sure why that area is considered so much more convenient anyway. So if you hadn’t figured it out by now, I would recommend the apartment, as I would all of our lodgings. Certainly all of our choices were on the more basic side of things, but we were happy with them and liked the locations.
Once we got settled into our apartment, we went for a walk to check out our neighborhood. We walked towards the main street (Viale di Trastevere) and happened upon a Conad grocery store that was on the lower level of a department store. Since we wanted to stock up the apartment a little, we went in and proceeded to get various items. We waited in line at the checkout and once it was our turn, found out that unlike in the US, you need to weigh your produce yourself back in the produce section – they do not weigh it at checkout. Oops! The very understanding checkout lady went to weigh our produce for us, while the very understanding people in line waited behind us. But eventually, we made it out of there with 30E of goodies and then stopped at an ATM on the way home, since we had to pay for our apartment in cash. Because we ended up arriving earlier than expected (as we did not stop in Orvieto), Carlo was not able to meet us, but had the cleaning crew wait for us with a key instead. We arranged all of this by text, so again, we were pleased to have the use of our phone. At any rate, that meant that we did not pay on arrival, so Carlo just trusted us to pay at some point later in our stay!
Back in the apartment, we enjoyed drinks on our balcony. The apartment is on the corner of a building at an intersection so it afforded a great view of everything happening in the area. We people watched, felt like locals, and were thrilled to be in Rome! As in Bologna, the energy of the city really appealed to us.
We had an 8PM dinner reservation at L’Osteria di Monteverde.
http://www.losteriadimonteverde.it/
We hopped on the tram, rode a few short stops to an outlying, decidedly non-touristy part of Trastevere, and got a little lost walking to the restaurant. I will mention that we forgot to validate our tickets on this ride, but were never checked for tickets on this or any other ride during our trip. But we always tried to validate going forward because we figured that it was the least that we could do to support public transportation. Anyway, after a short detour, we found the restaurant…which was completely empty. We had tried to be locals with what we thought was a late reservation, but it definitely was not. It was also a Sunday, so my impression is that restaurants are generally less busy with many choosing to have family time at home.
Though the restaurant décor was pretty traditional, we were happy once we took a look at a menu. For the first time on our trip, we felt like we were somewhere with a more modern take on food. Not just giant bowls of pasta! As usual, we asked for recommendations and particularly at this place, I’m glad we did. We wound up getting dishes that I would not have ordered that turned out delicious. It was a great meal. Our amuse was a ricotta-filled zucchini blossom, which was fine. For our appetizer, we had beef tartare with onion slivers (it was on special) and it was amazing. We followed that with black ink squid ravioli with some type of fish filling, an incredible vegetable/phyllo-layered dish, and a potato-crusted bacala with a side of chicory. This was much more “high-end” food than we had eaten previously on the trip and we were in love. For dessert, we got tiramisu that was served in an adorable flip-top glass jar that my husband particularly enjoyed. He is the dessert man after all. With a bottle of red wine, a bottle of water, and the coperto, our total came to 71E. We did leave a small tip because we were so thrilled with the service and they did such a good job with the food recs.
Of course, by the time we were leaving, the restaurant was almost full with locals – typical! We took the tram home (remembering to validate!) and fell asleep in our apartment after a great first day in Rome.
Tomorrow, we will hit the Colosseum and Forum with Walks of Italy!
Jun 26th, 2013, 05:57 AM
#103
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Also just another shoutout to Low Country Islander and how helpful her restaurant details have been in her trip reports, particularly this one:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...cognizance.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...cognizance.cfm
Jul 2nd, 2013, 07:56 PM
#106
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MONDAY, MAY 6 – ROME
We did not sleep well on our first night in Rome because there was a huge thunderstorm that woke us up and set off car alarms. I will also note that our bed was a little harder than we would have liked (probably the only negative to the apartment), but we survived. Because we wanted a lot of relaxation time on our trip (and we expect to return), we had not planned to see too many sights during our time in Rome. This worked out really well for us, and we were able to sleep in on most mornings, including this one. We enjoyed a lazy breakfast in the apartment using our grocery store purchases, and after showering, took the bus to the metro to the Colosseum stop. We were early for our 12:30PM tour, so we oohed and aahed over the Colosseum (how crazy is it to come out of the metro stop and have it staring you in the face!), took some photos, and found a bathroom. When the time arrived, we joined our Colosseum/Forum tour with Walks of Italy.
http://www.walksofitaly.com/tour_boo...l_listing/1/65
The list price was 74E per person (now it is 79E) which included entrance tickets, but using the booking code “ricksteves2012” we received a 10% discount. As of March 2013, this code was still the current one. This tour was a splurge for us, but I thought we would appreciate having a more in-depth explanation of what we were seeing, and I heard this was particularly important in the Forum. Plus someone else would handle all of the logistics and ticket purchases, we skipped the line, and we got to enter “tour-guide-only” areas of the Colosseum.
We started outside of the Colosseum, and went onto the Arch of Constantine, Palatine Hill and the Forum. The downside of a tour is that you can get stuck with some annoying people in your group (we had one, though he mellowed out after awhile) and it is really guide-dependent. Our guide was fine, though a little hard to understand, but mostly, I just wish that he were a bit more animated or better at really capturing our attention. Or maybe my attention span is just not well-suited for a 4 hour tour. Plus it rained off and on which was less than ideal when walking outside through the Forum.
So I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in the actual content/guide experience and it was about twice as long as I might like. But if you are a big history buff, you might appreciate it more. I will say that getting the opportunity to walk on the Colosseum stage was very powerful and easily the best part of the tour. It was absolutely pouring by the time we entered the Colosseum, but managed to clear up right as we went on stage. We also got to check out the top tier and underground area, which was nice. And the guards are pretty strict about it because a lot of people saw others going to these areas and would try to come as well (not realizing we were on a tour), but the guards and our tour guides made sure that didn’t happen. So if you want to see those areas, you definitely need to be on a tour. But if I did it over again, I might just take the tour offered by the Colosseum itself that offers access to those areas but is much cheaper, and then just use an audio guide or guidebook to tour the Forum by myself. Please note that the vast majority on this board love Walks of Italy, so your preference really depends on your traveling style. And I don’t know that I would have felt any different about another company; I think it was more about the concept of the tour itself.
