Exploration Sunday

Just as we dreaded, we woke up around 4:30 AM, wide awake. After a debate about Apple calendars on the iPhone we tried to go back to sleep. Earplugs have become critical for me when travelling and sleeping in a new bed. Fortunately, the combination of earplugs and a very comfy bed allowed me to go back to bed and wake back up at 9:30.

We decided to head down to breakfast in Intercontinental's restaurant. Here's something else we learned. They have a breakfast buffet or you can choose things a la carte. We had our breakfast and were surprised when we got the check that we got charged for one continental breakfast and one American breakfast, which is a 10 Euro difference. The way the waitress explained it was that because I had eggs and not just pastries and fruit with my decaf cappucino, I was having an American breakfast. I definitely did not have 10 Euros worth of eggs and breakfast was not cheap to begin with! That was our lesson for the day.

We decided to stroll down Via Del Corso and check out the Vittorio Emanuel Monument since the structure is so grand and we never went in the last time we visited. Turns out the outside is much more impressive than the inside. The outside has a small door in the fence surrounding the entrance. At the top of this grand staircase inside the fence, are two guards flanking a wreath with large pillars of fire next to them.

The inside structure is beautiful too but there's not that much to see. There's a room of Italian Flags. Granted we couldn't translate all of it but our understanding is that it was how the arrangement of flags and toppers changed with whoever the ruler was at the time. Below the flag room is the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The soldier actually has been identified but it is symbolic of those who gave their lives in service. Again, it's this huge space with very little in it. Almost like they're not done with the place.

So back up the stairs and out the side of the building leads you to a timeline explaining the process from when the goverment decided to build the monument to when it was actually completed. It's a great brief history of how it all came about. Vittorio Emanuel was the king who united Italy together and that is why the monument was built. Past the timeline is an elevator (a small charge) that takes you to the top of the monument where I imagine you can have a spectacular view of the city. We skipped out on the elevator ride.

Instead, we stepped into the basilica on the property. Absolutely beautiful inside! The details in these old churches always astound me. The altar has an impressive set of chandeliers that frames it. And the ceiling is a piece of art in itself. The only thing I still have a hard time adjusting to is that they have all these people buried right under our feet. So we try our best walking through, not to walk directly on the graves. But time and footsteps have worn away many of the images and letters carved into the stone.

My favorite thing to see while we were in the basilica was a little girl, about 4 years old, with her father. She wanted to dip her fingers into the holy water that was in a gigantic stone dish which stood about 5 feet high. So her father lifted her up, she gently dipped her fingers in, and asked what she was supposed to do with it. Her father stood facing the same way she was and taught her the sign of the cross. She slowly copied him and at the end, put her hands in prayer and bowed her head. After that, she smiled and ran out the exit with him and her mother following her. It was the sweetest thing and I wish I'd gotten it on camera.

Exiting from the church we went back down to street level, gazed over the ruins across the street from the monument and one of many incredibly carved columns, then headed off toward the Trevi Fountain. This is one of my absolute favorite sights in Rome. It's impressive during the day but breathtaking at night. Even if you've seen the copy in Ceasar's Palace in Vegas, it doesn't compare to the real thing. Being that one of my best friends, Rickey would be joining us in a couple days, I would bring him back here since it would be his first trip to Rome.

After the Trevi Fountain, it was late lunch time since it was 3PM. We also had dinner reservations at 7PM at a restaurant farther south so we were looking for something simple. We strolled by a restaurant that had a few tables outside and a little lunch special for 18 Euro: bruschetta appetizer, pasta, and dessert. Pretty good deal. The restaurant is called Agrodolce Vini e Vizi, located about 2 blocks from the Trevi Fountain on Via de Crociferi.

