Rome: Last Meals et al

OBSERVATIONS: A few reflections on how Rome struck me on this visit.

  • More young people seen smoking on the street including high school students.  A mix of cigarettes and vaping devices.
  • More pedestrian-only zones which make Rome quieter and even more pleasant for walking from piazza to piazza. Other than getting into and out of the city upon arriving and departing, we walked everywhere! Didn’t take even one taxi.
  • Rome is popular!  This is early October, pre-Columbus Day, and the crowds everywhere are huge.  
  • Dress here is as casual as what you see in cities everywhere.  Lots of jeans on all ages, and mostly pants on the women.  Of course, we were focused on tourist attractions which probably accounts for some of this.
  • Rome’s fountains and buildings all look cleaner and almost pristine; stanchions and signs are in evidence to deal with crowd management.  Obviously, the government has invested in making the city more appealing.
  • The Spanish Steps are as beautiful as ever, but you are no longer allowed to sit on them.  Enforcement officers were around making individuals get up and move.  I found this disappointing as I always liked sitting there and watching the world swirl around me.
  • Vibrant restaurant scene with many options for Roman cuisine and also some very sophisticated creative fare.

CREATIVE ROMAN CUISINE

Again, thanks to Journy, we experienced a very sophisticated and innovative dinner menu at Per Me Guilio.  It’s built around fish and seafood, particularly raw fish, and such Roman specialities as tripe.  There are a couple tasting menu options, but you can also order a la carte which we did.

Shrimp carpaccio

I had scampi carpaccio which was served with four tiny cubes of foie gras and bit of onion jelly followed by cuttlefish gnocchi with clams, celery and bottarga.  

Cuttlefish gnocchi

The Chief Penguin ordered the roast cuttlefish followed by scorpionfish with codfish tripe and beans.  

Roast scorpionfish

Desserts were fancy, but more recognizable.   And as is typical of very fine restaurants, there were lots of little extra tidbits along the way.   Another superb dining adventure!

TRUFFLE FAVORITES

On our last night, we trekked through Piazza Navona, Pantheon square, past the Trevi Fountain, and on to the Spanish Steps before going over to Osteria Barberini for a dinner that featured truffles, both white and black.  This is a very small restaurant, and we discovered, very popular!  Our reservation was for 6:30 when they opened, but there were at least six other folks outside the door hoping to snag a table.  

In addition to the regular menu, there’s a truffle menu. We love truffles, especially the pungent white ones.  We ordered the bruschetta with white truffle and Parmesan (lovely), and then each had an order of the tagliolini with white truffle in a very light cream sauce.  Sublime! 

 The Chief Penguin had his all time favorite, saltimbocca, which he said was the best ever.  I ordered the veal strips with red bell peppers in a balsamic glaze which was good, but not exceptional.  We shared an order of sautéed spinach with oil and lemon. Our waitress was an animated woman who added to our enjoyment of the evening.  The chef also came out from the kitchen to see if we were happy with our dishes. 

Note: Text and all photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Rome Adventure: Vatican Tour

STUNNING ART

We initially signed up for the 7:30 A.M. small group tour of the Vatican Museums.  But, upon further reflection, it seemed too much with jet lag et al, to go that early.  So we changed the tour time to a more civilized 9:45 and then walked to the meeting point.  Seeing the art was worthwhile, but the overall experience is exhausting and strenuous. Our group totaled 22 plus our guide, Julie.  We thought the group size would be no more than 12!  Julie was superb—well informed, organized, and kept us moving!  And we had little radios and earpieces which made it possible to both hear her clearly and stay focused on the building and the paintings.

But, and it’s a big but, the Vatican allows so many thousands (and I mean thousands!) of people to be in the buildings at one time that you are always in a packed crowd and have to move very slowly up and down the many staircases and contend with tiers of folks in front of every significant work.  Doing this for three and a half hours is wearing!  As a former museum educator, I fault them for cramming in so many people.  They charge a high price and the crowding detracts from one’s enjoyment.  Our tour also included the Sistine Chapel (also packed) and the interior of St. Peter’s.  About the only spaces  that weren’t wall to wall people were several of the Raphael Rooms.

Detail in the Raphael Rooms

Mornings in Rome are lovely and we enjoyed the walk to the Vatican and also another walk this morning.  There are not as many people on the street, businesses are just gearing up for the day, the piazzas, Navona in particular, and the Pantheon are less full, and the light is lovely.   

Section of a map in the hall of maps in the Vatican Museums

Note: Text and photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved).