The Last Days of Rome

We did things a little backward on Saturday night; we had dinner first then our passagarie. We had run out of steam in the late afternoon, but dinner recharged us and we took a very long walk. We went back to the Campo di Fiore and then Piazza Navona which was quite a spectacle as there was a carnival taking up the entire Piazza. Unfortunately it was difficult to take everything in as you could not see from one end to the other, but it probably did not matter as the center fountain was under restoration and there was a bunch of scaffolding around it. Next we hit the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and then the Quirinale (the home of the Italian President). We then made our way back toward home via some of the smaller streets and saw the hotel we stayed in during our honeymoon. Lastly, we stopped at the gelato shop by our apartment for a well deserved treat and had some of the best gelato on this trip. Rome had done a great job of lighting the major sites so they can be visited in the evening and have a very romantic feeling.

Sunday (12/2) started with a light sprinkle and then changed into heavier rain. We walked by Circo Massimo (Circus Maximus) which is mostlt just a big grassy area with a few ruins at one end. We then walked along the Tiber for bit then crossed over into the Trastevere area. This turned out to be a very pleasant neighborhood with quaint streets and little traffic. It didn’t hurt that it was a rainy Sunday morning either. We walked by the Santa Maria in Trastevere which has a very picturesque exterior, but did not go in due to Sunday mass. This was the case with all the churches we went by today.

Next stop Il Ghetto (the old jewish ghetto area) and got in line at a bakery where the line was out the door. We weren’t sure what the specialty was but figured it had to be good. We had some good stuff, but the staff seems to purposely work slow to make sure there is a line at all times. We walked through the Campo di Fiori and saw some beautiful flowers. One of the most unique sites there was cotton on the stalk. We then went to Il Gesu (the Jesuit church) which looks more like a government building than a church from the outside. I got to peak at the interior while trying to determine if services were going on. It was really beautiful.

We then made our way to the Spanish steps and walked to the top today. I have to say this is one thing the guide books really do over sell as the view from top is not that great since you are not much higher than the rest of the roofs. We skirted the edge of Villa Borghese and decided we should come back with Parilla.

We stopped at Dagnino patisserie near the Termini station to try out some Sicilian pastries. We picked up cassatatinis (mini cassata cakes from Sicily that have bright green icing) and some stuffed rice balls that has ground beef and peas in a sauce. Pretty good stuff. As we continued back to the apartment it really started to rain so it seemed perfect timing to take a break.
For dinner we made Polpette di Vitello e Spinaci (veal and spinch patties) with Insalata di Finocchio e Caprino (fennel and goat cheese salad). The patties were very good and for the salad we substituted fresh ricotta for the goat cheese which turned out perfect. We are getting ready to head out for the nightly walk now.

This morning (Monday, 12-3) we headed out to see the last sites we could squeeze in. We hit Il Gesu, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva and then the Pantheon (do not miss this) and then St. Luigi dei Francesi (the official French church in Rome). St Luigi is a must see as there are 3 Carrivagios.

We then started wandering and have covered a lot of ground and it is not quite 1:00 pm.

Said Hi to Saint Pete

Saturday (12/1), first thing we went to the market. We had our list and were not disappointed. We bought vegetables, lamb chops and veal. We are looking forward to cooking. After the market we went to Panella (the bakery we went to yesterday with all of the gorgeous window items) and picked up some pastries for dessert. After dropping off the groceries and Parilla, we headed out.

We took the subway for the first time. The subway was very clean and modern and did not strike fear in me like so many of the things I had read about it said it would. We got off along with almost everyone else on the subway at St. Peters. We came into the Square from the side, but it is impressive from any angle. After taking pictures and examining the exterior we then got in line to go inside, which luckily had gone down quite a bit and moved very quickly. It is hard to describe how spectacular it is. We were both expecting it to be like our experience at the Sistine Chapel which was not very peaceful and terribly over crowded but we were pleasantly surprised. People were quite and respected the environs. We are glad we waited in line. When we exited we walked down the Via della Conciliazione which is the street leading into the square. This is worth the walk as the view is great.

Next we walked by Castel Sant’ Angelo and over the Tiber. We made our way to the Spanish steps. We then grabbed some pizza a taglio (take away) wandered some more. Our last major stop for the day was Santa Maria Della Concezione. This was originally a Capuchin convent which is famous for its cemetery. The walls and ceilings of the 5 chapels are decorated with skeletons and loose bones of about 4,000 capuchin monks who died between 1528 and 1870. It is a very odd sight.

For dinner Aaron cooked a great meal, Costolette d’Agnello alla Calabrese (Lamb chops calabria style with tomatoes, peppers and olives). Another great Italian meal in Italy.

In Transition

Today (11/30 Friday), we left the hotel early to get some breakfast (espresso and croissant) and to see if the luggage check was open at the train station since the strike was going on and it was open, small miracle. Once we checked out of the hotel, we checked our luggage and then headed out around town. We checked out the daily mercato for our neighborhood. We are looking forward to doing some shopping as they had great selections of produce, meat and seafood. We then went to the bakery near our apartment which has the most beautiful things, although there is a price to go with it.