After our tour, we decided to walk back to Trastevere to take in more of the city. Rome streets are pretty windy so our Streetwise map and our compass came in handy throughout our trip. By the time we got back to our neighborhood, we were thrilled to sit down in a neighborhood bar and rest our feet. My husband had a beer and I had a glass of prosecco, and we shared a couple of small appetizers. We were pretty tired when we got back to the apartment so we wanted something easy and nearby for dinner. We were tiring of pasta so we considered sushi, but the recommended place near us was closed on Mondays. So my weary self was very grateful that my husband offered to head back the grocery store. He bought 13E of items from the prepared foods section, which made a perfect dinner. Since we were getting up super early to tour the Vatican the next day, we were glad to stay home and turn in early!
We did not sleep well on our first night in Rome because there was a huge thunderstorm that woke us up and set off car alarms. I will also note that our bed was a little harder than we would have liked (probably the only negative to the apartment), but we survived. Because we wanted a lot of relaxation time on our trip (and we expect to return), we had not planned to see too many sights during our time in Rome. This worked out really well for us, and we were able to sleep in on most mornings, including this one. We enjoyed a lazy breakfast in the apartment using our grocery store purchases, and after showering, took the bus to the metro to the Colosseum stop. We were early for our 12:30PM tour, so we oohed and aahed over the Colosseum (how crazy is it to come out of the metro stop and have it staring you in the face!), took some photos, and found a bathroom. When the time arrived, we joined our Colosseum/Forum tour with Walks of Italy.
http://www.walksofitaly.com/tour_boo...l_listing/1/65
The list price was 74E per person (now it is 79E) which included entrance tickets, but using the booking code “ricksteves2012” we received a 10% discount. As of March 2013, this code was still the current one. This tour was a splurge for us, but I thought we would appreciate having a more in-depth explanation of what we were seeing, and I heard this was particularly important in the Forum. Plus someone else would handle all of the logistics and ticket purchases, we skipped the line, and we got to enter “tour-guide-only” areas of the Colosseum.
We started outside of the Colosseum, and went onto the Arch of Constantine, Palatine Hill and the Forum. The downside of a tour is that you can get stuck with some annoying people in your group (we had one, though he mellowed out after awhile) and it is really guide-dependent. Our guide was fine, though a little hard to understand, but mostly, I just wish that he were a bit more animated or better at really capturing our attention. Or maybe my attention span is just not well-suited for a 4 hour tour. Plus it rained off and on which was less than ideal when walking outside through the Forum.
So I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in the actual content/guide experience and it was about twice as long as I might like. But if you are a big history buff, you might appreciate it more. I will say that getting the opportunity to walk on the Colosseum stage was very powerful and easily the best part of the tour. It was absolutely pouring by the time we entered the Colosseum, but managed to clear up right as we went on stage. We also got to check out the top tier and underground area, which was nice. And the guards are pretty strict about it because a lot of people saw others going to these areas and would try to come as well (not realizing we were on a tour), but the guards and our tour guides made sure that didn’t happen. So if you want to see those areas, you definitely need to be on a tour. But if I did it over again, I might just take the tour offered by the Colosseum itself that offers access to those areas but is much cheaper, and then just use an audio guide or guidebook to tour the Forum by myself. Please note that the vast majority on this board love Walks of Italy, so your preference really depends on your traveling style. And I don’t know that I would have felt any different about another company; I think it was more about the concept of the tour itself.
After our tour, we decided to walk back to Trastevere to take in more of the city. Rome streets are pretty windy so our Streetwise map and our compass came in handy throughout our trip. By the time we got back to our neighborhood, we were thrilled to sit down in a neighborhood bar and rest our feet. My husband had a beer and I had a glass of prosecco, and we shared a couple of small appetizers. We were pretty tired when we got back to the apartment so we wanted something easy and nearby for dinner. We were tiring of pasta so we considered sushi, but the recommended place near us was closed on Mondays. So my weary self was very grateful that my husband offered to head back the grocery store. He bought 13E of items from the prepared foods section, which made a perfect dinner. Since we were getting up super early to tour the Vatican the next day, we were glad to stay home and turn in early!
Jul 16th, 2013, 08:37 PM
#109
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I apologize that I am dragging this out so long! The busy summer seems to be getting away from me. I hope to finish up the last few days of our trip in the next week or two. Thanks for hanging in there with me!
TUESDAY, MAY 7 – ROME
Morning came too early but we forced ourselves out of bed as it was Vatican day! We had a quick coffee and roll in the apartment and then walked across the Tiber to catch the #23 bus. It was before 7AM so the busses weren’t running as frequently and we ended up waiting a full 15 minutes at the stop. I was just getting worried that we would miss our tour, when the bus pulled up. Because it was so early, there was no traffic and we zipped to our meeting point near the Vatican entrance in about 10 minutes, arriving right on time. We had booked another Walks of Italy tour – Pristine Sistine.
http://www.walksofitaly.com/tour_boo...l_listing/6/43
We primarily booked this tour because of the early access to the Sistine Chapel. The cost is 84E each, but again, we used the code “ricksteves2012” to get a 10% discount. The meeting point was a café and while the group was gathering, we had time to get cappucini and croissants. Then we were handed our headsets and walked with our group of 12 to the Vatican entrance, a short walk away. We stood in the entrance line with all of the other tour groups since the museum was not yet open. While we waited, our guide gave us detailed information about the Sistine Chapel, since you are not supposed to speak once you enter. I really enjoyed her description and was very much looking forward to seeing it in person!
