Monday 6/26:
Drove to Philly and parked, with no issues.
We had about 4 hours at the airport, so we ate Cheesesteaks at Chickie and Pete's that were pretty damn delicious. When we got to the gate, we were informed of a 45 minute delay thanks to "maintenance" issues. Then we got moved back to on time status. What it really seemed like is the crew was delayed. In any case, the plane scheduled to leave at 6:45 was in the air by 7:30.
Tuesday 6/27:
We landed at about 8:30 AM Tuesday, and got Lisa's gate-checked bag immediately after going through Passport Control. The easy 10 minute walk to the Vapporetto ensued, and my strongest memory was of about 100 Bulgari posters all with the same model.
The Allilaguna boat was pretty beat up, and spent a lot of time going very slowly to avoid strong wakes. It made two stops, one in Murano and one in Torcello. Finally it docked in San Marco at the Vallarossa stop. I had written down that the shuttle to the hotel was to the left of the Vallarossa station, but that turned out to be incorrect. After asking a few folks, we found it and grabbed the shuttle to the hotel. It was pretty overcast, and spitting a bit.
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| First view of Venice from the airport Vaporetto |
The shuttle took 20 minutes and it goes by some pretty cool places....Hotel Cipriani on Giudecca, the San Clemente Klapinski Resort (with galloping horse sign), and this abandoned island that Lisa is obsessed with. When we docked, we were greeted by an incredibly friendly staff. Anna and Sara helped us check in, and we went to the rooftop bar for lunch. It was still a bit moist out, so we ate inside. I had Antipasto of meat and cheese, Lisa had Burratta and Pomodoro. Her tomatoes were cherry tomatoes, so that was a bit disappointing. My cheeses were all hard, but were tasty. I had Mortadella, Salami and another dark ham. 6 out of 10.
After a nap, I went for a swim. Lisa napped more, then we went back into town for a cicchetti tour. The city seemed a bit less hectic as the night went on. We stopped at a place called All' Alba, and had Prosecco and Nebbiolo. Also I had a Bacala which is like whitefish salad on toast. Very creamy. All the while, a TV played David Bowie videos.
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| Lisa enjoying our first Brunello at All' Alba |
We looked for Ai Rusteghi which was closed. Then we crossed The Rialto and walked around that neighborhood, looking at the remnants of the vegetable market. We crossed back over and stopped at another wine bar, Enoteca al Volto, and we had the house red for 2€, and the Brunello for 11€. You get what you pay for it turns out. Lisa ordered Calamari salad which was bland, and I had sardines, which I thought would be cold, but were hot. 2 out of 10...except the Brunello was amazing!
Then we walked to the Bacaro Fiore, which was also closed! Hmmm. So we stopped in the San Stefano Piazza and ate at Ristorante San Stefano. I had Fegato and Lisa had Tagliatelle Quattro Formaggio. We had an appetizer of seafood which was pretty good. 6 out of 10.
Then we walked back away from the action to find a good gondolier. For 100€ we did just that. TBP we will call him....he plays punk and classic rock bass. We had a lot of fun, and the evening was simply gorgeous. He took us out into the grand canal, and then over behind La Fenice, down some tiny little streams. Very memorable!
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| View of the Grand Canal in the Gondola |
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| TBP on his Celly. |
We walked back to San Marco and stopped for a quick gelato. Hit the 10 pm shuttle, both of us passing out on the way. When we got to the room, I fell asleep with my clothes on!
Wednesday 6/28:
Awoke at 8:00 and went to the breakfast buffet. It was a hot and sunny morning, and we sat outside. Lots of typical stuff on the buffet, including eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles. There were also some unusual dishes, like beans, smoked tuna carpaccio, octopus!
We caught the 9:30 shuttle in, and I went to exchange some cash, forgetting that I left my passport at the hotel. We went and had a cappuccino and lemon soda at a nearby bar so that Lisa could use the bathroom. Then back to San Marco to queue up for our tour.
By the time we got into The Doges Palace it was almost 11:00, and I was thinking "so much for skip-the-line access". If we'd just gotten tickets and done it by ourselves we'd have been through by then. Our guide, Stefania, who looked a whole lot like Belmira Delaney, was a bit boring, and spent a lot of time whining about people going the wrong way. The Palace itself was pretty spectacular, with lots of gilded frames and paintings of Doges with Saints and dogs and courtesans. The Senate room was particularly impressive, so large and yet somehow it's ceiling didn't collapse.
