Rome - A Feast for all the Senses

Rome – A Feast for ALL the Senses

The Eternal City – now why is it called that? But, this beautiful, fragrant, exciting city is the cradle of western civilisation and isn’t it so obvious.

We arrived very late into Rome airport after our flight, which was late anyway, had been delayed for over an hour. We were met by the most charming woman limousine driver with her very classy, sparklingly clean car (she must have been waiting for quite some time) who carried us into the centre of Rome to our hotel.

We had been advised beforehand of the dangers of picking up a taxi at the airport so, had booked this service from London before we left. It is expensive but, if all the warnings are to be heeded then it was well worth it. The cost for us was £50 but it is quite a distance and we felt welcomed, informed by our delightful driver of all the interesting sites we passed and we felt safe.

Our hotel (Hotel Regno on Via Corso) did what was expected of it. It was unremarkable, clean, served an adequate breakfast and was right in the middle of all the main tourist areas, The staff were pleasant, helpful and polite.

Although we had arrived very late, we were keen to start our exploration of this amazing city. The Vittorio Emanuele II monument (the king of Italy who first unified all the different states within this peninsula into one Italian State), was at the end of our street and beckoned to us each morning. This startlingly white edifice is also the site of the memorial to the Italian unknown warrior so is, of course, constantly guarded.

Can I say now that Rome is paved with cobble stones, on the roads – where it makes the vehicles sound as though they are ripping up the road to the pavements and most of the pedestrian areas. I really can’t emphasise enough how important it is to have comfortable footwear. You will walk miles over very uneven - though charming – alleyways and byways in search of the next jewel. I really, really recommend that you don’t wear high heels. I think, in any case, that I’ve lost two inches from  the length of my legs!

Not so far away is the Colosseum. Well, it had just started to rain as we got there – the only rain we saw during our stay. While it was a little dampening it didn’t really affect our decision to not go into this iconic building. I know it’s impressive and you really have to see it but, as a fellow tourist from Sweden we chatted to on our trip said – ‘You have to tick the boxes’. Well, we ticked the box.

Much more interesting is the Basilica di San Clemente – walk up the Via Labrica from  the Colosseum and about 150 - 200mt up on the left look for Via dei Querceti. On the left hand side, find the building. (www.basilicasanclemente.com)

Much of this church is underground and was discovered by an Irish priest, Joseph Mullooly in the 19^th century, when it was excavated. This church covers three levels and reflects the different religions going back to pre- Christian times. One of the sites of the ancient Mithras cult. It is the burial place of St Cyrille (the inventor of the Cyrillic script and supporter of the Slavic Christians) and St Clement – Pope Clement 1. And, the church isn’t overwhelmed with tourists – a rare bonus in Rome.

Of course, Rome is not just about the ancient sites. For me, when asked where my favourite food is from, it is a toss-up between India and Italy – I think Italy just wins. Although I have never visited Rome before, I have never, in Italy had poor food nor wine. Well, it has to be said that, although all of the food we ate in Rome was at least tasty, some of the wine was poor. My daughter who was with me and is something of a wine expert described the odd glass as ‘flabby’ – yup! That just about nailed it! But only some and that was usually when we stopped for a break in a street-side caffetteria and bought our wine by the glass.

Although many of the travel guides will warn of the dangers of travelling by bus around Rome, especially the No 64, we found the buses absolutely wonderful. Do get a good bus map, all the bus-stops are clearly marked and the cute little buses which travel around the backstreets will stop for you if you stick your hand out. They hold about 12 people, go everywhere and are brilliant. I really recommend you go to one of the tourist information offices (all over the city) and buy a Roma Pass. The package will give you free entry to 2 sites, plus reduced entry to others and importantly, free travel around Rome for 3 days(not taxis). For about 25euros this is a gift, even if you don’t use all its facilities – it makes travel so easy.

Our first really noteworthy meal was in Casa Coppelle Ristorante set in the delightful Piazza Delle Coppelle ( http://www.casacoppelle.it/)

We started with Gazpacho – fresh and delicious.

Followed by Rigatoni with tomato, bacon and mushrooms

and

Ravioli with sage, veal and parmesan

All accompanied by a very respectable glass of Frascati

Over coffee we were treated to a gift from the chef of a plate of delicious petit-fours.