Roma!
Bread on bread at Roscioli!
If you're lucky enough to travel, you will occasionally fall so hard for a new city that you can easily imagine yourself making a home there. For me, Rome is that city! And to think, we only planned to stay here a couple nights! Neither of us had been, but we felt bypassing the capital of Italy would be a crime just because we thought it would be a tourist trap. But let's be honest, most of Italy is a tourist trap... because it's so damn beautiful! No wonder everyone in the world wants to come here!
So yes, we did quite a few touristy things. We got to the Coloseum first thing in the morning, and still had to enter with busloads of people. We stood in line in the hot sun for 45 minutes to check out St. Peter's Basilica. The Pantheon was nice, but only if you were looking up and away from the strangers you were standing shoulder to shoulder with. You can get a great photo of the Trevi Fountain at night if you just crop out the 500 strong crowd trying to take selfies in front of it.
How romantic. The guy with his eyes closed was sleeping standing up. Lol!
We also just walked. And walked and walked some more. We didn't take a single bus, taxi or subway train, and we got lost on purpose. Meandering through Rome's tiny pedestrianized streets and piazzas let us escape many (not all) of the tourists. We came across so many little gems, it's hard to remember even half of them now. From an artisanal bedding and fabric purveyor, tiny bars & cafes, lots of cool clothing boutiques, a colorful leather shop, vintage galore, tiny gelato vendors, everything seemed to be so charming! I kept hearing myself saying aloud, "oh, look at that cute shop" or "omigod, this is so cute".
And your sweet tooth will have no problem getting its daily (or 2x or 3x) fix.
A beautiful lemon cake and tiramisu from MADE Creative Bakery. Served in fluted tart tins... so cute!
Another day, another cone. This was strawberry sorbetto and Ameretti.
ZUM does different variations of tiramisu. We had an original and a rich hazelnut version!
Our favorite afternoon snacks and a blowout dinner came from the same place, Roscioli. Our host at AirBnB recommended their Antico Forno for "the best pizza in Rome!" Well she was right, because we literally went back every afternoon for a slice! Roscioli also has a Salumeria where you can get provisions to take home or a sandwich to go. The rear & lower level of the Salumeria houses a small dining room, where we spent our penultimate evening gorging on perfectly executed classic & contemporary Roman dishes.
At Roscioli Antico Forno, tell the guy behind the counter how wide a slice you'd like. How hungry are you??
In the dining room behind Roscioli Salumeria. He had spaghetti carbonara, I had one with tuna & olives. Divine!!
We were greedy and ordered a THIRD pasta! Just butter & parmesan!
Ultimately, none of these pictures can do justice to how much Rome has to offer. I can't believe we actually had to work to convince ourselves to come here. Now I need to find a way to make this place my home!
When in Rome:
Antico Forno Roscioli Via dei Chiavari, 34
MADE Creative Bakery Via dei Coronari, 25
Quetzalcoatl for chocolates & gelato Via delle Carrozze, 26
Roscioli Salumeria Via dei Giubbonari, 21/22