Next stop, the Coloseum and the Forum. We did not go in either since we had Parilla but we took some pictures and reveled in the beautiful sunny day. We walked over to the Vittorio Emanuelle II (wedding cake) monument/building and ate our pastries sitting on the edge of the fountain. (Ray & Pat – this is the fountain where we had our picture taken together). We then moved on to the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain. We were really surprised to find more people at the Trevi fountain than when we were there at the end of September in 2000. We did a little more walking and then decided to return to the station and wait/sit until it was time to collect our luggage and head to the apartment as we could not check in until 4:00. Once we got to the station and saw all of the trains parked and all of the people just standing around we knew we had made the right decision to leave Atrani a day early.

Our apartment is huge. It has a living room with a formal dining table, a bedroom with a queen size bed and a big window on to the courtyard, a second very small bedroom, a kitchen with small dining table and a bathroom. There is a huge hall that connects all of the rooms and the ceilings are at least 12 feet high. It is on the 5th floor, but luckily there is an elevator.

Black Friday

We woke up to rain and planned on a quite day (11/29 Thursday). Luckily I had been forming a friendship with our landlord for the Atrani apartment via email (via email because he left for Rome the morning after we arrived) and we had a couple exchanges back and forth, then he sent an urgent message. There was going to be a transportation strike on Friday (Black Friday) and we would have a difficult time getting to Rome. Antionio and his mother gave us some options on travel and we decided our best option was to leave Atrani a day early to go to Rome. This allowed us to get here before the strike and we would have only spent the day in the apartment for the most part due to the rain. To our surprise, Antonio’s mother bought us bus tickets and she met us walking to the bus. We can not say enough kind words about Antonio and his mother as they went above and beyond what anyone else would have.

We caught the bus after standing in the rain for 10 minutes and then were not able to get 2 seats because the junior high kids were going home for the day on the same bus. After an hour, we got to Salerno and luckily the bus driver assumed we wanted to go to the train station and told us when to get off as it turns out the bus stops a couple of blocks from the station when it is going in this direction. We had a short window of time to get our tickets and thought we were not going to make the train as a guy in front of us seemed to be doing some complex transaction and there was only one window open. We made the train with a few minutes to spare.

Once we got on the train we started looking in the guide books to pick out a few hotels to try since we our apartment rental did not start until the next night. We left the station and headed to our first choice hotel, they were booked for the night and did not take dogs. They did allow us to use their phone and my next choice was available and accepted dogs. We made our way over and got checked in. Did I mention, it was raining in Rome also.

We went to a pizzeria from the guidebooks called Est! Est! Est! which turned out to be pretty good and they allowed Parilla to dine with us. We had a traditional appetizer of tomato risotto and cheese chunks that are rolled into a ball, breaded, and fried. We also had fried zucchini flowers which once we started eating them we discovered they were stuffed with cheese and anchovies. Both were pretty good. After appetizers, two pizzas and ½ liter of wine the entire bill was only 25 euro. A pretty good deal these days. After dinner we walked over by the Coloseum a then up the street with the apartment. We slept pretty well as it had been a very hectic day.

Sorry No pics this time. :(

We Made it to Ravello

The morning sun was just as spectacular today (11/28, Wednesday) as yesterday. We headed over to Amalfi to do our shopping for the day. Today we took the cookbook with us and looked to see what seafood was available and then decided on a recipe. We also went to the Panza bakery. Our landlords provided a welcome basket with goodies from this bakery and they were very good. The bakery was even better than we imagined. We got an assortment of fancy pastries.

We went to the Duomo in Amalfi which had a mix of many styles from Moorish to Rococo. This is a definite must see if you are in the area. The entrance fee is more than worth it. We headed back to Atrani dropped off the groceries and picked up Parilla.

We walked up the Via Amalfi walkway that goes east and up from the apartment and ate our pastries overlooking the sea. We then continued up the walkway and eventually made our way to Ravello. This was a better route than yesterday as we did not have to walk on the road at all, but there were a lot of steps. Ravello sits 1500 meters above the sea and the views are breathtaking. It is said that Ravello was the inspiration for one of Wagner’s pieces and there are many concerts and music festivals in the town. There were 2 dogs in the central piazza that really wanted to get to know Parilla. We walked over to the east side of town and could see the towns of Maiori and Minori. Maiori was the town that had the fireworks last night.

As we walked back through town to head back to Atrani we met a new canine friend who was guiding us through town. This turned out to be not so good as the dog would not leave us and was pretty far down the trail with us and would not go back to town. We were very worried about the dog not finding its way home so I walked it back to town and eventually got it to depart. Then I walked back to Aaron and Parilla. On the way I passed two little old ladies who carrying big bundles of tree trimmings. It was a moment from the old world. On the way back I started counting the stairs and there were 1253 by the time we got into the apartment.

We had the best caprese on bread with our local buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes and basil from the local market. It really hit the spot after our walk.

