better together
Tagliere di salumi del Lazio
Tagliolini Zio Bello
Paper butterflies in Trastevere
Laura
Italian couple dancing to street music
Street musicians
Italian girl looking chic next to the trash
Chef at Da Augusto
Laura tossing a wish into the Trevi Fountain
Trevi Fountain
Il Gelato di San Crispino
Spanish Steps
The window at Gelateria del Teatro
The “Family Portrait”
Colosseum
When Laura arrived on Sunday we boarded the “40 Express” toward nowhere in particular and ended up at Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum to kill time before checking into our hostel. After unintentionally perusing the various ancient sites that surround the Colosseum we decided to revisit the delicious Trattoria in Trastevere I ate at the day before. We shared an order of Tagliere di salumi del Lazio (cold cuts) and Tagliolini Zio Bello (tiny noodles “Zio Bello” style with zucchini, tomatoes, and pancetta). Both were so scrumptious and light and the tomatoes were very sweet.
After lunch we spent a good amount of time participating in what Italians call la passeggiata (strolling) around the Tiber and through the surrounding neighborhoods of Trastevere. Upon checking into the hostel, our receptionist, Francesco, gave us many good tips on where to find the most authentic Roman food and Gelato and assured us of the city’s safety at night.
We took a short siesta then set off for dinner at Da Enzo in Trastevere, but sadly since it is so traditional, they were closed (Sunday closures are very common in Italy). Instead we walked to the west side towards Francesco’s second choice, Da Augusto. The place was packed but we decided to wait in line anyway because the food looked marvelous. We watched a young Italian couple share a dance to the street music and laughed as a chef from the kitchen came out for a smoke break and shook her head at the length of the line. When we finally sat down we ordered one Rigatoni Pomodoro e Basilico, one Insalata Caprese, and one Straccetti con la Rucola dish (shredded tenderloin and arugula). I also ordered un quarto litro of wine for €1.5 which was about 3 glasses worth, what a deal! Service was very quick and the food was simple, delectable, and molto bello. Our table was right next to a window that provided great people-watching and entertainment as a group of tween-aged boys blew kisses at us and mouthed “BEAUTIFUL!” through the glass.
We continued la passeggiata back across the bridge towards the Trevi Fountain where we both completed one of the major touristic rituals of a trip to Rome. Word on the street is that the proper way is to toss the coin is with your right hand over your left shoulder. I fantasized for a bit about coming back to the fountain and re-enacting the scene from one of my favorite childhood stories, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, where Claudia and James loot a fountain at the Met after running out of money on their adventure. Roaming around the streets at night was, just as Francesco promised, very safe. There were plenty of tourists going to Trevi and also to the Spanish Steps, where we journeyed to after our first Italian gelato. San Crispino proved to live up to its hype; I mixed chocolate and hazelnut and Laura mixed their pear and honey…perfetto! All in all, it was a day full of nodding and smiling whenever food was involved.
After sleeping in pretty late the next day we satiated our hunger with some second-rate panini, and discovered that second-rate Italian is still pretty damn good. Francesco had told us the day before that Monday was Republic Day so we could go to Quirinale (the Presidential Palace) to visit the gardens as it was the one day of the year it was open to the public. But alas, all of Rome and its current tourists showed up, too and the line was easily a half-mile long. It turns out that while Quirinale is open on this holiday the Pantheon was sadly closed so our trek there after bailing on Quirinale was also a failure.
Our first gelato of the day was decent but the second was out of this world. Gelateria del Teatro above Piazza Navona has a beautiful display of house-made gelati that you can see them preparing through a large window in the back with piles of fresh ingredients. Laura chose a scoop of Fragola (strawberry) and I mixed Fior di Latte (cream) and Melone (cantaloupe). As we passed through Piazza Navona after our second gelato I got dragged into a street performance where an actor took my camera, pretended to trade me a plastic toy version for it, and then grabbed a random man and baby in a stroller from the audience to create a “family portrait” souvenir. Laura was laughing hysterically and I was mostly just assuming the ready position to sprint after the stranger who decided to use my camera as a prop, should he decide to try to steal it.
Our last site of the day was a great success; I read that going to the Colosseum in the late afternoon was a great way to beat the crowds and I assumed it would be a more beautiful time to visit light-wise. Both proved to be true—arriving around 5:30PM, our total wait time was probably ten minutes and we were inside during golden hour. Quick tip: if you purchase the tickets on site they seem to be cheaper than what is offered online (€12 vs €14 and €18). The Colosseum is massive, awe-inspiring, and has a dark history. When you sit inside and realize that this one part of Rome, a city that took MILLENNIA to build, still stands today, mostly in tact, you realize how much of a blip an individual life is in the grand scheme of things. Or at least I did. With the Colosseum closing an hour before sunset we caught a quick bite to eat at another "second-rate" restaurant nearby and then our third gelato so we could see the site again all lit up in the dark sky. The 17 mosquito bites I now have after waiting for night to fall were definitely worth it.
