Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Classic Italian Restaurant Tale
Last night, we (Vonn opted to skip dinner and stay in the room) went out with 2 recommended restaurant choices in hand, all within walking distance. The first I knew would not appeal to Ryne, who does not agree that eating should be an adventure. The second had a menu that looked good, but no seating available. We checked out a few more and settled on a place that had spaghetti and meatballs on the menu for Ryne (meatballs are harder to find here than you would think). I was more worried about Bob and I, since the rest of the menu looked pretty limited.
When the waiter came over, I decided to just ask what was the good pasta today and he immediately described a salmon in cream sauce on gnocchi. There was no gnocchi on the menu at all, let alone a salmon cream sauce. Needless to say, I went with his recommendation (and Bob got the sauce on spaghetti) and it was awesome (shout out to Tom B - your gnocchi hold up real well when compared to the Roman version!).
Ryne's meatballs were good too.
When the waiter came over, I decided to just ask what was the good pasta today and he immediately described a salmon in cream sauce on gnocchi. There was no gnocchi on the menu at all, let alone a salmon cream sauce. Needless to say, I went with his recommendation (and Bob got the sauce on spaghetti) and it was awesome (shout out to Tom B - your gnocchi hold up real well when compared to the Roman version!).
Ryne's meatballs were good too.
Eating in Rome
Our experience in Venice was that you could walk in to any restaurant and get great food, and the house wine was great as well (the region produces cabernet and merlot, of all things). In Rome? Well, not so much...
The Tourist Menu: The closer you are to a major site, the more likely you are to see the infamous Tourist Menu. It's fairly cheap - 10 euro for pizza, spaghetti or lasagna, plus a drink and dessert. And it's not awful, it's certainly filling, but it's also not very good. Even without the Tourist Menu you will see menu after menu with the same choices on it, so it gets a little tiresome.
The Wine: Our experience so far has been that the "house" wine (red anyway) is not always the best choice. Two evenings of that and we decided to order bottles even if we couldn't drink it all. Definitely the smart choice - had a nice dolcetto Friday and a superb near d'avolo last night.
The Tourist Menu: The closer you are to a major site, the more likely you are to see the infamous Tourist Menu. It's fairly cheap - 10 euro for pizza, spaghetti or lasagna, plus a drink and dessert. And it's not awful, it's certainly filling, but it's also not very good. Even without the Tourist Menu you will see menu after menu with the same choices on it, so it gets a little tiresome.
The Wine: Our experience so far has been that the "house" wine (red anyway) is not always the best choice. Two evenings of that and we decided to order bottles even if we couldn't drink it all. Definitely the smart choice - had a nice dolcetto Friday and a superb near d'avolo last night.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Another Gorgeous Day In Roma
I'm sorry. I know many of you are experiencing a last blast of winter, but it was in the upper 60s and sunny again today. So, we set out for Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon.
A word about getting around in Rome - the metro is easy, but signage is scarce once you come up from the station. A map is a must, and even then it takes a few tries to get going in the right direction (no we did not bring a GPS). Coming up into a piazza is even worse, where anywhere from 3 to 6 streets might converge. Another thing I would do differently is get a better guidebook. I bought a Fodor's and I don't like it. And you really need to have one with good descriptions of sites because there is rarely any English signage - and what there is can be an interesting translation.
Back to the Trevi:
I am tossing a coin over my shoulder into the fountain - my wish is supposed to come true AND I will return to Rome...or something like that.
The Pantheon was originally dedicated to various deities before being taken over by the Christian church. The oculus is the only source of light and is not covered, and looks really cool, like this:
We hopped back on the metro and then a bus to get to Appia Antica, or the Appian Way. This was the first road to Rome, and it is now a park. The catacombs - underground cemeteries - are located here, outside the city walls. No photos allowed here, but the whole idea is morbidly fascinating. Level after level of niches that held linen-wrapped bodies...including many of the first bishops of Rome, before Christianity was "legalized."
A word about getting around in Rome - the metro is easy, but signage is scarce once you come up from the station. A map is a must, and even then it takes a few tries to get going in the right direction (no we did not bring a GPS). Coming up into a piazza is even worse, where anywhere from 3 to 6 streets might converge. Another thing I would do differently is get a better guidebook. I bought a Fodor's and I don't like it. And you really need to have one with good descriptions of sites because there is rarely any English signage - and what there is can be an interesting translation.
Back to the Trevi:
I am tossing a coin over my shoulder into the fountain - my wish is supposed to come true AND I will return to Rome...or something like that.
The Pantheon was originally dedicated to various deities before being taken over by the Christian church. The oculus is the only source of light and is not covered, and looks really cool, like this:
We hopped back on the metro and then a bus to get to Appia Antica, or the Appian Way. This was the first road to Rome, and it is now a park. The catacombs - underground cemeteries - are located here, outside the city walls. No photos allowed here, but the whole idea is morbidly fascinating. Level after level of niches that held linen-wrapped bodies...including many of the first bishops of Rome, before Christianity was "legalized."
Just Desserts
Ryne hangs his head in shame after Vonn barricades my chocolate cake dessert against encroachment last night at dinner:
Friday, April 9, 2010
St. Peter's Square and Basilica
We walked by the line for the Vatican Museums this morning and immediately decided to do the basilica first. The line for the basilica was pretty long as well, but it was moving at least.
The inside of this church is difficult to describe and even harder to photograph. In the spirit of intra-church competition, there are markers all down the floor of the nave that indicate where some other famous cathedral would have ended. In other words, this is the big one, folks.
The bronze altar is 7 stories tall:
The dome:
Michelangelo's Pieta is behind bulletproof glass after Lazlo Toth went after it with a hammer in 1972. We know this because Ryne googled it when we got back to the hotel. Lazlo was never charged, although they did find him to be a "socially dangerous person" and he was committed to 2 years in a mental institution before he was deported to Australia. But the Pieta is still beautiful.
We went up to the cupola...even with the elevator, you climb 320 steps according to the signs. As the dome starts to curve, you get this effect:
The inside of this church is difficult to describe and even harder to photograph. In the spirit of intra-church competition, there are markers all down the floor of the nave that indicate where some other famous cathedral would have ended. In other words, this is the big one, folks.
The bronze altar is 7 stories tall:
The dome:
Michelangelo's Pieta is behind bulletproof glass after Lazlo Toth went after it with a hammer in 1972. We know this because Ryne googled it when we got back to the hotel. Lazlo was never charged, although they did find him to be a "socially dangerous person" and he was committed to 2 years in a mental institution before he was deported to Australia. But the Pieta is still beautiful.
We went up to the cupola...even with the elevator, you climb 320 steps according to the signs. As the dome starts to curve, you get this effect:
View from the top, on a beautiful day in Rome:
Bob Learns to Use an iPod
We downloaded several Rick Steve's podcasts for Rome, and here is Bob listening to one on my iPod while in line for the cupola climb at St. Peter's...he only needed a couple of lessons...
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