Once the museum opened, the tour groups filed in and we walked through the museum to the Chapel. We had 20 minutes inside the Chapel to take it all in. Incredible to be viewing the paintings that you have heard about all of your life! And the guide’s description from earlier really augmented my viewing experience. There is a sort of divider that splits the room in two, and I noticed that no one was on the far side, so I went in that part of the room and was by myself for 5 or 10 minutes gazing up at the ceiling. (Okay, I managed to look at the walls as well!) I was very glad I did this because the chapel was far from empty. So if you book early entry, be aware that there will still be 100-200 other people in the room with you. Of course, this was far fewer than the elbow-to-elbow that we experienced when walking through later, but I wouldn’t exactly call it empty.
After our chapel experience, we took about 3 hours to tour the rest of the museum and St. Peter’s Basilica. At first, this was really interesting and I thought our guide was good (and much easier to understand than our Colosseum guide). But then, the crowds. And more crowds. And how it is possible that they let so many people into this place at once?! Isn’t this a severe fire hazard? Honestly, it was so crowded, that it was difficult to enjoy the guide’s description because we were constantly jostled about, had a hard time finding viewing space for the various works, and it just lost any sense of peace that I usually like to have when viewing art. If you are claustrophobic, I don’t recommend it. At least not mid-morning in May. And when we were in St. Peter’s Basilica, my headset was actually picking up another tour guide, so I just took it off and tried to look at a few things on my own without losing my group. By the end, both my husband and I were more than ready to go…I’m not sure if we would have felt that way no matter what because it had been many hours and we were tired and hungry, or if it was just because of the crowds.
Just checked with my husband, and we agree that because we were first-time Vatican visitors that the tour was worth it – early entrance with fewer crowds in the Vatican, no waiting in line for the entrance (the line was HUGE later in the day when we walked by), and some good descriptions from our guide. As with the Colosseum tour, our attention spans (and crowd tolerance) would probably prefer a shorter tour, but I don’t know if those are even offered anywhere. One side note, we did take the shortcut exit out of the Chapel to St. Peter’s, and it was so crowded that this would have been super easy to do if you were visiting solo. At least the day that we went.
When we left St. Peter’s, it was around 12:30PM and was raining a little bit. We didn’t have anything on our agenda until dinner at 9PM, so we decided to walk over to the renowned Pizzarium for lunch.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...ome_Lazio.html
So glad we did! Pizzarium is actually pretty close to the Vatican entrance, but because we exited at St. Peter’s, we had to walk all the way back around which took 20 minutes or so. This pizza was easily the best of our trip. They serve all different kinds of rectangular pizza that are available at the counter. You indicate how wide of a slice you would like, and they cut and weigh it for you. We tried four different types and my husband got one craft beer (they had a great selection) – all for 16E. The pizza was truly out of this world. We loved the crust and the toppings were fresh and delicious. We had heard that this place could get pretty crowded, but we didn’t have too much trouble – perhaps the rain kept people away because there are no seats inside. We managed to find a place to stand outside and enjoy our meal. I would definitely recommend Pizzarium if you are in the area…and maybe even if you are not! Just be aware that it is an order-at-the-counter type of place and does not have sit-down tables.
After our fantastic lunch, we took a metro/bus combo home. The streets were very crowded (the theme for our day!) so the bus sat in traffic quite a bit. We walked home and were completely exhausted. We had woken up very early, and had walked miles around the Vatican and then to Pizzarium. Sometimes tourism is a marathon sport! My husband napped and I tried to nap. As I mentioned, we had no afternoon plans, so we just relaxed in the apartment. We made ourselves some appetizers around 4:30PM since our dinner reservation wasn’t until 9PM. Around 7PM, we left the apartment in search of an aperitivo. One of our foodie apps (we used Elizabeth Minchilli’s and Katie Parla’s apps quite a bit) recommended a wine bar around the corner from us (Il Baccoco) but no one was there when we walked by. So we just walked to the other side of the Santa Maria church and stopped at a little place that had a more lively atmosphere. It was called Café Baylon but any place in that area would work for a drink. My husband had a Pilsner Urquell and I had a mojito and we sat outside, enjoying the street scene. We finished up and took the bus and metro to our dinner reservation near the Termini station for our 9PM dinner reservation.
TUESDAY, MAY 7 – ROME
Morning came too early but we forced ourselves out of bed as it was Vatican day! We had a quick coffee and roll in the apartment and then walked across the Tiber to catch the #23 bus. It was before 7AM so the busses weren’t running as frequently and we ended up waiting a full 15 minutes at the stop. I was just getting worried that we would miss our tour, when the bus pulled up. Because it was so early, there was no traffic and we zipped to our meeting point near the Vatican entrance in about 10 minutes, arriving right on time. We had booked another Walks of Italy tour – Pristine Sistine.
http://www.walksofitaly.com/tour_boo...l_listing/6/43
We primarily booked this tour because of the early access to the Sistine Chapel. The cost is 84E each, but again, we used the code “ricksteves2012” to get a 10% discount. The meeting point was a café and while the group was gathering, we had time to get cappucini and croissants. Then we were handed our headsets and walked with our group of 12 to the Vatican entrance, a short walk away. We stood in the entrance line with all of the other tour groups since the museum was not yet open. While we waited, our guide gave us detailed information about the Sistine Chapel, since you are not supposed to speak once you enter. I really enjoyed her description and was very much looking forward to seeing it in person!
Once the museum opened, the tour groups filed in and we walked through the museum to the Chapel. We had 20 minutes inside the Chapel to take it all in. Incredible to be viewing the paintings that you have heard about all of your life! And the guide’s description from earlier really augmented my viewing experience. There is a sort of divider that splits the room in two, and I noticed that no one was on the far side, so I went in that part of the room and was by myself for 5 or 10 minutes gazing up at the ceiling. (Okay, I managed to look at the walls as well!) I was very glad I did this because the chapel was far from empty. So if you book early entry, be aware that there will still be 100-200 other people in the room with you. Of course, this was far fewer than the elbow-to-elbow that we experienced when walking through later, but I wouldn’t exactly call it empty.
