Cinzia got us up around 8:30am and we were out the door an hour later headed towards Campo De’ Fiori where they sell produce and flowers in the square. Cinzia led the way, as she always does, with stops along the way for photos or to peek into churches. On the bridge over the Tiber you can take a nice picture looking down towards St. Peter’s Square and its basilica. Next was a look inside Santa Maria in Vallicella (Our Lady in the Little Valley) with its stunning altarpiece, ceiling, and pair of gilded organs. Across the piazza was the church of San Pantaleo e San Giuseppe with yet another amazing altar and ceiling.
A bit further along we passed a huge mortadella in a case, so we had to snap a photo. Then we noticed that the shop was a bakery that easily had 70 different kinds of little pastries, cookies, cakes, pies, and breads inside. We went in and each had one of the delicious sfogliatelle in the window. They were as good or better than the ones we’ve had in Naples. I could have stayed there and sampled a dozen other treats.
Campo De’ Fiori was just as I had remembered it. Stalls were overflowing with beautifully displayed produce of all kinds. Peppers and artichokes were in season but they still had plenty of tomatoes and zucchini. I think we’ll try making Roman artichokes later this month. One of the vendors posted the recipe and it looks simple enough – garlic, mint, parsley, and olive oil.
Piazza Navona is near Campo De’ Fiori, so we decided to sit there and people-watch for a while. Sant'Agnese in Agone is on the piazza, so I went in and had a look. You guessed it – another beautiful frescoed dome with sculptures along the walls. While I was inside my amazing wife located one of the top gelaterias in Rome on her map and led us there next. Gelateria Frigidarium is a small shop with some very nice gelato. I had a scoop of their house flavor, made with was an egg cream base with soft chocolate cookie pieces, and a scoop of marron glace. Great texture and I thought it was the best of the 8 gelaterias in Rome that we’ve eaten at thus far.
With a stomach full of pastry and gelato we headed back across the Tiber to Trastevere in search of lunch. We found a nice little trattoria and ordered a plate of pasta. They were mostly listed by the type of sauce. Mine had bacon and pecorino cheese in a tomato sauce. Unfortunately, the pasta was bucatini – the worst shape pasta in the world, in my opinion. Sorry grandma. If you’ve never had bucatini (or its thicker twin, perciatelli), it’s a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the center. Too thick to twirl with a fork and hard to slurp with that hole in the center. Very messy to eat, but the sauce was delicious. Cinzia’s dish came with casarecce pasta with a tasty sauce containing eggplant.
After our lunch we walked home along the Tiber. Both sides of the river are contained my huge walls protecting the city from floods. The walkway is lined with sycamores. Toward dusk the trees fill with noisy, stinky, little black birds that swarm the skies. Try your best to avoid walking under them during that time of day at all costs. We made it back to our apartment at 4:00pm. Cinzia checked her e-mail and Facebook accounts and then decided to take a nap. I laid her down 2 hours ago with instructions to wake her up between 6:30pm and 7:00pm. Must be nice.
Not sure what we’ll do for dinner this evening. Eating at 8:30pm has been pretty routine for us these past 3 months. Maybe I’ll try that artichoke recipe.
Campo De’ Fiori was just as I had remembered it. Stalls were overflowing with beautifully displayed produce of all kinds. Peppers and artichokes were in season but they still had plenty of tomatoes and zucchini. I think we’ll try making Roman artichokes later this month. One of the vendors posted the recipe and it looks simple enough – garlic, mint, parsley, and olive oil.
Piazza Navona is near Campo De’ Fiori, so we decided to sit there and people-watch for a while. Sant'Agnese in Agone is on the piazza, so I went in and had a look. You guessed it – another beautiful frescoed dome with sculptures along the walls. While I was inside my amazing wife located one of the top gelaterias in Rome on her map and led us there next. Gelateria Frigidarium is a small shop with some very nice gelato. I had a scoop of their house flavor, made with was an egg cream base with soft chocolate cookie pieces, and a scoop of marron glace. Great texture and I thought it was the best of the 8 gelaterias in Rome that we’ve eaten at thus far.
With a stomach full of pastry and gelato we headed back across the Tiber to Trastevere in search of lunch. We found a nice little trattoria and ordered a plate of pasta. They were mostly listed by the type of sauce. Mine had bacon and pecorino cheese in a tomato sauce. Unfortunately, the pasta was bucatini – the worst shape pasta in the world, in my opinion. Sorry grandma. If you’ve never had bucatini (or its thicker twin, perciatelli), it’s a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the center. Too thick to twirl with a fork and hard to slurp with that hole in the center. Very messy to eat, but the sauce was delicious. Cinzia’s dish came with casarecce pasta with a tasty sauce containing eggplant.
After our lunch we walked home along the Tiber. Both sides of the river are contained my huge walls protecting the city from floods. The walkway is lined with sycamores. Toward dusk the trees fill with noisy, stinky, little black birds that swarm the skies. Try your best to avoid walking under them during that time of day at all costs. We made it back to our apartment at 4:00pm. Cinzia checked her e-mail and Facebook accounts and then decided to take a nap. I laid her down 2 hours ago with instructions to wake her up between 6:30pm and 7:00pm. Must be nice.
Not sure what we’ll do for dinner this evening. Eating at 8:30pm has been pretty routine for us these past 3 months. Maybe I’ll try that artichoke recipe.