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| Senate Room in the Doges Palace |
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| The Great Staircase inside the Doges Palace |
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| View from inside the Bridge of Sighs |
When we finally finished with the Doges, it was already 12:30-- the time when the entire tour was supposed to be over. I wasn't feeling great, and I could tell Lisa was really unhappy, so I suggested we bail on the San Marco part. She was very happy to do so, and we proceeded to go get lunch over behind the square. We both got Pizza at a place on the other side of the Bridge of Sighs canal. Good, not great pizza.
We walked up to the waterfront and grabbed the #2 Vaporetto to do a Grand Canal tour. We took it from there all the way to the train station. Meanwhile the front was rolling in, and we could see that a big storm was brewing. We crossed the Scalzi bridge, and hailed a water taxi for €60 back to San Marco. As we waited for the shuttle, the storm moved in. Lisa had her Avon poncho and I had my bupkis. I went and hid near the little cafe and waited till the last second as Lisa got on the boat. I just made it on, but the ride back to the hotel was pretty rocky, as we were tossed about by the waves and inundated by the downpour.
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| From the Water Taxi- Giant hands sculpture holding up a building |
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| Racing the rainstorm in our water taxi |
Back to the hotel for a bit, then we returned on the 6:00 pm shuttle, and proceeded to try and find this cocktail bar Lisa had read about near the Frari Church called Il Mercante. It was a long walk, down across The Rialto and through San Tome neighborhood. The rain held off, but when we finally located the bar, it was still closed at 6:30 despite a sign saying it should have opened at 6:00. The man who worked there rudely said that they'd be open at 7:00, but our reservations at Antiche Carampane were for 7:30, so it seemed pointless to wait.
We walked to Antiche, another 10 minutes or so, and they said they wouldn't open until 7:30, but directed us through a tiny alleyway to a place called Pane e Vino whereat we could get a pre-dinner drink. It too, was closed! We ended up at Osteria al Garanghelo, where the only red by the glass was swill that Mahari might serve. I told the boss that this was "il peggiore vino in Italia" and he laughed.
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| Some spoiled Americano not enjoying his wine |
Finally we walked back to our restaurant, only to see them serving dinner and drinks to folks 15 minutes before they told us they would be open. ITALY!!!!
I had grilled octopus with bacon, lettuce and a yogurt sauce for an appetizer, Lisa the house salad. The octopus was one of the best things I've ever had: crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. The sauce and bacon perfectly complemented the fish. Lisa's salad had fresh berries, and was fine. For secondi, Lisa had tagliatelle with veal ragu, which was also good, but not too flavorful. I had braised veal cheek, which was very tasty and tender, without much of a sauce, and with oven roasted potatoes. It was very good, but after that octopus, not quite as brilliant.
Desserts were great; Lisa had the Panna Cotta made with white chocolate, which was texturally one of the most amazing things I've ever had. I had the special caramel cake which was nice but faded in comparison. And not very caramelly either.
We took the long walk back to our shuttle in a downpour, Lisa's feet got soaked, but at least I had the hotel umbrella with me.
Thursday 6/29:
Got up a little later today, went and had the amazing breakfast buffet- I was able to make a shmear with bread, cream cheese and smoked tuna. The lovely Laura waited on us, she is a sweetheart who is the only native Venetian on the staff.
We took the 11AM shuttle to St. Mark's and then the #2 Vaporetto to the Casino stop. From there it was a quick walk in to Canareggio and the Jewish ghetto area. You walk through a tiny tunnel and emerge into a wide open Piazza. There are a few Kosher restaurants and the entrance to the museum. After our experience yesterday, we were kind of disinterested in seeing the museum, plus the reviews I read were not good. We saw some Orthodox hanging around, looked like they might have been Hasidim. I bought a souvenir in a little shop--a glass wine stopper with a Star of David design.
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| Basilica Santa Maria della Salute from our Vaporetto |
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| Cute restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto |
We then walked around Canareggio which was very cool, with lots of little cafes. We finally stopped at one (called Ristorante Diana) so Lisa could pee, and she had her first Spritz...love at first taste. Isham was our waiter, a very nice Moroccan man. We had bruschetta which was fresh tomato wise, but the bread was like Melba toast.
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| Lisa- love at first Spritz in the Canareggio |
We followed the canal up to the waterfront and grabbed the #12 to Burano, a 40 minute trip. The boat went by San Michele Cimetario, which looked like a lovely place to lie in repose. Then stops in Murano and Mazzurba before getting to Burano.