After our chapel experience, we took about 3 hours to tour the rest of the museum and St. Peter’s Basilica. At first, this was really interesting and I thought our guide was good (and much easier to understand than our Colosseum guide). But then, the crowds. And more crowds. And how it is possible that they let so many people into this place at once?! Isn’t this a severe fire hazard? Honestly, it was so crowded, that it was difficult to enjoy the guide’s description because we were constantly jostled about, had a hard time finding viewing space for the various works, and it just lost any sense of peace that I usually like to have when viewing art. If you are claustrophobic, I don’t recommend it. At least not mid-morning in May. And when we were in St. Peter’s Basilica, my headset was actually picking up another tour guide, so I just took it off and tried to look at a few things on my own without losing my group. By the end, both my husband and I were more than ready to go…I’m not sure if we would have felt that way no matter what because it had been many hours and we were tired and hungry, or if it was just because of the crowds.
Just checked with my husband, and we agree that because we were first-time Vatican visitors that the tour was worth it – early entrance with fewer crowds in the Vatican, no waiting in line for the entrance (the line was HUGE later in the day when we walked by), and some good descriptions from our guide. As with the Colosseum tour, our attention spans (and crowd tolerance) would probably prefer a shorter tour, but I don’t know if those are even offered anywhere. One side note, we did take the shortcut exit out of the Chapel to St. Peter’s, and it was so crowded that this would have been super easy to do if you were visiting solo. At least the day that we went.
When we left St. Peter’s, it was around 12:30PM and was raining a little bit. We didn’t have anything on our agenda until dinner at 9PM, so we decided to walk over to the renowned Pizzarium for lunch.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...ome_Lazio.html
So glad we did! Pizzarium is actually pretty close to the Vatican entrance, but because we exited at St. Peter’s, we had to walk all the way back around which took 20 minutes or so. This pizza was easily the best of our trip. They serve all different kinds of rectangular pizza that are available at the counter. You indicate how wide of a slice you would like, and they cut and weigh it for you. We tried four different types and my husband got one craft beer (they had a great selection) – all for 16E. The pizza was truly out of this world. We loved the crust and the toppings were fresh and delicious. We had heard that this place could get pretty crowded, but we didn’t have too much trouble – perhaps the rain kept people away because there are no seats inside. We managed to find a place to stand outside and enjoy our meal. I would definitely recommend Pizzarium if you are in the area…and maybe even if you are not! Just be aware that it is an order-at-the-counter type of place and does not have sit-down tables.
After our fantastic lunch, we took a metro/bus combo home. The streets were very crowded (the theme for our day!) so the bus sat in traffic quite a bit. We walked home and were completely exhausted. We had woken up very early, and had walked miles around the Vatican and then to Pizzarium. Sometimes tourism is a marathon sport! My husband napped and I tried to nap. As I mentioned, we had no afternoon plans, so we just relaxed in the apartment. We made ourselves some appetizers around 4:30PM since our dinner reservation wasn’t until 9PM. Around 7PM, we left the apartment in search of an aperitivo. One of our foodie apps (we used Elizabeth Minchilli’s and Katie Parla’s apps quite a bit) recommended a wine bar around the corner from us (Il Baccoco) but no one was there when we walked by. So we just walked to the other side of the Santa Maria church and stopped at a little place that had a more lively atmosphere. It was called Café Baylon but any place in that area would work for a drink. My husband had a Pilsner Urquell and I had a mojito and we sat outside, enjoying the street scene. We finished up and took the bus and metro to our dinner reservation near the Termini station for our 9PM dinner reservation.
Jul 16th, 2013, 08:47 PM
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TUESDAY, MAY 7 – CONT'D
Tonight was our big blowout dinner. We had considered Glass and Metamorfosi among others, but after much angst, we landed on Pipero al Rex, the Michelin-starred restaurant in Hotel Rex.
http://www.hotelrex.net/restaurant.htm
Oh. My. God.
It was mind-blowing amazing. While we are only in our 30s, we are fortunate to have eaten at so many excellent restaurants since we make this a priority when traveling. Daniel, Babbo, Momofuku, Komi, etc. So while we certainly haven’t eaten everywhere, you can take it for what you will when I say that this was easily one of the top dining experiences of my life (so far!). This was one of those times when everything just seemed to come together…the ambiance, the service, the food, the wine. With the prices that these restaurants are charging, it’s easy to have impossible-to-meet-expectations, but somehow, Pipero al Rex managed to fulfill on all accounts.
There are only six or seven tables in this chic, modern restaurant. Once again, we thought that we were being local by reserving at 9PM, but there was only one other table when we arrived. By 10PM, they were full. And some tables sat at 11PM…I don’t know who these people are that can sit down for a multi-course tasting menu at 11PM on a weeknight (and they all seemed Italian). Don’t they have to work? But hey, lucky them!
At any rate, when we sat down, we were greeted by Alessandro Pipero, the proprietor. He was so kind and welcoming, and didn’t seem to care at all that we were much younger than what appeared to be their typical patron. Zero pretentiousness. In fact, he took a great interest in learning where we found out about him (I told him Katie Parla, though we also read about it on Chowhound), and seemed thrilled that someone our age was so excited about food. He asked if we would like to see a menu or if we would just like him to bring us some food. I had read that we should just trust him, so we chose the latter. There is no official tasting menu; it’s just whatever they feel like I suppose! He did check to see if there was anything in particular that we didn’t like (we were game for anything), and I just requested that we definitely get the pasta carbonara because I had read so much about it. Then he asked about wine. My husband asked if he could do wine pairings and Alessandro said sure. At that point, I felt the need to mention that we were splurging on the food so needed to be more budget-minded on the wine. Alessandro said, “I tell you what. The food will be 100E per person, and the wine will be 25E per person.” I couldn’t believe it! The food prices we were expecting, but wine pairings for only 25E?! We happily agreed, though I figured we might have somewhat limited offerings.I could not have been more wrong.
