Chillin' in Rome

So the plan was to head into town after breakfast with Jason and meet Rickey at the De La Ville. His plan was to wake up early, do a light workout, then get breakfast. I figured with all the time it would take me to get there, it would work out just right. So I took my time getting ready and out the door. But when I sent him a text that I was headed out, he wrote back that he'd just woken up! Apparently, because he had been so used to the Duomo bells waking him in Florence, that's what he was waiting for this morning. Heehee.

Tourists in front of St. Peter's

Knowing this, I took my time walking to the Metro Station, this time being smart and walking to the RIGHT of Vatican City. It was quite a spectacle. Being that it was Wednesday, one could join a tour that would bring you to St. Peter's while the Pope addressed the public. This was about 9AM and I was surprised at how many people were already flooding in through the security gates and tour groups with their sea of yellow hats and leaders holding their little flags were making their way up the main walk. Police were in force as well. They had low metal barracades around the outer square with only one or two entrances into it. There was also scaffolding in the center and some chairs. Around sections of the columns lining the square was more scaffolding since they were slowly cleaning the whole structure. Amazing how dirty the place can get just from pollution. Unfortunately, with all these things obstructing the look, it wasn't the best time to get a picture of St. Peter's Square.

I continued on my enjoyable walk through the city to the Metro. When I arrived at Rickey's room, greeting my favorite doorman, Ernesto, on the way in, he was still in his robe and ironing his clothes for the day. Rickey completely embraced his adventure here, dressing a little nicer complete with a tie, each day, just like so many men do in Italy. The men are not wearing ties daily but even the young men who are dressed casually to hang with their friends are wearing nice, collared shirts, sleek shoes, and generally dressed to impress. As a female, I appreciated that they put the daily effort into their appearance.

I originally planned to take Rickey to see some sights since I didn't want him to miss anything and once his friend Fernanda arrived, it would be a big day of the Colliseum, Vatican and St. Peter's. But Rickey wanted to just spend the day together, taking the city in. So we did. =) We walked, grabbed breakfast at a great little cafe called Suggestum Cafe -via Veneto 14A. They had a10 Euro breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice, and tea or coffee. I enjoyed my decaf cappucino, orange juice, and pear/ almond tart while Rickey enjoyed the breakfast. I can't speak for lunch there though we sat and talked long enough to actually welcome the lunch crowd in. That was sort of funny.

The next few hours, we generally stopped into kiosks looking for gifts for Rickey's family members back home as well as keeping an eye open for stores that might possibly have something for the baby. We also stopped by the Trevi Fountain in our wanderings and came across these incredibly powerful ads on the windows of a Benetton store right across from the fountain. The picture to the left is of the Pope and the current Sheikh of Al-Azhar. There was another poster of President Obama and the President of China, also in an embrace. These were so cool to see up on the storefront windows, sending such a powerful message. By the next night, this picture was no longer there.


Further in our wanderings, we came across a few toy/ kids shops but nothing for a baby. Plenty for kids who are 3 yrs and up. However, we did come across some great food shops and delis. I absolutely love the shops here, crammed with all these delicious, natural things, like jams, honey, truffles, oils, and pastas. But the best is always the cheese and meat counter. Huge slabs of prosciutto, salumi, and other meats hang from the ceiling or on high shelves while the cheese display is vast, complimented with olives, pasta salads, and a few other things that might tempt your tastebuds. The most astounding thing in the window was a basket with 2 white truffles in it... 380 Euro a hectogram. That is equal to 100 grams. They're like little funguses of gold. I wish there were more little cheese stores like this in the States. I'd be an avid customer.

Eventually, food was calling my name. A light meal/ heavy snack was all I needed. So we wandered the streets and settled on a place called Pizzarcano - via dei Pastini, which turned out to be blah. A guy in front of one of the other restaurants tried to flag us down for another restaurant but seemed happy to escort us into this one too. The owner seated us with a little boredom on his face, next to the waitress who was taking a break herself. We shared a 6 Euro caprese salad with mozzarella that was not good quality (great buffalo mozzarella has that soft and moist quality to the cheese) and 8 Euro prosciutto and mushroom pizza which lacked flavor. I wouldn't return here.

