When in Rome

November 9-13

Rome is my favorite of the cities we have visited so far.

I had given up on the idea that we were going to make it to Italy on this trip. The route we were planning and the Trusted Housesitters gigs we had booked weren't taking us south, and I had this idea in my head that we should only visit Italy during the summer (so glad I didn't follow this instinct). But when we found 25€ plane tickets from Bordeaux to Rome, we knew we had to go.

Before we get too far into the fun we had in Rome, I have an announcement to make...WE ARE OFFICALLY OVER BUDGET! Cal and I set aside a portion of our money for Europe and a portion for Asia, and this trip officially took us over the Europe amount. Are we leaving Europe yet? NOPE! We have about one week left, as I write this, because we knew we wanted to make it to Amsterdam, and we are already here, so we are

choosing to do that before we leave.

The reason I am writing about this is because we definitely let the purse strings loose during our time in Rome. First of all, it was my birthday! So it felt like an okay time to splurge, especially because many kind family members sent me financial gifts to mark the occasion. Second of all, we have now been traveling for over two months, and we needed a break from the hostel lifestyle. Thirdly, we were in Italy, so we were going to unapologetically eat well, and we were going to pay to see the sights we wanted to see, so we knew that the frugality was going to have to take a seat for a bit.

Day 1: Pantheon and the Heart of Rome

Our flight into Rome landed at midnight. The first splurge of the trip was hiring a car from the airport to our hotel, complete with the guy holding up a sign with HANON on it at the airport waiting for us. Giuseppe, our driver, was a very kind man who could have had a guest role in the Fast and Furious franchise. Blazing down the highway at an eye-watering 140 kph, drifting lazily between the lanes as the finger of one hand trailed up and down his phone screen, our bud Giuseppe was the first introduction to Roman style driving. It was quite the introduction. Still, he cut our expected ETA by about 10 minutes, and we made it in one piece.

With our late night, we let ourselves sleep in the next morning before catching our hotel breakfast (donuts? don't mind if I do) and heading out for our first true taste of Rome. We started, as we have in most cities, with a Rick Steves tour! This first one took us through the "Heart of Rome," including the Campo de Fiore, where I bought a pair of linen overalls, and wound us through the neighborhood to the Four Rivers Fountain. This fountain is adorned with representations of four major rivers in the world. Interpretations of the four major continents as gods and goddesses have been a recurring theme in the art throughout our trip, and it's always fun to see how the European sculptors and painters choose to represent the Americas, having never seen their inhabitants. We shuffled across the piazza from this fountain where we stopped for our first taste of gelato. Having been properly sated, onward we walked to the Pantheon (where we paused for a 2nd Rick Steves tour of the building itself), and the Trevi Fountain. We stopped for lunch partway through, and the restaurant where we ate had a wall behind the bar that dated from the 1st century BCE--hello Rome!

We ended our tour at the Spanish Steps just as the sun was going down, perfectly framed by the street across the square from us. The entire staircase was captured by the "Golden Hour" light, and we got some amazing views of the city as we walked back to our hotel.

That evening, we walked a couple blocks to a restaurant I had found online with solid reviews and a decent price mark, which is a challenging combination to find in the heart of the city. We thankfully had read ahead and made a reservation, because as we ate the place became packed and the harried waiters were turning walk ins away as they continued to provide excellent, smiling service to their guests. We each got pasta to start (fettuccini with artichokes for me, spaghetti al vongole for Cal) and then shared the sea bass, which was excellent.

Day 2: St. Clemente, the Colosseum, and the Forum

Our second day in Rome started with a visit to St. Clemente Basilica, just a short jaunt from the Colosseum. We took the bus from our hotel (way easier than it seems) to explore first the modern Basilica, and afterwards the archeological site which lay below. This site has consistently been a place of worship since the first century BCE. As you take the stairs down to each level, you pass through the different eras of the church. The first layer you encounter is adorned with 11th century frescos currently undergoing restoration. As you descend further, it's as if you go back in time, discovering artwork from the 3rd and 4th century. Finally, you dip below the current street level, where a 1st Century BCE Mithraeum (temple of the Cult of Mithras) lies, as well as store houses from the Ancient Roman Treasury. Walking the original alleyways which have been covered over the centuries, first only by roofs but later by buildings and eventually an entire church, is a fascinating and humbling experience. It is harder to say who got more excited about this--the history teacher or the archeological nerd.