They started us with a sparkling wine that was delicious. We were already so in love with Alessandro at that point, and things were just getting better and better. We had five or six amuses, each one a delight. And then six courses. I can’t remember them all but we started with duck tartare “tacos.” Who knew that raw fowl could be such a revelation? We had two pasta dishes, including the amazing carbonara, as well as one with roe among other things. There was a zucchini-something in there, as well as another course I can’t remember. I’m sorry; I’m a failure of a food writer.
We were getting so full, and Alessandro asked us if we wanted a meat dish or if we were finished. We told him that we would like a tiny portion just to try it. We were so glad we did, because we had a succulent piece of pork tenderloin to finish off the savory courses. It really seemed like we could keep eating or stop whenever we wanted, even though we were working off a set price. (Okay, fine, it was a very expensive set price!) I remember thinking that each dish was so different and so wonderful. Oftentimes when you are doing a tasting menu, there are a few standout dishes, with a few “whatever”dishes, and a few letdowns. Not so in this case. We really enjoyed everything. And it was paced so well, which can be tricky for a multi-course tasting menu. The service was excellent in all regards.
The whole time, we were poured copious amounts of wines, trying several whites and reds. I’m sure we were not poured particularly expensive wines, but each one was fantastic, so we were in heaven. We finished off with three dessert courses, including the last plate of 5 different bites, one of which was the most incredible homemade marshmallow. At this point, we felt like we had gotten so much for our money that we were taking advantage of them! Even taking the expense into consideration. At 125E per person, it was worth every penny. We enjoyed the experience so much, we left what we thought was a pretty good tip. (Though I still am never quite sure what to do in a restaurant like that in another country. Do the usual tipping rules apply for Italy? Or because the restaurant is so high-end, is a larger tip customary?)
We thanked Alessandro and his staff profusely and had them call us a cab. At almost midnight, we hopped into our cab to head back to Trastevere. Once we crossed the Tiber, the cab driver kept telling us that the street was “chiusi” and he clearly didn’t want to go any further, so we ended up getting out (I think we paid about 13E) and walking the last 10 minutes home. It made me glad that we didn’t take more cabs since the street clearly was not closed once we started walking! I think he just wanted to end at the taxi stand. Oh well, we needed the walk after our big dinner, and we were still on cloud nine from one of the best dining experiences of our lives.
Restaurant scenes change quickly, but for now, I can’t recommend Pipero al Rex enough for someone who wants to blow their budget on a meal. I bet I will be looking for something that compares for years to come!
Tonight was our big blowout dinner. We had considered Glass and Metamorfosi among others, but after much angst, we landed on Pipero al Rex, the Michelin-starred restaurant in Hotel Rex.
http://www.hotelrex.net/restaurant.htm
Oh. My. God.
It was mind-blowing amazing. While we are only in our 30s, we are fortunate to have eaten at so many excellent restaurants since we make this a priority when traveling. Daniel, Babbo, Momofuku, Komi, etc. So while we certainly haven’t eaten everywhere, you can take it for what you will when I say that this was easily one of the top dining experiences of my life (so far!). This was one of those times when everything just seemed to come together…the ambiance, the service, the food, the wine. With the prices that these restaurants are charging, it’s easy to have impossible-to-meet-expectations, but somehow, Pipero al Rex managed to fulfill on all accounts.
There are only six or seven tables in this chic, modern restaurant. Once again, we thought that we were being local by reserving at 9PM, but there was only one other table when we arrived. By 10PM, they were full. And some tables sat at 11PM…I don’t know who these people are that can sit down for a multi-course tasting menu at 11PM on a weeknight (and they all seemed Italian). Don’t they have to work? But hey, lucky them!
At any rate, when we sat down, we were greeted by Alessandro Pipero, the proprietor. He was so kind and welcoming, and didn’t seem to care at all that we were much younger than what appeared to be their typical patron. Zero pretentiousness. In fact, he took a great interest in learning where we found out about him (I told him Katie Parla, though we also read about it on Chowhound), and seemed thrilled that someone our age was so excited about food. He asked if we would like to see a menu or if we would just like him to bring us some food. I had read that we should just trust him, so we chose the latter. There is no official tasting menu; it’s just whatever they feel like I suppose! He did check to see if there was anything in particular that we didn’t like (we were game for anything), and I just requested that we definitely get the pasta carbonara because I had read so much about it. Then he asked about wine. My husband asked if he could do wine pairings and Alessandro said sure. At that point, I felt the need to mention that we were splurging on the food so needed to be more budget-minded on the wine. Alessandro said, “I tell you what. The food will be 100E per person, and the wine will be 25E per person.” I couldn’t believe it! The food prices we were expecting, but wine pairings for only 25E?! We happily agreed, though I figured we might have somewhat limited offerings.I could not have been more wrong.
They started us with a sparkling wine that was delicious. We were already so in love with Alessandro at that point, and things were just getting better and better. We had five or six amuses, each one a delight. And then six courses. I can’t remember them all but we started with duck tartare “tacos.” Who knew that raw fowl could be such a revelation? We had two pasta dishes, including the amazing carbonara, as well as one with roe among other things. There was a zucchini-something in there, as well as another course I can’t remember. I’m sorry; I’m a failure of a food writer.
We were getting so full, and Alessandro asked us if we wanted a meat dish or if we were finished. We told him that we would like a tiny portion just to try it. We were so glad we did, because we had a succulent piece of pork tenderloin to finish off the savory courses. It really seemed like we could keep eating or stop whenever we wanted, even though we were working off a set price. (Okay, fine, it was a very expensive set price!) I remember thinking that each dish was so different and so wonderful. Oftentimes when you are doing a tasting menu, there are a few standout dishes, with a few “whatever”dishes, and a few letdowns. Not so in this case. We really enjoyed everything. And it was paced so well, which can be tricky for a multi-course tasting menu. The service was excellent in all regards.The whole time, we were poured copious amounts of wines, trying several whites and reds. I’m sure we were not poured particularly expensive wines, but each one was fantastic, so we were in heaven. We finished off with three dessert courses, including the last plate of 5 different bites, one of which was the most incredible homemade marshmallow. At this point, we felt like we had gotten so much for our money that we were taking advantage of them! Even taking the expense into consideration. At 125E per person, it was worth every penny. We enjoyed the experience so much, we left what we thought was a pretty good tip. (Though I still am never quite sure what to do in a restaurant like that in another country. Do the usual tipping rules apply for Italy? Or because the restaurant is so high-end, is a larger tip customary?)