Burano has its own leaning tower, you can see clearly from the water and pretty much any place on the island. The entire boat emptied out, and the island was as packed as St. Mark's! The stores closest to the ferry seemed to be the priciest. The further we roamed, the better the deals. Lisa bought a scarf and a shirt, beautiful lace creations.
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| Wayne in Burano |
We took the 7:00 shuttle back to town, and had a few minutes to kill before reporting to Quadri for dinner. A quick walk up the waterfront to see the fancy hotels, which were not that impressive. Back to St. Mark's and the dueling bands.
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| Nothing like a red vest and black bow-tie for gig humiliation |
We opted for three courses for €160 each.....pretty damn expensive as expected. We also ordered a bottle of Barolo for €115, which was perfect for the meal- not too complex, but somehow light and full-bodied at the same time.
Amuse-bouche were tiny quail egg, a little fried pizza and a tartlet with Gorgonzola and beets. Not bad...but not remarkable in any way.
Primi came out- Lisa had Burrata Ravioli with clams and cuttlefish....it was wonderful. I had raw beef roulade, a pounded filet wrapped loosely around raw shrimp, with a creamy anchovy sauce and caviar. Very different, and really quite exquisite. Good start!
Secondi were Rib-eye for Lisa with string beans, and Fritto Misto for me. These did not really measure up. Lisa's steak was well cooked....very rare and tasty in an oyster sauce. But certainly nothing astonishing. My dish was like a good tempura, but one of the calamari pieces was tough, and the rest were not so interesting. The visual packaging was no big deal. I felt like we ordered poorly or were just being dealt a bad hand. At these prices, your meal needs to be world class. This was not.
At desserts, things turned back to an upswing. Lisa had Peach pastry with Lavender Ice Cream which she loved. I had chocolate crock, which was nothing like a crock. I expected like pudding or mousse, but it was like the greatest Chocolate Napoleon you could imagine. By this time, I was pretty drunk, so everything was wonderful. Still, I know we overpaid for this meal, despite the unique location and interior. The service WAS phenomenal, and I was very happy with the pace of the meal. Only one slip-up....we got the bread and it was a long time before olive oil was brought to accompany it.
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| Beautiful Dining room at Quadri |
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| Our Somm was happy to cork this Barolo |
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| I was even happier to drink it! |
After dinner, we went into the square....the evening was delightful, so we wandered and listened to some bands. One of them played Samba de Orfeu and medleyed into Aquarela do Brasil. Another played a beautiful rendition of "El Dia Que Me Quieras". I was in fine fettle, and didn't want to leave knowing this was my last time in Venice at night....which for me is its best time.
But, we went to grab the shuttle...which was all filled! Rather than make us wait, the Hotel hired a water taxi to take the rest of us (who had arrived in plenty of time). It was a very classy thing to do. The coolest part was that we then entered via the "James Bond" entrance....SMERSH, baby!!!
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| From Venice With Love |
We weren't done...since you go right into the main building, we heard a jazz band playing so we stopped in the bar and got nightcaps. Lisa's third spritz of the day, and I asked for something "digestive"- I was so damned full! They made me a weird cocktail, which was a bit too sweet, and I really got drunk. At one point the sax player comped on the piano for the guitarist's solo on "This Masquerade", so drunk me got up and asked if I could help out. They were very cool about it. There was no bench, so after the song I went and sat down. They called me back over and we did Mas Que Nada. So much for not playing on vacation.
FLORENCE
Friday 6/30:
I had a rough night thanks to all that liquor. Luckily there is a direct shuttle to the train station, which we caught at 10 AM. Way too early, it left us almost two hours to kill at the station. We had some mixed fruit and veggie drinks and polpette which were like deep fried meatballs that needed more cooking. The train was really fast and comfortable, reminding us of how shitty the US is in regards public ground transportation.
I had been looking forward to the views of the Italian countryside, but most of it between Venice and Bologna was like North Jersey....very industrialized and rundown. Once we got past Bologna it was basically all tunnels, which seemed to go on for miles and miles. So....no views. By 1 PM we were in Florence, and we got on the very long line for taxis. The ride itself to the hotel was about 10 minutes, even though the walk would not be much more than that. But with bags....uhhhh no.
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| Looking for scenery, but at least inside the train was nice. |
The AC was exactly as advertised, modern in design, small in room size, and cut rate as far as the services. We did discover (after dinner) an amazing rooftop view of the Duomo and more. Sadly they have not exploited it, calling it a Solarium but having done nothing to make it a comfortable hang.