After our tour beneath the church, we stopped for a quick espresso before walking down to the Colosseum. We had a bit of time before our ticketed entry, so we explored the area a bit, avoided the aggressive pickpockets, and started the Rick Steves tour that accompanied our visit to the arena. When we were able to enter, we took our time reading through the museum exhibit on the first floor before exiting to take in the incredible view. Unfortunately, we were too late to get a ticket that allowed us on the arena floor (the price you pay for planning your trip less than a week in advance), but were able to see the floor from above and take in the views of the forum and Arch of Constantine.

Rick and Lisa (his co-tour guide for all his audio adventures) pointed out several fascinating details of the arena, such as how the top used to be adorned with enormous awnings to shade the audience, or how the entire 50,000 person crowd could enter and exit the arena in 15 minutes through the vomitorium. Another fascinating feature of the colosseum is the collection of thousands of holes between the massive blocks which make it up. We originally thought this was some kind of erosion from millennia of wind and rain, but would soon learn that the blocks were originally stapled together with giant iron bars stretching around columns and arches. Later generations would use the Colosseum as an iron mine, stripping the structure of these braces.

After the Colosseum came the Forum, which was the part of the day I was most excited about. It is so incredible to me that today we can still walk the same roads as the Ancient Romans. Again, we had Rick and Lisa in our ears to guide our way and make sense of the amazing history around us, and at one point around the home of the Vestal Virgins, we ran into a family who were also listening to the same Rick Steves tour (the second time this has happened on this trip)!

As we were walking through the Forum, we were struck by a number of different details. First, the ruins are massive. It is hard to believe they were built so long ago and still stand so mightily above us. In particular, we were astounded by the Basilica Nova, which served as a civic building in ancient times. The massive alcoves rival the Vatican in stature, and it is difficult to imagine the building in full. The craftsmanship is incredible. There is even a brass door on the Temple of Romulus from the 4th century CE that is still usable on the original hinges! It is also amazing that everything is so centralized and close together, even when some of the buildings were erected centuries apart.

After climbing up to the amazing Palatine Gardens for a full panoramic view, we headed back into the heart of the city for a late lunch. At this point we were a bit hangry, but it was important to me that we found good food and didn't fall into tourist traps. I searched Google Reviews and found a place that did Neapolitan style pizza at a reasonable price near the Trevi Fountain. When we arrived at the point on the map, we found ourselves in a luxury mall. Trusting the little red pin, we took the escalators all the way to the top--past Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and other out-of-our-league brands--and found a few restaurants in the bougie-est mall food court I've ever seen. True to the pictures and Google Reviews, it was some of the best pizza we've ever had!

Finally fed, we ventured back out into the city and explored some thrift stores before heading back to our hotel to rest. Completely exhausted from seeing so many sights, we decided to stay close for dinner. The restaurant at the base of our hotel had surprisingly good reviews, each explaining how surprised they were to find such quality food at such fair prices so close to the city center. We decided to give it a shot, and were delighted to find again that the reviews were spot on. Sampling Roman classics--Cacio e Pepe for Cal, Carbonara for me--we were astounded by the quality, and went to bed full and happy.

Day 3: Birthday! Food Tour and the Best Meal of my Life

I woke up on the morning of my 31st birthday excited for the day ahead. My gift to myself was booking a food tour using the birthday money sent by my mother--thanks, Mom! We took the bus to the Testaccio neighborhood where we met our guide, Alex, and the other members of our tour--5 in total. Alex first took us to the neighborhood coffee bar, where he taught us how to order espresso like a local (pay at the cashier, bring your receipt to the counter, put 2 fingers on the counter to get the barista's attention) and introduced us to maritozzo, a traditional Italian breakfast pastry. It's similar to a brioche bun, sliced almost all the way through the middle, and filled with an equal amount of whipped cream. According to Alex, every neighborhood cafe makes theirs a little differently, since the idea of "traditional" recipes in Italian cuisine is nothing short of a lie. This particular cafe specialized in a slightly citrusy maritozzo, which was quite refreshing!

From here, we made our way to the Mercado Testaccio, a classic Italian marketplace. While markets in Rome are traditionally open-air, many have moved into permanent facilities for ease of set up and consistency. Our first stop in the market was Mordi & Vai, an innovative street food eatery which takes classic Roman dishes and serves them as sandwiches. At the beginning of the tour, I jokingly told Alex I was "up for a challenge," to which he said "Be careful what you tell me!" At Mordi & Vai, Alex talked us through each of the options, including the "advanced" orders, including Tripa alla Romana (tripe in tomato sauce), Coratella e Carciiofi (heart and liver stewed with artichokes), and finally "Solo per Pochi" ("only for a few") Rognoncino di Vitella (veal kidneys). Not wanting to back down from my previous gutsy (no pun intended) assertion, we had to go for the "Solo per Pochi." Apparently, we were the first attendees of this particular tour to have ever ordered the advanced option, but thankfully it was absolutely delicous!

