We Walked Rome!

Trevi Fountain Rome…we came, we saw and we were conquered. Honestly, cities are fantastic, but hard, too. Betsy and I always feel like European cities take a bite out of us, but that’s not a complaint. It’s just that after the slower pace and peace of Puglia, spending time in Rome is so very different, yet wonderful. On Sunday, we were up walking into the city, which was a good hike from where are staying near the Vatican.

The Tiber River

We found a lovely lunch spot in the Monti area, Osteria dei Cappellari. They were just opening. It’s been my goal here to try all four of the classic pasta dishes. I had Cacio e Pepe at lunch on Saturday and since Betsy ordered All’ Amatriciani, I had a few bites of that, so on Sunday I had Carbonara for the first time ever. It was excellent.

It’s mushroom season and our server recommended we try a simple dish of grilled porcini with olive oil. It was so good. Betsy and Emily decided to have the pasta dish featuring the same mushrooms. Bonnie ordered beef and it was great to get a taste of grilled meat. Lisa had a fabulous lasagna.

Mushrooms & Pasta

lasagna, made with the most tender pasta

Carbonara

Three desserts — caramel, tiramisu, creme brulee. We ate almost every bite.

Our fantastic server, Pacchi

Osteria dei Cappellari is located in a part of Rome that once housed craftsmen and tradesmen. This particular street was mostly hatmakers, hence the name of the restaurant (and where the word “cap” came from!). Then it was time to walk again. We decided to make our way to Campo de Fiori to start the Rick Steves Heart of Rome Walk. It’s a little over a mile that snakes through some great neighborhoods and past some of the key sites. There was a busy market in the Campo.

Flower market in Campo de Fiori

The walk took us by a lot of churches and we entered them all. In fact, I don’t think we’ve passed by a church door that was open that we didn’t enter. Every single one was beautiful.

Then to the Pantheon. It was breathtaking to walk into this structure that is so ancient, well preserved and massive.

Next stop the Trevi Fountain. By this time, we were tired and crowds were really swelling. Even by Rome standards, it was a crowded weekend.

And finally, the Spanish Steps, which we climbed, along with the masses.

It really was a beautiful view of Rome.

Then, we found a cab and headed back to our apartment. We rested for a while and went out for drinks and then pizza at a local place. It was fun. We sat outside, drank wine and ate crispy Roman pizza.

On Monday, Oct. 14, we were out of bed before dawn and in a taxi by 6:15 a.m. to get to the Vatican, where we had booked an early morning tour. It is one of the best ways to avoid the long lines.

The Map Room

We didn’t take many photos in the Vatican. The Sistine Chapel, of course, was everything anyone could hope it would be. We got in very early and there were very few people, at least for the first 30 minutes or so. We were able to take a seat, relax and listen to an audio tour while we looked around. We all loved it. No photos allowed in there.

Then to St. Peter’s Basilica. It was super crowded, so I bought skip the line tickets online and that saved us at least two hours of waiting.

There had been a big event on the day before as four women and one man were canonized. We learned about that later, and it explained why we saw so many nuns, priests and bishops all over the city. Even Prince Charles was in town for the ceremony that included the canonization of Cardinal John Newman of England.

 St. Peter’s was unlike any church we have ever seen. The size of it is awe inspiring, and then the ornateness and its important historical significance is impressive. We spent a lot of time wandering around inside and also listened to an audio tour.

After leaving the Vatican area, we made our way to a restaurant recommended by Elizabeth Minchilli, whose recommendations in her books and on her blog are spot-on. We headed to Da Enzo in the Trastevere area. They do not accept reservations at lunch, and it’s a very popular spot. We waited in a line for more than an hour to get in, and it was worth every minute of it.

The family that runs the restaurant had lunch together before opening to the public.

The line to get in to da Enzo for their 20 or so seats

I completed my goal of having the four classic pastas and ordered the Gricia. It was the best pasta I’ve had yet.

Betsy had the Cacio e Pepe. Completely different pasta than mine the first day, but even more delicious. Back to the apartment again, we were all in a food coma. We took naps and Bonnie, Lisa and Emily organized and packed for their flights back today. Then we walked down the street to a bar on the corner (Grecco). It was our second visit there and the service is so horrible that it feels like you are in an episode of Seinfeld. We left there after one round of drinks, and walked to another bar where the service was fantastic and we had a great time sitting around the table talking and laughing. We didn’t eat another bite of food. Lunch was plenty, and none of us even ate all of our lunch.

  A driver picked up Bonnie, Lisa and Emily at 3:30 a.m. and whisked them off to the airport for their flight back to Atlanta via Frankfort. Betsy and I slept through their departure.

But, we were up early and out this morning for a different kind of day in Rome. We wanted to escape the crowds.

First, we went to the Non-Catholic Cemetery. We were greeted by a volunteer who was originally from New York. He was great about explaining what we were going to see and pointing us in the right direction. The cemetery was beautiful.

English Poet John Keats died in Rome at age 25 of tuberculosis. His epitaph reads: This grave contains all that was mortal, of a young English poet, who on his death bed, in the bitterness of his heart, at the malicious power of his enemies, desired these words to be engraven on his tombstone: Here lies one whose name was writ in water.

Angel of Grief

 Betsy and I both were really moved by the Angel of Grief, an 1894 sculpture by William Westmore Story for the grave of his beloved wife, Emelyn Story. He was so devastated by her death that he lost interest in sculpting, but his children encouraged him to do a work for his wife’s grave. He died when the work was completed. The full title of the work The Angel of Grief Weeping Over the Dismantled Altar of Life

The cemetery was full of beautiful art and inscriptions. We really enjoyed our time there.

From there, we walked to the Baths of Caracalla. That’s something that has to be seen to be believed.
The Baths of Caracalla, a sprawling complex of Roman public baths, were built between 212 and 216 AD, during the reigns of emperors Septimius Severus and Caracalla. More than 1600 could use the complex at a time. It included a pool, cold baths, warm baths and hot baths (heated from below with coals that were constantly burned and shoveled by slaves). It was once partially covered with a roof and had large marble sculptures, tiles and mosaics throughout. It also featured an exercise area and changing rooms. Basically…it was a giant gym and recreation complex.

It’s hard to photograph the area and give the proper depiction of how massive it is.

We left the baths and walked back toward the Monti area, our favorite in Rome. We also wanted to see one more church, the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. It was also beautiful.

We hadn’t eaten a bite since that lunch at da Enzo, so we decided to go to that great little restaurant/bar, Barizai, where we visited on our first night and had wine and met Larry from Victoria. We are so glad we did that because it brought our time in Rome full circle.

Betsy had the veal rotini and I had pasta with a simple fresh tomato sauce. It was excellent. We shared a pear, walnut and gorgonzola salad. We loved the food, but only ate about half of it because we wanted to finally try a gelato and because we have dinner reservations tonight to mark our final night in Italy.

Betsy wanted to get a photo of the primary cook for this place. She is the mother of the owner, and she is so sweet. She came out and spoke with us (Italian, but he interpreted).

And finally, we walked about four blocks to a recommended gelato shop. I had pistachio and a combination of chocolate/hazelnut/coffee and Betsy had cinnamon and coffee. All four flavors were delicious.

Now, we’re back in our apartment getting things ready to catch our own flight tomorrow and awaiting our dinner reservations.

Ciao!