We were craving spaghetti aglio a olio con pepperoncino (with garlic, pepper flakes and olive oil) which is incredibly simple but so good. They were happy to substitute that for the lunch pasta. We also ended up sitting next to an American couple who'd just arrived from Rhode Island. They were a joy to chat with while enjoying lunch. And being that the service is typical European style (very... slow...) it gave us a chance to exchange stories of travel, marriage, family, and advice on what to see since the wife had never been to Rome. But they have lived a fantastic life both apart and together.

The food was just as great as the company. The bruschetta was traditional with fresh tomatoes on top, lots of flavor and the bread was crisp and chewy. The pasta was outstanding. The ratio of garlic and pepper flakes was perfect and we were both saying it might be the best we'd had of this particular dish. The dessert was a cake covered in a marscapone custard and dusted with cocoa.

The only thing I will warn about is do not be in a rush here. The waitress was slow, even for Italian standards. We had to ask her 2 or 3 times for the check. I don't know if she just had a painfully slow memory or was ADD but she would come back out to deliver someone else's dish, wine, or even just stand at the door people watching before she delivered a check. It was bizarre since the waiter who first served us was great.

After that, we strolled around, revisiting a store where Jason had spotted a jacket he really liked and purchasing a few things for people back home. Originally, I thought we had to make a 7PM reservation I'd requested at Ristorante Antico Arco, which is farther south and would require a cab ride. But I should have known it was a sign when I asked to change our date from Saturday to Sunday and they returned the date to confirm and wrote in Oct. 23rd on their reservation sheet. I wrote back (around Halloween) saying not the 23rd but if we could still do Nov 13th, we would be there. I never got a response. Turns out the restaurant is CLOSED on Sundays. And no one there bothered to let me know or see if there was another night we might want to dine there! So that got crossed off the list.

Instead, we took a break in the hotel room (this kid is wiping me out!) and then regrouped to check out a restaurant my in-laws recommended from their visit to Rome. The restaurant is called Le Grotte. From the outside, it doesn't look like anything special and when you first walk in, there's no one seated at the front. They seat everyone in the main room in the back and this restaurant is beautiful inside! There are high ceilings with wooden beams through the place, like a small banquet room with a couple intimate tables set in little nooks in the room.

This place boasts a large prosciutto at the entrance that they slice off of and serve customers who order a dish with the delicious dried, salted meat (a no-no for me this time, sadly) as well as fresh, homemade pasta. They bring out warm flatbreads that are salted perfectly, brushed with a little olive oil and topped with a sprinkle of rosemary. There are also breadsticks and bread to go with your dishes.

Jason chose a prosciutto and mozzarella dish for starters while I went with their spinach cooked up with butter. The spinach was a bad idea only because it was so heavy with butter there was no way the healthy benefits of the spinach was going to outweight the butter content. It was so rich I couldn't get through half the large plate they brought out.

November happens to be truffle season in Italy. Not the chocolate type but the mushrooms that are buried under the dirt and require either a pig or dog to search for them. White truffles are particularly high in value for their subtle taste. They are freshly shaved, uncooked, onto a dish traditionally. Black truffles on the other hand, are cooked to enhance their flavor. I'm personally partial to black truffles as I found out. But I was in a restaurant that made fresh pasta and they had a white truffle pasta special, so I had to try it. Jason went with the Osso Bucco.

The pasta sauce was simple, something like olive oil, butter or cream, and a little salt. But I'm pretty sure that's it aside from the shaved truffle. The pasta was so perfect that even after I was full I kept nibbling because I couldn't get enough of it. The actual taste, as I said, was not as much to my liking as black truffles but it was still good. Jason liked the the Osso Bucco aside from the fact that there was some fatty sections that grossed him out a little and then I put him over the top by accident when I reached into the bone and scooped out some bone marrow from his dish. =)

Though we were full from dinner and got the check, the waiter brought out some little Italian cookies that were a perfect finish to our meal. We decided on a walk to help digest dinner, take in the city at night again, and then headed off to bed. I'm curious to see what the streets will be like tomorrow, with the Italian population back to work during the day.