After sandwiches, we toured around to other stalls in the market, trying prosciutto and cheese, freshly baked bruschetta with amazing olive oil, and finally oranges grown by the stall owner herself. If you haven't been able to tell from previous posts, I love a market, and getting to experience one with a Roman with all the cultural nuances explained was truly heaven! Alex knew every vendor he took us to, and he explained how the relationships with each vendor develop over time and help you get the best product and deals. For example, over time a vendor will start adding extras to the bag after weighing it, therefore giving you a little extra for the same price.

If this wasn't enough, it was now time for lunch. We walked from the market to a little Trattoria called Pecorino, where we got to sample some classic Roman pasta. This restaurant is a two-story affair built into the famous "Monte Testaccio" hill for which the neighborhood is named. This hill is actually artificial, and is made up of countless of pieces of ancient Roman pottery stacked on top of each other in massive mounds. This was done to avoid paying the tax required for cleaning the vessels used to store olive oil and wine. It was cheaper to simply purchase a new pot rather than clean one, so the Romans disposed of used vessels by creating neat stacks that eventually mounted into a large hill, now woven together by tree roots and sturdy enough to support the buildings along its side. The food at Pecorino is served family style, and we got to try pasta amatriciana (tomato sauce with guanciale), carbonara, and freshly made tagliatelle with artichokes (our favorite).

Finally, it was time for dessert. We walked a little further to a gelateria, where the 90 year old proprietress proudly pointed out to us the sign indicating her gelato had been rated by National Geographic as some of the best in Rome! Both Cal and I tried the recommended zabaione (custard)--Cal paired his with cafe (receiving an approving nod from the owner), while I opted to pair with ricotta and orange. Everything was heavenly, and we happily walked back towards the city center in a food-laden stupor.

We spent the afternoon slowly walking our way back across the city to our hotel, stopping along the way to take in some of the sights again, and to film recreations of scenes from the Lizzie McGuire Movie, my childhood obsession. Cal was such a trooper.

Click here to watch me live out my Lizzie McGuire dreams in Rome!

We had a reservation for the evening of my birthday at Trattoria Vechia in a neighborhood we hadn't yet visited on the east side of the city. We packed ourselves in with the masses on a crowded rush hour metro and headed out. When we emerged from the underground's roiling sea of humanity, we found oursleves a little more space outside a lovely little cafe decorated with twinkling lights. We enjoyed Campari Spritzes, along with the snacks (pretzels, peanuts, and olives, oh my!) which so generously arrived alongside them, before heading to the restaurant.

Upon our arrival at Trattoria Vecchia just around the corner, we found a crowd of people waiting outside. The beleaguered maître d' was telling the crowd to go to one side if you had a reservation, and to the other if you didn't. We crowded in with those with a reservation, and I held out my phone to show him the confirmation email. We were herded inside with a few others and taken down into the belly of the restaurant, a homey little den which lay below street level. Inside almost every table was full, and we were quickly embraced by the sounds of chatter, laughter, and the clinking of silverware. We were led to a table in the corner, where I had a great view of the rest of the restaurant so I could people-watch to my heart's content.

We ordered a half-liter of the house wine for only 7€ and started with the fried artichokes. They were lightly breaded, perfectly crispy, and piping hot when they arrived to our table. Cal ordered the braised oxtail which came with a puntarella salad--a bitter chicory topped with sardine puree which he absolutely loved. I ordered fresh ravioli stuffed with ham and served with a pumpkin and cheese sauce. Everything was absolutely sensational--by far some of the best quality we had eaten yet both in Rome and elsewhere in our travels. Finally, we ordered the tiramisu for dessert, along with an Italian amaro neither of us were familiar with but which was recommended by the waiter. As I put the first bite into my mouth, I literally teared up--it was so good, and everything in that moment was so perfect, it just got to me.

As we enjoyed our dessert, we heard "Happy Birthday" being sung at a nearby table (albeit in Italian). On our way to pay the bill, I stopped by and asked whose birthday it was and told them it was mine too. Here is a picture of me with the fellow birthday boy!

