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.

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.