Rome 2 - Another Day, Another Dinner

Rome 2 – Another Day, Another Dinner.

Our first day was very busy. Of course it was. We wanted to fit everything into the same day but, we were sensible. We mixed sightseeing with relaxing, people watching, enjoying the sunshine and of course, eating and drinking – not that we are alcoholics or anything!

The next day, we breakfasted early and took a bus to the Campo di Fiori. We had thought it was a flower market but, apparently the name goes back to the Middle Ages when it was a meadow. We were disappointed to find only two stalls selling flowers. It is certainly a market with an interesting selection of merchandise which ranges from clothes, food items, sweets and various bee products. As we had, thinking it a market in the English style, got there well before it had really started, we selected a caffetteria with a fine view of all the activities and relaxed over an excellent cafe latte.

We went across the Tevere (Tiber) by Ponte Palatino and past the ‘broken bridge’ the Ponte Rotto which was built originally in stone in 2^nd century BC. It was apparently damaged beyond repair in 16^th Century and now only one span is left standing but, remarkable nonetheless as it is the oldest stone bridge in Italy. We took photographs of the River Tiber then entered the Trastevere area where we wandered around the ancient streets and alleyways until lunchtime enjoying the small colourful piazzas we chanced upon. This is an area well worth exploring further – next time! We found a small cafe in Piazzo de Drago and although fine, it was unremarkable.

Dinner, on the other hand was amazing but, I’ll get to that later. First of all we had some important sightseeing to do. We went to Villa Borghese. Well! Visiting the Colosseum may be an exercise in ticking boxes but, visiting Villa Borghese most certainly is not. Built for Scipione Borghese in the 17^th century, not as a home but as a place to entertain friends and house his art collection. You really can’t imagine snuggling up in front of the fire on a cool evening with a glass of wine but, the collection of Bernini’s sculptures is beyond stunning. For me, the most wondrous statue is that of the Rape of Proserpina – Pluto, the God of the Underworld carrying her off to his kingdom.

Unfortunately, it is forbidden to take anything with you into the Villa. Go prepared. All bags, purses, mobiles, cameras must be checked into their repository though, do take a bottle of water with you – that is allowed. But, no photos to share.

The Villa was built on the Pincian Hill and is surrounded by an extensive, lush, scented parkland. There is an excellent range of amusing, rentable transports for exploring the area, from bicycles, horse drawn carriages, trains and, what we dubbed ‘pedalos’ – really four wheeled bicycles, some pedal powered and some motor powered. They looked like a lot of fun but, we never did discover where we could hire them. We eventually settled for a trip around the park in one of the trains. The driver was a little surly but it didn’t really spoil our enjoyment of the vast estate.

We had some difficulty finding our way off the hill and met others who were having difficulty finding their way to it. In our explorations we discovered a walled park where the citizens of Rome were enjoying their leisure time. Always an interest of mine, some small, quick, tree-creeping birds I never quite captured an image of and green parakeets. Lots of them.

                                             

We went to a pre-booked restaurant - Babette – interesting setting at the end of a somewhat higher-end shopping street, Via Margutta, which meets with Via Del Corso in Piazza del Popolo. The people’s Piazza, a spacious area has at its centre one of the many Egyptian Obelisks in Rome which acts as a focus for the interesting mix of families, tourists, musicians and shoppers.

Via Margutta, this pricey, artistic, well-up-itself street is the home of this most wonderful restaurant. It is situated about 200 metres from the Spanish Steps.

Do book in advance. (e-mail: babette@babetteristorante.it

Information on   www.babetteristorante.it)

The restaurant occupies two distinct areas – their indoor rooms and the outdoor piazza which, although outdoors, managed to convey a cosy, intimate ambiance.

Our menu included :

A present from the chef – vichyssoise soup with fried leeks. – I’m not a big fan of cold soups but, this one was delectable

We had for 1^st course:

·         Salt cod with tempura courgette flower

And

·         Layered soufflé with leek on a parmesan sauce

Main course was

·         Osso Buco

And

·         Vitello Milanese (recommended by the waiter which very much, lived up to its recommendation).

The wine was excellent though, I don’t remember its name.

Service was attentive, humorous, excellent and the facilities were immaculate.

After coffee we wandered in the direction of the Spanish steps.

It was at that time, close to 11.00pm but, there was definitely a fiesta atmosphere among the crowds. The Steps were stilled packed with happy, contented revellers. We vowed we would return then wended our replete and contented way back to our hotel.