We thanked Alessandro and his staff profusely and had them call us a cab. At almost midnight, we hopped into our cab to head back to Trastevere. Once we crossed the Tiber, the cab driver kept telling us that the street was “chiusi” and he clearly didn’t want to go any further, so we ended up getting out (I think we paid about 13E) and walking the last 10 minutes home. It made me glad that we didn’t take more cabs since the street clearly was not closed once we started walking! I think he just wanted to end at the taxi stand. Oh well, we needed the walk after our big dinner, and we were still on cloud nine from one of the best dining experiences of our lives.
Restaurant scenes change quickly, but for now, I can’t recommend Pipero al Rex enough for someone who wants to blow their budget on a meal. I bet I will be looking for something that compares for years to come!
Aug 15th, 2013, 08:13 PM
#116
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I swear I will finish this sooner rather than later! Thanks for hanging in there with me.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 8 – ROME
With our big sights out of the way, our remaining time in Rome was pretty mellow. We slept in and piddled around the apartment, enjoying coffee on our balcony with other snacks from our kitchen. It was a gorgeous day – finally! Around 10:30AM, we headed out and stopped by the market right nearby our apartment in Piazza San Cosimato. It was a great market with lots of locals shopping and no gimmicky tourist items for sale.
After our quick stop in the market, our plan was to do Rick Steves’ “Heart of Rome” walk, which encompassed the major sights in the historic center. We walked across the Tiber and started at Campo di Fiori. The market was huge and bustling, but it was mostly tourists and the amount of touristy items was over-the-top (penis pasta, anyone?). From there, we walked through Piazza Navona and then went to the Pantheon. I had been there before, but it was just as amazing this time. Trying to comprehend the architectural and construction skills necessary to create that building hundreds of years ago is staggering. There were quite a few people there, but it is free to enter and there was no line. We didn’t have a problem enjoying our short visit.
Afterwards, we went next door to Tazza d’Oro so that I could try the famed granita di caffe con panna (2.5E). It was a little disappointing in my opinion. Served in a plastic cup and nothing particularly special. But at least it was a cool treat on a hot day, and we used the bathroom. We continued on to the Trevi Foundation and Spanish Steps. Hordes of people making the same walk and made us so glad that we did not stay in the historic center. Trastevere was really more our speed, though of course, we were glad to have seen the major sights.
I really wanted my trip souvenir to be a brightly colored pair of leather gloves, so I went into the Di Cori glove shop right near the Spanish Steps.
http://www.dicorigloves.it
It is the tiniest little shop with the most beautiful gloves that I thought were well worth the price, with most pairs around 40 or 50E. Alas, my man-hands did me no favors and I could barely squeeze them into the largest ladies’ size. So I walked out of the shop empty-handed. Oh well.
At this point, we were pretty hungry and walked around looking for a place to eat lunch. We strayed far enough away the Spanish Steps and Via del Corso to find something slightly more reasonable. We wound up eating outside in a nondescript, touristy place in a random piazza. We ordered a margherita pizza and a caprese salad which were fine. I seem to have lost the receipt so I can’t tell you what we paid!
We took the long walk home, just enjoying the nice weather. Once we were back in the apartment, my husband napped and I just relaxed and watch a little TV. We had no plans for dinner and didn’t feel like cooking but also wanted something totally different – we were getting pretty sick of pizza and pasta. So we found an Indian restaurant nearby on the internet, and it turned out to be just what we were looking for!
http://www.ristorantejaipur.com/
We ordered way too much of our typical Indian favorites and thought it was excellent. With one large Kingfisher beer, our bill came to 44E. The perfect way to end our lazy day!
WEDNESDAY, MAY 8 – ROME
With our big sights out of the way, our remaining time in Rome was pretty mellow. We slept in and piddled around the apartment, enjoying coffee on our balcony with other snacks from our kitchen. It was a gorgeous day – finally! Around 10:30AM, we headed out and stopped by the market right nearby our apartment in Piazza San Cosimato. It was a great market with lots of locals shopping and no gimmicky tourist items for sale.
After our quick stop in the market, our plan was to do Rick Steves’ “Heart of Rome” walk, which encompassed the major sights in the historic center. We walked across the Tiber and started at Campo di Fiori. The market was huge and bustling, but it was mostly tourists and the amount of touristy items was over-the-top (penis pasta, anyone?). From there, we walked through Piazza Navona and then went to the Pantheon. I had been there before, but it was just as amazing this time. Trying to comprehend the architectural and construction skills necessary to create that building hundreds of years ago is staggering. There were quite a few people there, but it is free to enter and there was no line. We didn’t have a problem enjoying our short visit.
Afterwards, we went next door to Tazza d’Oro so that I could try the famed granita di caffe con panna (2.5E). It was a little disappointing in my opinion. Served in a plastic cup and nothing particularly special. But at least it was a cool treat on a hot day, and we used the bathroom. We continued on to the Trevi Foundation and Spanish Steps. Hordes of people making the same walk and made us so glad that we did not stay in the historic center. Trastevere was really more our speed, though of course, we were glad to have seen the major sights.
I really wanted my trip souvenir to be a brightly colored pair of leather gloves, so I went into the Di Cori glove shop right near the Spanish Steps.
http://www.dicorigloves.it
It is the tiniest little shop with the most beautiful gloves that I thought were well worth the price, with most pairs around 40 or 50E. Alas, my man-hands did me no favors and I could barely squeeze them into the largest ladies’ size. So I walked out of the shop empty-handed. Oh well.
At this point, we were pretty hungry and walked around looking for a place to eat lunch. We strayed far enough away the Spanish Steps and Via del Corso to find something slightly more reasonable. We wound up eating outside in a nondescript, touristy place in a random piazza. We ordered a margherita pizza and a caprese salad which were fine. I seem to have lost the receipt so I can’t tell you what we paid!
