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Friday we got up really, really early to meet Mike and Cor at Termini and hop a train for a ride through Umbria to Orvieto. A quintessential hilltop, Umbrian town the day was full of magic. While Orvieto has some key sites, the Duomo cathedral, the well and such. It's really about being in this town that dates back to the Etruscans, who date back as far as 1200 BC. The hilltop vistas are amazing.
Once again, Fernando came through with a great restaurant recommendation that was amazing, Le Grotte del Funaro. If the food hadn't been so amazing, I'd recommend it for the view, but have the food too! And don't eat on the street, go downstairs into the cave or you're missing all the fun. Have some pizza since the wood fire
d oven makes
it amazingly crisp. And drink wine! The list of wines bottled in Orvieto is best described as expansive.
It was in Orvietto that I bought my espresso pot. I had no luck finding something that wasn't Bialetti, the Krups of stovetop espresso in Italy, but the one I bought in Orivetto was half the price of the same pot in Rome. And it's incredibly beautiful. Just another one of those globalization moments where it's hard to find something that's unique to where you visited. I can get Bialetti in the UK and the States. Still, it's special that my pot comes from a small kitchen shop in Orvieto.
We said our goodbyes to Mike and Cor at Termini Station in Rome. They had four days to go in Rome, we were heading home to London the next day. We went to the hotel to rest before dinner.
During our first or second day we had wandered by this restaurant in Trastevere -- after we had eaten -- and I was really drawn to try and go back and eat there. I had talked about it all week. So off we went.
It was Friday night and we arrived at the height of dinner, about 9:30p. Perfect timing as a table for two was clearing out and no one was waiting. It soon became really apparent that not only were we the only non-natives in the restaurant, but that non-natives were not a regular experience in this place.
Surrounded by Romans having a great Friday night, kids, parents, lovers, it was so much fun...loud, friendly and full of great smells. I really felt like we had invaded (with permission) someone's else's world. We started with pizza...the best pizza we'd had our entire week in Rome. We went with what the waiter, who spoke no English, recommended for wine for dinner, it was great! The pasta was incredible. But it was dessert that made the most fun. Joe ordered the Tiramisu and I order the panna cotta. However, I pronounced it like a good Jersey boy. First the waiter brought me an american coffee. Then he brought a pen and paper. Finally he got that I was mis-pronouncing "panna cotta" and brought me the best panna cotta I've ever had, I knew my Dad would've loved it. It was so light and delicious. A wondeful last dinner -- but not a last meal in Rome.
So, get off the tourist path and eat at Miraggio Roma in Trastevere, Via della Lungara, 16/A. Even with all of Fernando's amazing recommendations, this place was our top food experience on this trip.
Thursday was really a low key kind of day. Joe and I spent most of the day before and after meeting Mike and Cor pursuing our quest for a stove top espresso maker and some nice espresso cups. We succeeded with cups, and some everyday glassware as a bonus at Limentani. This amazing shop at Via del Portico D'Ottavia 48, is full of all kinds of glassware, dishes, and more. English was tough to come by, but politeness and patience were not in short supply.
Before we wrapped up our shopping we went to Museo e Galleria Borghese. A major highlight of our trip. No photography allowed, so no pictures. The limited access made it an amazing experience. Go upstairs first, while everyone else is downstairs and then come downstairs. I was able to stand in amazing rooms hundreds of years old, essentially by myself, with some of Bernini's major works. Serious gawking moments!
This was also the day we solved the mystery of the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne. We had been trying to find it since our second day in Rome. Just off the Piazza Navona, it was tucked into a corner that you either stumbled on or circled around. The column was from the Theatre of Domitian, which was originally on the site. Domitian ruled Rome during the second half of the first century AD. From what I could gather the current "house" on the site was built in the 16th century.