As we paid, the cashier asked us how everything was. I told her about my emotional experience eating the tiramisu, and that it was my birthday and that everything was just perfect, and she offered us 2 more amari on the house to help celebrate. We wrapped the evening up with a final visit to the Trevi Fountain, which is said to be at its best at night. All in all, a lovely experience and a perfect end to the perfect birthday in Rome.

Day 4: The Vatican

On our last day in Rome, we crossed the river to explore the Vatican. The Pope has an audience on Wednesday mornings, so St. Peter's Cathedral isn't open until the afternoon. We had used my credit card points to book a semi-private tour starting at 2:30, so we spent the morning exploring the less touristy part of Rome, just across the river, just a bit north of the Vatican.

We dropped into a cafe for espresso, using our newfound skills learned from Alex the previous day. We found a craft store to replenish my supply of double sided tape, so I can continue keeping souvenirs in my journal. Then we wandered over to Castel Sant'Angelo, which began its existence as a mausoleum for Emperor Hadrian in 123 CE, and later grew to serve as a fortress for Popes throughout time. It's one of the most striking features along Rome's Tiber river, appearing as a circular fortress atop a squat, cylindrical tower so old and weathered that it appears like an erratic geological feature dropped into the middle of the city. We learned afterwards that there is even a wall that connects the Pope's apartments to the fortress in case of emergencies! We sat on the steps outside the castle, enjoyed some people watching, and rested our tired feet.

For lunch, we walked to the famous Bonci Pizzarium, which was featured on Netflix's Chef's Table, and is famous for its traditional Roman style pizza and strange flavor combinations. Roman style pizza is actually more similar to what we see in the states than Neapolitan style--it has a thicker crust and varied toppings, and is usally served on the go. Based on the reviews and hype I had seen online, I was expecting a line around the block and long wait times, but we were pleasantly surprised to only have to wait about 10 minutes to order. When you arrive, you take a number at the door and start to explore their current flavor options. None of the pizzas on display have signs explaining their toppings, only small prices indicating how much each costs by weight. When it is your turn, you go up to the counter and ask for as much as you want of each pizza on display, after which the worker, armed with a scale and pair of scissors, deftly cuts a neat rectangle ready for reheating. Fortunately, they are used to tourists, so I was able to ask what I was ordering before actually making my choices! We got 3 varieties, which was far too much but we wanted to try different things. The first had mushrooms and was topped with honey; the second had mozzarella and 'nduja sausage; the third was a white pie (no tomato sauce) with pecorino, potato, and sheep intestine (think sausage). Everything was really lovely!

Full of pizza, we waddled over to our tour's meeting point. Our group was small, with only 8 people, including a couple from Portland, OR--small world! Our tour guide, Elisa, was incredible. A native Roman, she was so incredibly knowledgeable about both the Vatican and Roman history in general. Whenever we had to pause to wait in a line or make our way through a crowd (which, even in November, was frequently), she was able to fill the silence with additional context or information we should know thought our earbuds connected to her mic.

First we explored the Vatican Museum, which was filled almost to the point of bursting with statues from antiquity, including the bust of the scholar Cicero, who I studied in college. Some of these statues were Roman copies of Greek work, while others were original Ancient Greek or Roman. Elisa did an amazing job connecting the detail in the statues to the choice made by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, such as how the face of Jesus in The Last Judgement resembles the Apollo of the Belvedere, or how the exact position of the Belvedere Torso is repeated in two of Michelangelo's figures. After seeing the famous ceiling in person, we made our way into St. Peter's square, where we had to pause momentarily to make way for a group of Pilgrims shuffling their way into the church for the Jubilee. Finally, we were able to make our way into the Cathedral, where a mass was taking place on one side, the Pilgrims were making their journey on another, hundreds of tourists like us were taking pictures, and somehow others were engaging in prayer, confession, and more. The Cathedral is as massive and overwhelming as you'd expect, and I was astounded to learn that none of the artwork is paintings--everything you see on the walls and ceiling are extremely detailed mosaics!

After thanking Elisa thoroughly for such an incredible tour, we made our way slowly back to the hotel, our feet aching from hitting our highest step count yet (22,044). We had to spend the evening packing for our obscenely early flight the next day, so our final evening in beautiful Roma was rather unexciting. Still, the few days we spent in the Eternal City were absolutely wonderful, and I cannot wait to return someday for more history, more pasta, and more gelato.