We took the long walk home, just enjoying the nice weather. Once we were back in the apartment, my husband napped and I just relaxed and watch a little TV. We had no plans for dinner and didn’t feel like cooking but also wanted something totally different – we were getting pretty sick of pizza and pasta. So we found an Indian restaurant nearby on the internet, and it turned out to be just what we were looking for!
http://www.ristorantejaipur.com/
We ordered way too much of our typical Indian favorites and thought it was excellent. With one large Kingfisher beer, our bill came to 44E. The perfect way to end our lazy day!
Aug 19th, 2013, 06:24 PM
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THURSDAY, MAY 9 – ROME
It was our last full day in Italy and we didn’t have much scheduled in advance. We had another lazy morning, sleeping in and enjoying coffee and melon on our balcony. The weather was beautiful – it was nice to end our trip with a few nice days, since we had definitely experienced spotty weather throughout the trip.
We left the apartment about 10:30AM. We decided to walk through the Jewish Ghetto and Trastevere, using Rick Steves' audioguides. In Trastevere, we saw two gorgeous churches including the Santa Maria. Other people had already put in the coins to light up the ceiling so we were fortunate to enjoy the view on their dime! We really enjoyed the opportunity to walk the streets at our own pace and in places that were not overrun with tourists.
For lunch, we stopped at Dar Poeta, which someone recommended to me on this forum. In the Jewish Ghetto, I had considered eating at Sora Margherita, but it wasn’t yet open when we walked past so we skipped it.
http://darpoeta.com/
We sat inside because the sun was blazing hot on the sidewalk (and all umbrella seats were taken), and were happy to rest our feet after a lot of walking. Their pizza was quite good. For a pizza, a calzone, one beer, and a bottle of water, the cost was 23E.
After lunch, we walked into a tobacco shop to purchase a couple more bus/tram tickets that we would need the next day for our return to the airport. We paid cash, as we were trying to strategically whittle down our remaining euros so that we wouldn’t have too many left upon departure…though of course, we didn’t want to have too few either!
We went home to have another relaxing afternoon. Once again, my husband napped while I piddled around reading and watching TV. Then it was apertivo time! And of course, since we were leaving the next day, we were obligated to finish all of the prosecco and beer that we had bought for the apartment. So we enjoyed drinks on the balcony before heading out to dinner. The balcony really added to our enjoyment of the apartment!
We had an 8:30PM dinner reservation at Cesare al Casaletto.
http://www.parlafood.com/cesare-al-c...est-trattoria/
We took the #8 tram to the far reaches of Trastevere, and the restaurant was right next to the stop. We thought the tram was really easy to use. When we arrived at the restaurant, it was already pretty full, including lots of families. This was clearly a locals’ neighborhood joint , and was the first time that we had really seen Roman families eating out. To start, we ordered a couple of the fritti that we had heard so much about. We got the fried gnocchi with cacio e pepe sauce, as well as the polpette di bollito (fried veal meatballs) with pesto. They were both delicious but were a little heavier than I might have liked. Of course, I ordered fried food so you would think I would be okay with it! Mostly, I think that these plates were clearly meant to be shared by more than two people, and instead of exhibiting some restraint, we ate way too much of our appetizers. We were stuffed before we even got our entrees! We ordered two entrees, including the bucatini al’amatriciana. I don’t remember the other entrée or side dish. With a bottle of wine, dessert and service, our total came to 74E. It was an enjoyable meal, but I think it would work better with a larger group, so that you could really sample the different fritti that they are known for, without either stuffing yourself to finish or wasting an abundance of food.
We took the tram home and enjoyed our final walk home to our apartment.
It was our last full day in Italy and we didn’t have much scheduled in advance. We had another lazy morning, sleeping in and enjoying coffee and melon on our balcony. The weather was beautiful – it was nice to end our trip with a few nice days, since we had definitely experienced spotty weather throughout the trip.
We left the apartment about 10:30AM. We decided to walk through the Jewish Ghetto and Trastevere, using Rick Steves' audioguides. In Trastevere, we saw two gorgeous churches including the Santa Maria. Other people had already put in the coins to light up the ceiling so we were fortunate to enjoy the view on their dime! We really enjoyed the opportunity to walk the streets at our own pace and in places that were not overrun with tourists.
For lunch, we stopped at Dar Poeta, which someone recommended to me on this forum. In the Jewish Ghetto, I had considered eating at Sora Margherita, but it wasn’t yet open when we walked past so we skipped it.
http://darpoeta.com/
We sat inside because the sun was blazing hot on the sidewalk (and all umbrella seats were taken), and were happy to rest our feet after a lot of walking. Their pizza was quite good. For a pizza, a calzone, one beer, and a bottle of water, the cost was 23E.
After lunch, we walked into a tobacco shop to purchase a couple more bus/tram tickets that we would need the next day for our return to the airport. We paid cash, as we were trying to strategically whittle down our remaining euros so that we wouldn’t have too many left upon departure…though of course, we didn’t want to have too few either!
We went home to have another relaxing afternoon. Once again, my husband napped while I piddled around reading and watching TV. Then it was apertivo time! And of course, since we were leaving the next day, we were obligated to finish all of the prosecco and beer that we had bought for the apartment. So we enjoyed drinks on the balcony before heading out to dinner. The balcony really added to our enjoyment of the apartment!