After shopping and a rest at the hotel, we met Mike and Cor for dinner at a re
staurant recommended by Fernando, Trattoria da Luigi. Officially it's at Piazza Sforza Cesarini, 24, but it's really right on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, next to a pizza place called Paparazzi. If you go to Rome, don't miss eating here. The trick is to skip the menu and the wine list and just tell the waiter what you think you might like to have and might be willing to eat. As we were eating, I watched someone carry fresh desserts in from a bakery. We shared the most amazing Rum Baba and an Italian cheese cake for dessert. But the highlight of the meal were the zucchini flower appetizers.
Wednesday was a great day to get a tan. It was also the perfect day to see all that really old stuff! We met up with Mike and Cor at the Colosseum. From there it was off to Palatine Hill and then the Forum. Five hours of wandering. Thanks to Joe and Mike who were always happy to get out the guidebooks, compare notes and provide Cor and I with an easy overview 
of what we were looking at. While you can look at it and can explain the facts of it, you can't describe it. It's like being in the Pantheon. You think of the people in togas and sandals, the slaves, the merchants, the philosophers and you. You're standing there, stepping on stones they stepped on, trying to imagine their lives, 2,000+ years ago.
After lunch we finished walking the Forum and then went to look up close at the Victor Emmanuel Monument, also known as the wedding cake. It was here that I 
learned that Italy as a unified country is younger than the US. It wasn't unified until 1870.
We were in Rome during the 2008 Italian presidential elections, which was very interesting. Not that we understood much of what was going on, but getting the idea that voting was something that had only been happening for a few decades (if I have this correct and I'm pretty sure I do) was really thought provoking. It gave me pause about the perception of democracy and the way that it's often all 
too easy to ascribe historical attributes to the present - to countries, philosophies or people.
My western focused education has always concentrated on the high points and never the low points. Given this, it was at this juncture in the trip that I began to see it was more important to understand why and how Rome "fell" than it was to see what it had accomplished at its height of power and influence. It was here I began to connect this history of Rome to the idea that it was Roman and not necessarily Italian. At the same time, I began to connect these concepts to the Catholic Church's ebb and flow of power, corruption and benevolence. This also began to link up points about the history of the UK and the influence of Rome and a new understanding of the "dark ages".
We wrapped up the day by walking through Capitoline Hill. We didn't go to any of the museums, just enjoyed the architectural exploits of Michaelangelo. As you leave the Hill, if you go to the right there's an ancient -- and I mean ancient, as in about Forum time frame -- apartment building, just hanging out. There's so much of this in Rome you begin to think, and realize, that if you try to save ancient Rome, the city could become just a tourist attraction and not a living and breathing city (shivers of Disney).
Tuesday was much about hitting the classics. We met up with Mike and Cor at the Spanish Steps. From there we worked our way to the Trevi Fountain picking up a couple of columns and piazza's along the way. We worked our way toward Santa Maria della Vittoria with 
the goal of seeing Bernini's Ecstasy 
of St. Teresa, but we just missed the closing time for lunch.So it was off to the Museo e Galleria Borghese to get tickets. You have to book in advance, usually by a
couple of
days. They let in these size limited groups to tour the galleries for two hours. From there we wandered past the gardens, through the park -- awesome views of Roman Pines -- past the zoo and ended up at Piazza del Popolo.
We then headed back to Santa Maria della Vittoria and saw the Ecstasy. One of the most incredible sculptures I've ever seen. As I stood there mesmerized I listened to this American woman complain to her 
husband about the "gawker", meaning me, who was in the way of the shot she wanted to take. Apparently she didn't realize I spoke English. She also complained that the position of the sculpture was rather poor, as you couldn't get a good look at St. Teresa's face. All of us found the whole thing quite funny. For the next few days Joe would tease me whenever I "gawked".
From there it was back to the hotel for a quick rest and change before meeting up for an early dinner and then the opera. We ate at George Byron's cafe, Via Nazionale 250 - Via Firenze 20. It's a bar than restaurant, but the food was excellent and the price was not tourist, which given it's location made it a great find.
Mike and Cor know their opera and had gotten all of us tickets to see Puccini's La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West). There was something very ironic about seeing an opera that had debuted at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York more than 100 years ago, about a prostitute, a sheriff and the California Gold rush. Nonetheless, it was a great moment. The only real disappointment was that we were surrounded by American exchange students. Not that I mind American exchange students, but I can be surrounded by American college kids in the States pretty much any time. It was also nice, listening to their banter about the kids that got box seats and one girl who kept checking her email to see if she'd been accepted to grad school. Made me laugh.
