San Pietro

A Fantastic Restaurant

Located in Testaccio, this is winner for pasta  carbonara and tonerelli cacio e pepe. YUM!!

More to love...Mortadella

Truth & Beauty

My Italian is good enought to read this...& laugh!!

Reasons this is beyond true:

GELATO

Pizza Hebraico at Boccione

Corneti

Ravioli con ricotta e limone

Parmesano Hunks as an appetizer (?)

Pasta Cacio e Pepe ever

Pasta everyday

Pizza Florida whenever possible

Pizza Bianca as a snack!

Pouring olive oil on everything

More cheese!!!!

In my top 10

One of the best things about being in Rome for more than a few days is that there is time to just SOAK IN all the amazing art and architecture.  Meandering, not rushing through the streets.  Peaking into places 10 times when no one else is there.  It is just wonderful.  What a gift.  Sometimes I just have to pinch myself to know that it is not a dream.  If I could redo all my studies and be 19 again, I think I would be an architecture student or an art historian.  My brain can't hold it all now, hence my need for lots of books of information on what I am looking at, but I sure do love the looking!!!  (Of course, I would therefore already be fluent in Italian already, having studied architecture in Italy for so long...alas, this language is killing me.  What a mess with Spanish!)

Anyway, back to churches.  Santa Maria della Pace.  So lovely.  Almost never open.  But I walk past it at least twice a day and admire the gorgeous Baroque facade.

St Ivo della Sapienza is hard to even get a peak inside of especially in the Winter.  But during the summer, there are concerts and Voila!, open doors.  The courtyard is the best part in my humble opinion.  Another Baroque beauty designed by Borromini.  

I don't (yet) have a picture of my last new fav.  It is called San Lorenzo in Lucina. We walk by it often (itis near Giolitti's :-) but I never went in until this visit.  Now we visit often.  I just love the the portico outside and the amazing main altar and art around it.

Things I love in Italy #1001

Little packs of pancetta, all neatly chopped.  It's not like I can't get this at Traders Joes.  But here there are 20 varieties to choose from at the supermarket, all higher quality and all under $3.00.  Seriously.

There is a "funny" story that mirrors this.  According to one of our foodie tour guides, further explaining the gradation of olive oils that we heard at Volpetti's, the best olive oil stays here, the next best goes to European countries & the stuff that does not make the grade...to the US.  Haha.  Not.  Bet it is the same with all that parmesan and romano...maybe France and Spain are joining Italy in dumping their leftovers in the US?? And it is all bought by people like me at Dean and DeLuca and Taj MaTeeter?  I'm just sayin...

Branching Out

San Paolo fuori le Mura

On our first day out touring, weeks ago, G and I decided to see someplace new.  We'd already been to Mass at St Peter's and made our first stop at Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.  Where to go??  Still being a bit jet-lagged, we decided to choose a new church on a Metro line.  That quickly narrowed the search: St Paul Outside the Walls.  How have  I always missed this?  Who knows,? Bbut I sure am glad to have finally got there.  It now ranks as one of my top favorite churches.  It is beautiful in every way.  Immense and peacefully devoid of crowds.  Lovely gardens.  Really a perfect place.   Best of all, there are priests hearing confessions almost all day-no lines.  A delightful lagnaippe to be able to go to confession first thing in Rome.   Deo gratias.

San Giovanni Laterno

Super Love this Church!

Grandpa in Testaccio-Saturday's Mini Food Tour

We took Grandpa to our favorite neighborhood-Testaccio so that he could re-live some of the food experiences we had on our fantastic food tour.  First stop, Volpetti's.  grandpa was astounded.  He got salami, I broke down and bought the truffle salt.  (It is amazing how potent it is!)

Then we walked around and showed him Monte Testaccio nad went to the Mercato.  Bought a cannoli from that super baker.  Delizioso!  Checked out the bread and got some to make bruschetta, bought the tomatoes and a mound of cherries.  Such beautiful produce.

After that we strolled around some more and then ended up for pizza at Volpetti's.  Stellar.  G and I got the cippoline with parmesan.  Nothing better.  Grandpa tried the margarita and a prosciutto and spinach pie--which was so good that we all ended up eating it.  Is there something wrong with eating pizza every single day?????

A View From the Top

I think this is the highlight of every one of my trips to Roma. I never get tired of this view.  it is utterly breathtaking.  I love the long, walk up.  The stop at the inside of the cuppola, the view of the Diciples and Jesus from the top of St Peter's.  It is all just amazing.

On our first Sunday afternoon in Rome, G and I decided that we needed to head on up to the top of St Peters.  We were in a huge line and it was getting late, so we decided to go halfway on the elevator.  Good choice.  Halfway through our wait they decided it was going too slowly and so they used another elevator.  We were put in the group to tromp through St Peter's to the other side and go up.  We missed a long line!!

These steps are crazy. Clearly, Italy does not have the same litigation insurance problems that we do in the US. The whole climb is a bit dicey.  Not for the faint of heart.  Literally.  I'm so thankful I've been able to travel while I was young and youngish, so that I can do things like this more than once...while I still can...

The Vatican Gardens

That's my boy!

Bruschetta-Ode to the tomato...

I'm pretty sure that Chef G has figured out the tricks of the trade when it comes to making great bruschetta.  Here's a look at  a recent supper----yum!!

These are some of the key ingredients.  Tomatoes-2 kinds!  A firm and a sweet.  Olive oil and a bit of basil.  Of course, this is Italia so the tomatoes are amazing, the aceto is cheap and perfect, and the basil, well, look at it!

Master chef busily chopping tomatoes while mom and Grandpa sip white wine.  La doce vita!

Bread from the Testaccio market-thick crust and very dense.  Don't drop this pane on your foot.  But it is the perfect vehicle for all those juicy tomatoes.  Rub it lightly with garlic.

Almost ready!  The fancy plastic bottle is the wine from the mercato.  E 1,2 and way, way drinkable.  Crazy.

Almost too pretty to eat....

Wild Boar salami-an addition from Volpetti's-so delicious.

Molto bene G-man!!!