After eating, we headed back out, window shopping some more and eventually arrived at the Pantheon. Now that it was open, we could step inside. I'd forgotten how captivating it was inside with the towering dome up above and the massive doorway/ entryway. It was unbelievably cold inside, especially by the entrance since the air travelled from the entrance and up through the hole at the top of the dome. We took in the sights quietly and Rickey took a lot of pictures.

We went back out into the cold, wandering by the Vittorio monument. It's beautiful, all lit up at night right at the end of a huge roundabout. At this point, we made our way down a few little alleys and found an adorable shop called Thun. They make children's figurines, stuffed animals, and holiday stuff for the family, like tree decorations. What caught our eye were the incredibly cute animals, both porcelain and painted in soft, vintage colors and the stuffed versions of some of them as well. They're soft and so sweet. I just didn't want to buy one without Jason being there since there were a number to choose from. So we made a note of it and took off in search of dinner.

Again, with the help of Yelp (how did we find places before this site?) we decided on a place called Gusto. This time we also needed help on our GPS. It was a little confusing because we were looking for their main, sit down restaurant (located on via dei Pontefici). Turns out they have 3 different locations all within two blocks of each other. They have a nice little wine bar/ restaurant, there is an osteria/ formaggeria (pizza and cheeses), and then there's there full blown, 2 story place that has everything under one roof. It has the beautiful, swanky restaurant upstairs, the pizza on the first floor, and in the back it hosts the wine bar.

We went with the restaurant upstairs and were not disappointed. The place has a cool, comfortable feeling to it with the exposed pipes like in an old warehouse but whiteboard walls that make it more warm. Their menu is fantastic with so many choices. We started off with the fried zucchini flowers stuffed with cod and truffles. Sounded interesting and Rickey had never tried zucchini flowers before. These were delectable and beautifully plated. Just two long, graceful flowers placed on the plate.

Next, Rickey ordered a really good salad that I had a few bites of. Fresh with lots of ingredients that balanced out really well. For dinner, I ordered a black truffle pasta (the lady next to us had it and it smelled incredible) while Rickey enjoyed a black cod dish. Our theme for dinner was cod and truffles. It was such a treat. For dessert, we got a millefeuille. This time it was served with strawberries and chocolate sauce drizzled over the top. We spent a good chunk of time after that chatting some more and trying to plan out the next day since Jason and I would be moving back to the De La Ville but I alone would be handling the baggage while he was in training. I was looking forward to being back in a central location though.

Jason ended up not being able to join us since his work event ran late and by the time he was done, it was too late to come join us. So I would catch a cab back on my own. Now, I'd forgotten that catching a cab here is different than catching a cab say, in New York or San Francisco. You don't just flag a random cab in the street most of the time.

Rome actually has stations, sort of like bus stops, where the cabs, once finished with a fare, will return to and wait for their next passenger to hop in. Very civilized and convenient... so long as you know where one of these stops is located. After a few minutes of walking to the end of the block and seeing if there would be an available cab coming along, I realized we'd have to find a station. That concerned me because I had no idea where the nearest one was. Fortunately, there was one right up the street and just as we walked up, a cab drove up. I said goodbye to Rickey and hopped in my cab. I try to be hyper aware, especially if I'm riding solo, and not seem like a completely clueless tourist. I told the cab driver in my best Italian we were going to the Crown Plaza. He nodded and off we went.

He turned out to be very nice. He actually said in Italian, "It's pretty cold out there, huh?" Only problem is, I didn't catch what he said and I certainly don't know enough to carry on a conversation. I told him I really just spoke English. He guessed that I was a student, here studying Italian. HA! What a sweet guy. We conversed all the way back to the hotel and I gave him an extra tip for being so pleasant. The night ended with packing the bags to check out tomorrow. Yay!