It did make for a bit of a late evening. The opera started at 8:30p and didn't finish until just before midnight.
Up very early on Monday to meet our tour group for the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's. Before coming to Rome I had found this walking tour service recommended by Rick Steve's called Context. This was amazing. The g
roups are limited to no more than six people and the docents aren't just tour guides, they are experts. John Boyden, who was our 
guide, has studied Canon law and Christian Art for more than a decade on top of having been to the Vatican Museums more than 2,000 times. It mad
e the navigation of this huge and very, very crowded place a real pleasure.
No flash photography allowed, so we don't really have many good pictures, but I've included a couple art highlights and one shot that gives you an idea of the crowds.
The tour lasted almost five hours. We were with two other couples
, one from Atlanta Georgia and one from Montana. Of course, plenty of Bernini. For Joe the highlight was the Sistine Chapel. For me it was the cathedral that is St. Peter's. The enormity of the bu
ilding, it's architecture and design are just amazing. When I realized that you could fit three St. Patrick's Cathedrals inside, I was totally 
blown away. It's essentially pointless to attempt to describe here, so you'll just have to plan on seeing it all for yourself.
After the tour we were ready for lunch and thanks to John we had lunch at a great place that wasn't a tourist haunt. Hostaria dei Bastioni, Via Leone IV 29, is about a block from the entrance to the Vatican Museums. About a 10 minutes walk from the steps of St. Peter's. After a wonderful leisurely lunch where we took our time to rest our feet, we ordered espresso to wrap things up. The owner, who had served as our waiter, arrived with two cups of coffee and placed Joe's on the table and tossed the contents of mine at me, spoon and sugar packet flying. The cup itself was empty, we all roared with laughter. Somehow the magic of the moment isn't conveyed in the telling, but after a day of serious history and art the levity was a wonderful juxtaposition that marked the switch to the evening's activities.
After a quick rest at our hotel, we headed to the Pantheon where we met up with my friend Fernando from the States who was in town overnight for business. He came with a couple of colleagues, one of which looks so much like Drew 
Barrymore it was freaky...in a good way. Mike and Cor who had flown in that morning for the next ten days also met us for dinner. Fernando really knows Rome (and Italian) so he served as our host. The first place we went for some wine, just around the corner from the Pantheon was wonderful. La
Tavernetta, Via degli Spagnoli 48 was a great way to start the evening. From there we went out to dinner. It was an amazing moment in my life to be surrounded by so many of my good friends -- I've known Mike and Cor for almost 30 years and Fernando for a little more than 20 -- in Rome.
Saluti Roma
As the non-stop fun and craziness of April continued Joe and I headed off to Rome. We arrived in the evening and the fun started right away with the cab ride from the airport to the hotel. The cab driver was somewhere between 55 and 85 and had some trouble remembering where he'd parked the car. On the highway he (and just about everyone else) seemed to find the lines indicating lanes merely suggestions. Which might not be such a big deal, but when he hit 180 kph it did make us a tad nervous. There was something comforting though about the fact that this stereotypical experience was our welcome to Roma!
After checking into the hotel we headed around the corner to Piazza Navona for a late supper. This too, was a quintessential Roman holiday moment. On the piazza, watching people passing by, wine, olives and pasta. A really great way start to the holiday.Castel Sant'Angelo...Pantheon...Palazzo Pamphilj
Our first full day was full of touring. We start
ed out at the Castel Sant'Angelo which we essentially stumbled on as we walked out of our 
hotel to scope out the neighborhood before focusing on getting to the Pantheon. The building began as the Mausoleum of Hadrian about 270 AD and of course served a myriad of functions over the centuries and was redesigned in the process. The views of Rome from the Castel are amazing. It also made an excellent architectural/art warm-up for what lay ahead.
