After a full day on Monday, we decided to take it easy on Tuesday and enjoy Rome at our own pace. The orientation that we received through the ancient and classical tours was incredibly helpful, but today’s tour focused on our hotel room, as we slept until almost 11am. Once we were dressed, we made our way toward the Spanish Steps, one of our Roman itinerary highlights that we had not yet visited. Along the way, we stopped at Osteria Barberini for lunch. Ann Taylor and I both ordered pizza, as we had not yet experienced pizza in Rome. While my Margherita pizza was good, Ann Taylor seemed to enjoy her pizza even more. I prefer a thinner crust, such as the kind that we ordered in Sorrento after our return from Pompeii. The restaurant’s owner found delight in playing a CD with jazz covers of popular 80s songs (e.g., “Tainted Love” and “Every Breath You Take”), which was, at least, a divergence from the traditional American 80s and 90s pop that we have listened to while dining in Italy. In any event, we had plenty of food and water to fuel our explorations of Rome on another warm June afternoon. Our first stop was the famed Spanish Steps, and we appreciated that we had arrived at the top, so that we could enjoy a leisurely walk down. Much like the Trevi Fountain, the area was full of tourists and vendors, and we successfully dodged both on our way to the bottom of the steps.
Arriving in the famed Tridente neighborhood, we intended to stop for souvenirs, but found that the stores had one (or two) more zeroes than we were seeking. We ended up walking down to the end of Via del Corso before resting on the steps at Piazza del Popolo. At this point in the afternoon it was even warmer than yesterday, and we made sure to stick to the shady side of the street. Ann Taylor and I also made liberal use of the city’s water fountains, which we have found to be remarkably clean and cold. Walking back in the direction of our hotel — again, thanks to Google Maps and our Lonely Planet guidebook — we arrived at Trevi Fountain for the third time in three days. Although the area is obviously quite touristy, we found a few souvenir shops that were more our style than the Gucci and Dolce and Gabbana stores of Via del Corso. After purchasing a few more postcards, I was once again surprised to hear the cashier suggest that we visit the tobacconist to purchase stamps. In both Sorrento and Rome, I have been amazed at the lack of a general store that sells multiple types of items; every Italian store, it seems, only sells one type of product. The concept of the Brooklyn bodega does not appear to exist in any form in Italy, although I have heard rumors of an Italian Wal-Mart (e.g., Auchan) outside of the city limits.
After a quick stop at the hotel, we made a short trip to the Church of Santa Susanna to pick up our tickets for tomorrow’s papal general audience. Wednesday will be focused on Vatican City, with the morning audience and a tour in the afternoon, and we had to request tickets to the audience in advance. With those in hand, we returned to the St. Regis to freshen up and look for a dinner spot. Ultimately, we settled on Ristorante la Fontana di Venere, just around the corner from Piccolo Arancio, where we had eaten during our first night in Rome. Once again, the TripAdvisor reviews proved correct, and we had another excellent meal in Italy. Ann Taylor and I shared an order of the brushcetta, and she had pasta with zucchini and shrimp, while I had the gnocchi bolognese. It has been difficult to balance my desire to try new things, with my desire to have some of the best of my favorites (e.g., lasagna and risotto). I suspect that the next few days will focus on a “best of” menu, but we shall see how that turns out. Speaking of “best of”, after dinner we stopped at Gelateria Valentino, ranked as one of the top spots for gelato in the city. While their website leaves something to be desired, their gelato was quite good, and we we enjoyed more chocolate and mint on our way back to the hotel.
Along the way, we nearly found ourselves part of a crime scene, as an Italian police officer chased a counterfeit purse seller right through our path. Had we realized what was happening at the time, I can only assume that we would have stepped in to assist the officer of the law. Needless to say, it was an interesting end to an otherwise relaxing, unplanned day. Tomorrow, our day at the Vatican begins quite early, with the papal general audience from 10:30 to 11:30am. After a quick break for lunch, we will be touring the Vatican museums, which are, thankfully, indoors. The weather has been very warm over the past few days, and we are expecting even more sunny skies for the remainder of our week in Rome.
Take care,
– Dan