Italy in Ten Days Part I: Rome.

So after ten glorious days in Italy, I’m finally back on Singapore soil!

Italy is a beautiful place, blessed with vast land, beautiful coastlines and a cuisine that builds itself on simple, delicious flavours, a true testimonial that you can make good food out of modest, inexpensive ingredients.

But boy was it one hot place to be in the summer! With temperatures soaring in the high 30 degrees every single day, we (okay fine, mostly I) kept cool the only way I knew how- with a water bottle in one hand and a cone of gelato in the other.

We got up to so much, from walking (and getting lost a lot) to biking and shopping, got approached by very friendly Italian men and got completely sun burnt and it was so much fun!

As always, I have like a zillion photos so I’m trying to introduce some method to this madness and split my photos in several posts, starting with Rome!

Day 1

Rome was, without a doubt, one of my absolute favourite of all the places we visited.

Cars lined the street literally bumper to bumper, tourists jostled on the pavements and practically every five steps we took, there was something of historical significance right in front of us. It was crazily chaotic but I loved it!

Waiting for the train at the airport

Believe me, especially after 15 odd hours on the plane (and a 4 hour transit in Dubai), no one was more excited than me when we finally landed in Rome- and see my darling friend Z- even though I was technically still a half hour train ride away from Termini, the central train station in Rome.

Our accomodation on Via Principe Eugenio

Our room

Locating the hotel proved to be a little more challenging. Set in a busy street with a tiny, nondescript signboard, I would have completely missed it if it wasn’t for the directions Z had sent via text earlier in the day.

Our accommodation was a modest b&b, ran by a friendly Italian couple who, despite their lack of fluency in English, were all too happy to try give us directions to places.

Once I had settled in, changed out of my jeans and slapped on tons of sunblock (it was really hot!), off we went to explore, starting with the larger than life Roman Colosseum!

The Colosseum train station

The Colosseum!

Having seen the Roman Colosseum in movies, I had an idea of what the Colosseum looked like but certainly was not prepared to be awed by its sheer size and its weathered interior.

Inside the Colosseum

Peering out of the Colosseum

With our audio guides pressed to our ears (everyone seriously walked around holding a walkie talkie like audio guides to their ear! I imagine to anyone who stepped in clueless, we must have looked like we were all chatting on the phone with each other.), we were given historical lessons with the significance of each area briefly explained as we roamed the grounds and took in the ruined interior of the Colosseum.

Before we realized it, it was almost time for dinner.

Making the best of our misadventure by snapping tons of photos

So off we went in search of a restaurant I had read quite a couple of fantastic reviews about before our trip, a search that had us wandering around, climbing up several flights of stairs and seriously hoping we were actually heading in the right direction (and blissfully unaware it was the first of umpteen times we would get lost in the days to come, if I may add).

Our dinner venue – I know both photos feature restaurants with different names but they’re actually one and the same

Luckily for us, our efforts was well worth it and it was a very good thing we had to climb up those horrendous flight of stairs, for our dinner was utterly delicious!

Dinner! From top left to right: Bruschetta, proscuitto and melon (my all time favourite appetitizer!), stuffed tortellini with tomato-based sauce and parmesan (with a trio of pasta in herb, cream and tomato-based  sauce in the background) & a tiny lemon cake (with fruit salad and vanilla gelato in the background)

We knew we were on to a good thing when we both raved about the bruschetta, a huge rarity given how much we both detest tomatoes. The raw tomatoes were exceptionally juicy and sweet! It was seriously unlike any bruschetta I’ve ever had and I would have happily polished off a few more plates if I could!

And we sure weren’t disappointed with the rest of our dinner- the pasta were perfectly al dente, the sauces were flavourful and light, even the desserts were delicious and perfect on both the texture and sweetness. My favourite though, after the bruschetta, was definitely the prosciutto and melon. The slightly salty slices of cured ham with sweet, juicy melon really was just heaven on a plate for me.

Day 2

Breakfast at the B&B

We knew we were in for one hell of a day when we were told by our B&B owners that there was a strike going on and there would be no public transportation running for the day- especially since we had plans to visit Vatican City, which was literally not only right across the city from us but also right across a river.

So after spending a good amount of time trying to flag cabs that were whizzing us by (something we would later do constantly throughout the day), we finally hailed a cab and were on our merry way to the Vatican!

The Vatican

The Vatican was just beautiful from the outside – I could just spent ages gazing at it. But first, we had to explore the Vatican museum.