From 
there we wandered over toward the Pantheon. The crowds were overwhelming, but we were consistently told it was shoulder season and it would be over the top in summer. It's really hard to describe the Pantheon and the awe it inspires. Is it the fact that the core of the building is almost 2,000 years old? The millions of humans whose feet have walked the same steps through the building as you over those years? The archictectural feat of the building itself? Such a huge impact for such a relatively small building.
Our next goal was the church, Santa Maria sopra Minerva. It was here it hit home that not all the churches are open all day and you need to coordinate which ones and when and give key churches priority based on opening times when planning the day. If this happens to you here, make sure to check out the rooftop bar at the hotel next door. It was closed when we tried, but I have it on good authority that it's an excellent view.
This turned out to be really fortunate because we ended up wandering randomly and discovered Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, the family home of Pope Innocent X and still occupied by his descendants today. It's all about paintings and sculpture and architecture, but it's that amazing Roman holiday thing about being in a building that is 600+ years old. At one point in the free audio tour, the prince -- I think he said he was a prince -- talked about roller skating in the house. Just made the whole thing a little more real.
As we strolled throughout the day we also saw some of Rome's interesting little things including the Fontanella del Facchino, a tiny fountain in a wall, created around 1590 just handing in an alley; the "cat" watching over Via della Gatt
a; and Pie' di Marmo, a giant marble foot, all that remains of statue that is more than 1,000 years old; it's just sitting at an intersection between a small street and a side street as if tossed aside because there's no place to put it.
We also discovered the Area Sacra in Largo di Torre Argentina. A piece of ancient Rome that is there for the viewing. It amazes and delights in part because it's not a destination and we couldn't find any information about it in any of the guide books, yet it must be almost 2,000+ years old. It's in a major intersection and we rode/walked by it almost every day for the next week.
We did make it back to the Santa Maria sopra Minerva and of course the obelisk i
n front of the church. This was our first Bernini moment, which became the art theme for our week's ventures. Given that Rome is essentially a giant museum, we found it much easier to have a focus on a particular artist. We saw lots, but we tried to see as much Bernini as possible.
My Mum followed me back to London in part because my brother was already here on business. They had plans to go to Paris the following weekend. It was a usual work week for me, but it was really nice to have her around in the evenings and to share a cup of coffee in the morning.
On Wednesday Joe and I took my Mom to the theatre to celebrate her birthday. It was a few weeks late, but we got to do it in person! We saw The Importance of Being Earnest. A great Oscar Wilde, British classic with a wonderfully British cast. Penelope Keith starred and it was very cool to sit in the second row and be so close to such an icon of British television and theatre. The show was at the Vaudeville Theatre, another British classic built more than 100 years ago. It wasn't noted anywhere, but I wondered if the play had previously been performed in that theatre. I did learn that the play made its debut at the St. James's Theatre in London in 1895. It was a really great evening.
On Thursday it was more birthday celebrations. This time we took my brother to Skylon for dinner for his birthday and my Mom for Mother's Day in the States -- which is in May -- since I won't be around for that.
While we were waiting for our table about a half dozen staff members stopped by to say hi to Joe and I. My Mom got a real kick out of that. The food was great, the wines were wonderful and they brought a plate of petit fours with "happy birthday" written in chocolate for Jay.
I had the cheese cart for dessert again...couldn't resist, but the amazing thing was the guy who serves the cart remembered exactly which cheeses I had, had last time. There must be close to two dozen cheeses and you get five or six, very impressive.
On Friday they jumped the Eurostar to Paris and I started packing for our holiday in Rome!
While in the states I finished A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. At first I wasn't sure if it would engage me, but just a few pages in, it became a real page turner. About the lives of four people that come together in a city in India, mostly in the 1970s.
The book focuses on the themes of hope and perseverance as well as how real change takes time, often generations. I know, it sounds like a bummer, but it was the beauty of the way these people lived there lives that inspires.
I highly recommend it whether your looking for a serious message or just a good book that will keep you up because you want to know what happens next.
d oven makes
it amazingly crisp. And drink wine! The list of wines bottled in Orvieto is best described as expansive.