We had an 8:30PM dinner reservation at Cesare al Casaletto.
http://www.parlafood.com/cesare-al-c...est-trattoria/
We took the #8 tram to the far reaches of Trastevere, and the restaurant was right next to the stop. We thought the tram was really easy to use. When we arrived at the restaurant, it was already pretty full, including lots of families. This was clearly a locals’ neighborhood joint , and was the first time that we had really seen Roman families eating out. To start, we ordered a couple of the fritti that we had heard so much about. We got the fried gnocchi with cacio e pepe sauce, as well as the polpette di bollito (fried veal meatballs) with pesto. They were both delicious but were a little heavier than I might have liked. Of course, I ordered fried food so you would think I would be okay with it! Mostly, I think that these plates were clearly meant to be shared by more than two people, and instead of exhibiting some restraint, we ate way too much of our appetizers. We were stuffed before we even got our entrees! We ordered two entrees, including the bucatini al’amatriciana. I don’t remember the other entrée or side dish. With a bottle of wine, dessert and service, our total came to 74E. It was an enjoyable meal, but I think it would work better with a larger group, so that you could really sample the different fritti that they are known for, without either stuffing yourself to finish or wasting an abundance of food.
We took the tram home and enjoyed our final walk home to our apartment.
Aug 19th, 2013, 07:39 PM
#119
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FRIDAY, MAY 10 – DEPARTURE
We woke up on our last morning in Rome. We were lucky that our flight wasn’t crazy early, but we still didn’t have time to linger. We quickly packed up, said goodbye to our wonderful apartment, and headed out. Ever the users of public transportation, we walked to the tram stop and took the tram to the Trastevere train station. We then took the regional train (8E each) to FCO, arriving in plenty of time for our 10:10AM flight. After checking in and getting through security, we enjoyed two cappucini and croissants (5.4E) and marveled over the fact that the airport food prices were so reasonable. Unfortunately, our flight to Frankfurt was delayed so we started to worry seriously about missing our transatlantic connection. When we finally arrived in the Frankfurt airport, we sprinted with several other passengers through various checkpoints to our next flight…only to find that it was also a bit delayed. So we spent the last of our euros on some snacks (11E), including a surprisingly delicious mozzarella and tomato sandwich. We then boarded our flight, once again enjoying a whole row to ourselves since we booked the aisle and window, as well as in-seat entertainment screens. An uneventful flight landed us back in Denver, and with another short hop to Jackson Hole, we were home.
We woke up on our last morning in Rome. We were lucky that our flight wasn’t crazy early, but we still didn’t have time to linger. We quickly packed up, said goodbye to our wonderful apartment, and headed out. Ever the users of public transportation, we walked to the tram stop and took the tram to the Trastevere train station. We then took the regional train (8E each) to FCO, arriving in plenty of time for our 10:10AM flight. After checking in and getting through security, we enjoyed two cappucini and croissants (5.4E) and marveled over the fact that the airport food prices were so reasonable. Unfortunately, our flight to Frankfurt was delayed so we started to worry seriously about missing our transatlantic connection. When we finally arrived in the Frankfurt airport, we sprinted with several other passengers through various checkpoints to our next flight…only to find that it was also a bit delayed. So we spent the last of our euros on some snacks (11E), including a surprisingly delicious mozzarella and tomato sandwich. We then boarded our flight, once again enjoying a whole row to ourselves since we booked the aisle and window, as well as in-seat entertainment screens. An uneventful flight landed us back in Denver, and with another short hop to Jackson Hole, we were home.
Aug 19th, 2013, 07:50 PM
#120
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FINAL THOUGHTS
We had an incredible trip. Doing so much research and planning really helped us to schedule our time appropriately, see lots of sights, but also enjoy lingering when we wanted to. I think that understanding your own travel style helps when reading others’ suggestions. You need to know if it is right for you, even if someone else raves about something. For us, we really wanted some relaxation time on this particular trip, and as you may have noticed, we slept in on many mornings and took many afternoons off from sightseeing. This enabled us to hit the ground running when we needed to. We loved how varied our destinations were as well.
FAVORITE VENICE EXPERIENCE: Cruising Grand Canal
FAVORITE BOLOGNA EXPERIENCE: Bluone cooking class
FAVORITE TUSCANY EXPERIENCE: Enjoying the gorgeous views, wandering Pienza at dusk, and my husband loved driving the Fiat around the curvy roads
FAVORITE ROME EXPERIENCE: Enjoying drinks on our balcony many afternoons
BEST MEALS: Pipero al Rex, L’Osteria di Monteverde and Pizzarium in Rome, Trattoria da Fiorella in Pienza, Dinner during Bologna cooking class
MOST DISAPPOINTING: Siena, hordes of tourists in Venice, Café Florian in Venice, restaurants in Bologna
With that, my trip report is finished. Thanks to those of you who stuck with me; I appreciated your encouragement. I have gained a new respect for the writers of trip reports and value them all the more. Thank you again for all of the insight that I have gained from the contributors of this forum. Our trip would not have been the same without you! I look forward to planning my next adventure with your help!
We had an incredible trip. Doing so much research and planning really helped us to schedule our time appropriately, see lots of sights, but also enjoy lingering when we wanted to. I think that understanding your own travel style helps when reading others’ suggestions. You need to know if it is right for you, even if someone else raves about something. For us, we really wanted some relaxation time on this particular trip, and as you may have noticed, we slept in on many mornings and took many afternoons off from sightseeing. This enabled us to hit the ground running when we needed to. We loved how varied our destinations were as well.
FAVORITE VENICE EXPERIENCE: Cruising Grand Canal
FAVORITE BOLOGNA EXPERIENCE: Bluone cooking class
FAVORITE TUSCANY EXPERIENCE: Enjoying the gorgeous views, wandering Pienza at dusk, and my husband loved driving the Fiat around the curvy roads
FAVORITE ROME EXPERIENCE: Enjoying drinks on our balcony many afternoons
BEST MEALS: Pipero al Rex, L’Osteria di Monteverde and Pizzarium in Rome, Trattoria da Fiorella in Pienza, Dinner during Bologna cooking class
MOST DISAPPOINTING: Siena, hordes of tourists in Venice, Café Florian in Venice, restaurants in Bologna
With that, my trip report is finished. Thanks to those of you who stuck with me; I appreciated your encouragement. I have gained a new respect for the writers of trip reports and value them all the more. Thank you again for all of the insight that I have gained from the contributors of this forum. Our trip would not have been the same without you! I look forward to planning my next adventure with your help!
