THAT TRAVEL GUIDE: Rome, Italy
CHEESE, PRAY, LOVE
Rome, Italy
“On an evening in Roma” has been stuck in my head for the past week, even though I’m no longer in Rome and now once again on a plane headed to Portugal! Rome made quite the impact for a reason. The rich, historical past paired with incredible food and bustling night life makes for the perfect city to visit. Here’s what we did!
DAY 1
We arrived at our Airbnb in Trastevere around 2pm. Trastevere is the neighborhood just across the river from Rome’s city center and equally as charming. I loved staying here. It felt like a Brooklyn to Manhattan, or a slightly less touristy version of the main area. However, during the weekends it gets packed with young 20-year-olds at night (I’m aging myself haha). We were there on a Friday and it seemed like the hot spot to go out. The narrow cobblestone streets are lined with colorful buildings, cafes, shops and restaurants. The airbnb we stayed in was beautiful - It was a 2nd floor walk up (any further up would be hard with my massive suitcase) and set right in a small piazza with restaurants. We also had air conditioning, a prized possession in the Italian summertime. The temperatures rose up to 100F degrees during our stay, so be prepared to stay hydrated!
Rome is an extremely walkable city. We ended up walking over 25 miles in 3 days without even realizing it! After checking into the hotel we set out to explore. First stop happened to be a cheese shop down the road called Antica Caciara, with salumi hanging from the ceiling and massive wheels of pecorino aging by the counter. We stopped at a pizza shop on the corner and got a pizza rossa snack, basically a square pie with just tomato sauce, it sounds simple but it’s so good. After walking around for a bit, we had to enjoy my favorite Italian tradition, aperitivo. We sat at a bar on the Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere and enjoyed some aperol spritzes and small plates of olives, potato chips and corn nuts. Then, it was time for dinner. There are four classic pastas known to Rome: Gricia, Cacio e Pepe, Carbonara, and Amatriciana - we were set out to find the best. We reserved a spot at Taverna Trulissa, known for some of the best Carbonara and Amatriciana in the city. The meal did not disappoint! I’ve been learning a lot on my travels, and I noticed in Italy many people don’t share meals. Everyone orders their own appetizer, first course and second course, so when we asked for a “table pasta” we received some confused looks. Don’t worry, it didn’t stop us from ordering table pastas to share everywhere we went.
After dinner we had to get gelato, so stopped at one of the gelaterias nearby (there are so many). The gelato here is next level, much more luscious and creamy than ice cream. After being in a bit of a food coma, we walked down the river to check out Castel Sant'Angelo. This castle was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum. Right as we approached the castle, an amazing harpist began playing outside of the main gates. It was truly like a scene out of a movie. We had one more drink at a fun bar in Trastevere with outdoor hangs called Freni e Frizoni. From there we decided to head home, sleepy from the day of pasta and traveling.
DAY 2
On the second day, we spent more of our time checking out the more popular areas of Rome: Piazza Navona, the shopping district, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon and continued to walk around for hours. We stopped at a restaurant called Al 34 where I got the best Roman focaccia. Think pizza, but focaccia as it’s base with no sauce. It was topped with fresh stracciatella, mortadella, pistachios and balsamic vinegar. At this restaurant we also got a table eggplant parm to share, and I got a salad to balance out the meal (lol). Lots of pasta and cheese requires some greens. After walking all day we ended up back in Trastevere for dinner at Roma Sparita, known for their Caccio e Pepe in a parmesan crisp bowl. It was fantastic, the parmesan added such a rich, sharp bite to the buttery caccio. The restaurant was located in the eastern part of Trastevere, a bit calmer than the nightlife we experienced on Friday. It seemed like this was the area more people went to chill over a glass of wine or spritz. Some bars I noticed that looked cute were: 404 Name Not Found (actually), da Lillo and The Hole Trastevere. After dinner we wandered back to the Piazza near our airbnb and grabbed some drinks at Caffè delle Arance. The google reviews aren’t very good, but I enjoyed it! Sometimes I don’t know if I can trust Google with recommendations.
DAY 3
Our third day was reserved for history lessons! We wanted to go to Villa Borghese, but didn’t buy tickets ahead of time and it was sold out, so we walked to Villa Medici for a guided tour. It was amazing to see, a 16th-century cardinal's villa with landscaped gardens and stunning artwork. After walking around we took a taxi to Osteria da Fortunata for lunch. This place is known for their pasta, but the wait took about 35 minutes in the hot sun. My friend enjoyed her Amatriciana, but I didn’t think the wait was worth it. The temperatures in Rome tend to hit their peak around 3-6pm, so we headed back to the airbnb to rest during that time. Since we ate lunch a bit on the later side, we decided to grab something light for dinner - more pizza rossa and gelato. I also was on a hunt for an espresso martini, which I ended up finding with a few google searches at at place called Carmella. Italy doesn’t really make vodka or tequila cocktails, so you have to get creative with it.
DAY 4
On the last day we had to switch our airbnb to a hotel (long story, the original airbnb we booked before the Trastevere one happened to be a 4th floor walk up with recent bad reviews so we rebooked last minute, requiring us to get a hotel because the new airbnb only had 3 nights available) This was a bit of a pain to do, and looking back I would have skipped day 4 of Rome and went straight to Tuscany. However, we made it work and packed in more activities.
We went to one of my favorite museums of the trip, the Doria Pamphili Gallery. The audio tour was excellent, giving historical tidbits and glimpses into the lives of artists and nobility. We got lunch at Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina, an amazing salumeria with a massive selection of italian cheeses. We got the raw milk tasting board with the prosciutto sampler, as well as a buffalo mozzarella dish with pesto, a tuna tatare dish, carbonara and a salad. Eating like queens on this trip!
After Roscioli, we decided to take a little rest because once again, the temperatures reached over 100 degrees and it was pretty hard to be outside. Once the sun set, we set out to walk to the Roman Forum and Colosseum, which was definitely worth seeing. So much of the buildings are actually somewhat still in-tact, making you feel ike you’re walking through the middle-ages. The Colosseum is also a sight to see. I’ve seen it for some many years in history books and the media which don’t do it justice. We didn’t do a tour, but walked around for a bit and grabbed dinner at a local restaurant by our hotel called Piccolo Vicolo.
All in all, we only scratched the surface of Rome and I’m sure there are countless more restaurants to try out. I also didn’t have the chance to see the Trevi Fountain, but I’m sure I’ll be back!
Have you been to Rome? Where are your favorite places to go? Comment below!
Tuscany travel guide coming up next :)
<3
Marissa