For our evening walk we went back to Amalfi to get a good bottle of local wine. It also included another stop at Pranza to select dessert for the evening. We made the best meal of the trip tonight. We had Risotto con Gamberi in Umdio con Pomodoro, Pereroncino e Capperi (Risotto with shrimp braised with tomatoes, chili pepper and capers) although we used langoustinos rather than shrimp. We also made Insalata di Finocchio e Arance (fennel and orange salad). We will definitely be using both of these recipes again. For dessert we had a torte with chocolate mousse and pound cake and the entire cake is covered in a layer of chocolate.

Another perfect day in paradise. If we don’t return home this would be a good place to start looking for us.

Atrani and Amalfi

Today (11/27) started in the most spectacular way. We woke with the sun at the foot of our bed. We left the shutters open and woke up with the sun shining over the sea. It was very cool. After a leisurely breakfast which included blood orange juice and biscotti, we headed out to Amalfi which is a full 10 minute walk away.


On the way out we saw some nice asses. They are used to get marble blocks and other building materials up the tight streets and stairs.

Part of the journey to Amalfi includes walking through a restaurant to avoid walking through the tunnel with the cars and then walking on the road around a curve with all of the cars. Space is at a premium here.

We did some shopping and bought the best produce. We got zucchini, finnocchio (fennel bulb), tomatoes, mandarin oranges, and an Amalfi lemon. We bought the most beautiful pasta that is made locally and only in the local styles, so they do not actually have the spaghetti cut but some similar ones. Lastly we picked up some mozzarella as this is the epicenter for buffalo mozzarella. The weather was very beautiful and after climbing the stairs back to the apartment we had both worked up a sweat.

Aaron and I went out again in the afternoon and walked around Atrani. We started climbing and encountered a very enthusiastic and friendly elderly gentleman who was very instant that we take the path he was walking but in the opposite direction which is the path to Ravello. Since we did not have anything better to do we took his advice. We did not walk all the way to Ravello as it is 1500 meters (approximately 4500 feet above Atrani) but probably went about half way. We walked through a valley that was very picturesque. There were houses perched on the far side of the valley that do not appear to have any road to reach them. There are lemon and orange trees terraced all over the valley. Once we got to the section where we had to walk on the road we decided to turn around.

Once we were back in Atrani we did a little more exploring and had some other town people direct us toward the Ravello pathway. We are pretty sure they send all tourists there hoping they won’t make it back from the road.

Next we went back to Amalfi for a more through exploration and a light lunch of pizza neapolitana (pizza with marinated anchovies) and bruschetta amalfaitana (bruschetta with tomatoes, basil, marinated anchovies and olive oil). Both we very good, but the waiter asked us for both items if we realized there were anchovies. There must be a lot of returned items with anchovies. We walked through town and down the sea wall for the sunset and then made our way back home.

Assisi to the Atrani

This is our big driving day, Monday (11/26). We are going from Assisi all the way down to the Amalfi coast. We left our hotel at 7:30 hiked back up the hill to our car with our suitcases. We looked back over our shoulders and the entire valley was covered in clouds and we were above it. It was truly spectacular. I think I forgot to mention in the last post that you are almost always walking up or down in this town. Once we got the car, I had to take the parking pass back to the hotel and when I started back out Aaron came down the street with the car. We thought only locals were allowed inside the walls but it turns out that anyone can drive through while only locals can park.

Once we were on the road it was a long drive. We drove on state highways, but tried to stay off the Autostrada, which is our equivalent to interstates. There were some very spectacular views of valleys and castles or towns on the tops of hills. There was a lot of fog through out the day, but also some areas that were bathed in sun. One of the most spectacular things we saw was the Montecassino monastery at the top of the mountain surrounded by clouds. Due to being on the highway and the light we were not able to get a picture. Even though we could not see the landscape and slope of the hill below the monastery we could appreciate how high it was over the town of Cassino and what a difficult mission it was the American troops to capture the monastery in WWII.

The further south we go the road signage became more difficult to decipher or the sign would appear at the time you needed to turn without any warning. We eventually made our way to Salerno. We got within a few blocks of the rental car agency before having to ask directions, which was not too bad for not having a detailed map or any real directions.

Luckily the Hertz office is across the street from the bus/train station and we were able to get on the bus to Atrani without too much effort. The ride to Atrani was exhilarating. It would have been worse if it had been earlier in the day and there was more daylight, but luckily we could not see very much. This is the road that people always talk about almost hitting the bus or running off the road. The bus drivers are truly professionals. I think we will take the ferry back to Salerno when it is time to go to Rome.

Once we got to Atrani, our landlord met us at the bus stop. We had to walk along the road (that we were just driving on) pulling our suitcases and hugging the building on the side as there are not any sidewalks. We then started climbing the stairs to the apartment. The apartment is everything the landlord said and more. I think we may just stay here in this apartment forever. This place is even nicer than the 4-star Westin we stayed at in Venice.

We walked down to the town square to get a few groceries and then made a simple dinner. This has been an absolutely perfect birthday.