Entering the Vatican

In the Vatican Museum

Around the museum

We spent over two hours wandering around the many galleries in the museum, jostling with the other tourists and gawking over some of the amazing work of art and statutes. It’s just incredible how the museum has managed to keep the countless paintings, statutes and artefacts in their care in such pristine condition.

Lunch! Four cheese pizza and tagliatelle with mushrooms in a cream based sauce (in the foreground)

Tired from all the walking and sticky from the unbearable heat, lunch was a simple affair at a cafe just outside the Vatican. Lunch wasn’t too bad, considering we randomly walked into a cafe but what was definitely memorable was the icy treat we had after.

Old Bridge Gelateria – dark chocolate & cherry ripple gelato

Having first heard about this gelateria from my little sister who spent half a year in Italy two years ago, I was elated when we finally located it just outside one side of the Vatican wall. We had to wait a bit before we could order our gelato, which gave us plenty of time to decide on flavours but one bite of my gelato and I could certainly see what all the fuss was about.

Chewy with just a touch of creaminess, my cone of gelato certainly made for a delicious respite from the cruel, unwavering heat. I’m still dreaming of that dark chocolate gelato- definitely the best one I’ve ever had in all my twenty four years.

Galleria Borghese

Next up for the day was Galleria Borghese, an art gallery set in a charming park that houses paintings mainly from the 15th to 18th centuries. We weren’t allowed to snap any photos and had to make a reservation to get in the gallery but it certainly was a nice change in pace from the packed Vatican museum.

And soon, it was time to eat again and this time, we were off to another eatery I had read about online (which, to my delight, was wholly approved by the locals we approached for directions).

Sora Margherita

It was a really good thing this place was known by the locals for its good food, for there was no way we could have located the restaurant ourselves. Right smack in the middle of an alley and no signage in sight, this place was the epitome of discretion.

From top down, left to right: Deep fried baby artichoke, meat dumplings with ricotta and parmesan, meatball in tomato based sauce & marinated fried zuchinni

The food was so good! I especially loved the giant meatball as well as the tortellini with ricotta and parmesan- so simple and so good!

Giolitti!

Now if you’re wondering why we didn’t have dessert at Sora Margherita, fear not. Of course we had dessert- we just chose to head to Giolitti, a gelateria President Obama supposedly took his family to during the G-8 summit.

Pistachio & caramel gelato

If I can only say one thing about Giolitti, it’s that the long (and slightly chaotic) queue you have to battle to get your gelato is completely worth it. I tend to be quite wary of gelateria that have a seemingly endless number of flavours but this was one place that focused on quality as much as they did quality. I had pistachio and caramel gelato, both of which were really chewy and really delicious.

Day 3

This was our last day in Rome (sob sob) and we certainly couldn’t leave without visiting the famous Campo di Flori market.

From top down, left to right: Fresh fruits (look at all the berries!), quirky vegetable peelers, biscottis and dried pasta & very aromatic dried herb mixes

The market was so much fun! There were stalls selling everything you might want- from clothing to nifty little vegetable peelers to fresh fruits and vegetables.

Truffle and liquor samples!

I seriously felt like such a kid in a candy store as we sampled balsamic vinegars, truffle paste and liquors. And of course I couldn’t tear myself away from the market empty handed- the truffle infused oils were such a steal at under 10 euro each!

Lunch at the market- proscuitto and melon & spinach ravioli with a tomato based sauce

As we were kinda tight for time, lunch was a quick affair (well, as quick as we could be given how painfully slow the service was) before we made our way back to the B&B to pick up our luggage.

Well, as these things happened, we were on the bus when we caught sight of a sign pointing to the Trevi fountain. Now rumour has it that if you toss a coin into the fountain, you would find yourself back in Rome soon. So yeap, of course we had to visit the fountain to toss a coin in!

Trevi fountain

The fountain was just beautiful! Apart from appreciating the beauty of the sculptures, I certainly had to resist the urge to take a dip into the fountain to cool off from the heat.

Giolitti again- dark chocolate & yogurt gelato this time

Thankfully for me, I didn’t quite have to resort to that, for we found ourselves near Giolitti where I happily treated myself to two generous scoops of delicious dark chocolate and yogurt (sooo good!) gelato, making it a sweet and perfect end to our time in Rome.

Next up, the centre of Renaissance and art capital of Italy – Florence!

 

Posted by thecoffeesnob on July 23, 2010

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