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| View from the AC Hotel Roof Solarium |
Once settled in, we walked into the town area to hit a wine bar and see some shopping. We stopped at Fratelli Zanobili, a wine store I'd seen in a video. They had an extensive wine by the glass selection. Lisa had Montepulciano and I had Brunello do Montalcino. Both were delicious. We then went through all the leather booths and stands on Sant' Antonino strada, and stumbled upon the Mercato Central. It's amazing inside, and we will hit that tomorrow with the kids.
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| Fratelli Zanobili wine store |
Finally, 7:00 rolled around and we checked into our restaurant, Osteria Vecchio Cancello for dinner. We sat next to two Japanese ladies who ordered the Florentine Steak only.
We had two courses: I had Pici with a white pork sauce and star anise, followed by Osso Buco. Lisa had the tagliatelle with ragu of wild boar, and the sliced steak with red wine reduction. All 4 plates were delectable, but Osso Buco was my favorite. It had a light brown sauce with mirapoix and a little spoon for scooping out the delicious marrow.
The best part of this meal was when we got the bill and it was 1/8 as expensive as the bill at Quadri. After dinner, we walked back to the hotel by going under the train station, and that shortened the trek considerably. Up to the solarium which was beautiful at dusk. Dana and Kyle come tomorrow and sights will be seen!!
Saturday 7/1:
I somehow had my phone on, and Cole texted me at 5:30 our time to tell me the Mets were doing much better since I left the country. About an hour later I got a text from Dana saying that they had landed. Eventually we got the word that they'd be arriving at Florence train station about 10:00. So we went over to the little coffee shop for croissant and cappuccino. Once we got our act together, we walked over to the station, and noticed a very cool little market attached. The kids arrived on time, and we cabbed them back to the hotel. We let them get a couple of hours sleep in our room while we waited in the lobby, then headed to the Mercato for lunch.
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| Lisa happy to see Dana. And wine. |
I grabbed the first thing I saw since I hadn't eaten since my croissant. It was a tomato, mozzarella and prosciutto sandwich. Very nice. Then we went upstairs where all the meal vendors were. I also grabbed some fried tripe and zucchini, the rest had Burratta crostini, which were delicious. I also grabbed a small tiramisu. Kyle waited on the pasta line for what seemed like an hour just to get some crappy macaroni and tomato sauce. That was disappointing..
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| Amazing but tiny Tiramisu at Mercato. |
We walked Lisa back to the train station so she could cab back to the hotel and check the kids in to their room. The kids and I then headed to the Uffizi. No problem getting in with our passes, and we headed upstairs to start the circuit. The exhibit goes from Giotto up to Titian, but the highlight is without a doubt the Botticelli rooms. One of which features Primavera and the other has Venus on the Half Shell. For me, the other amazing room is the multiple statues of Niobe. In any case, the progression from Mary and Jesus paintings, Crucifixion scenes and Pietas to secular Renaissance representations is striking. Art for art's sake, people! The views from the south windows of the arno and Ponte Vecchio were also spectacular.
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| Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi |
The temporary exhibit was about the restoration of an unfinished Da Vinci Adoration of the Magi, and it was underwhelming.
We exited the Gallery and walked a bit, but both my back and feet were in pain, so we eventually found a cab to take us back. I rested my body for about 90 minutes, the. We called a cab to take us to dinner at Buca Lapi, one of the best steakhouses is Tuscany. We shared a delicious couple of pastas carbonara/tomato sauce on spaghetti and gnocchi pesto. Then we had our gigantic steak, and Kyle had Cinghale with Polenta. So much food, we took most of the steak back with us to have on Monday for a Tuscan picnic.
We stopped near the Duomo for gelato...I had Pistachio and Straciatella. We found a cab...a very obnoxious guy who made us laugh, and took us way out of our way, charging us at least €7 more than we'd paid yet for fare.
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| Steak for 3000 people |
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| Kyle and Dana at Buca Lapi |
We stopped near the Duomo for gelato...I had Pistachio and Straciatella. We found a cab...a very obnoxious guy who made us laugh, and took us way out of our way, charging us at least €7 more than we'd paid yet for fare.
Tomorrow- on to Oltrarno and the Pitti Palace!
Sunday July 2:
We got going around 11:00 or so, and grabbed a cab over to where the Accademia is located, there was not a lot to see there, around the corner was the piazza de due fontanne. We took this very picturesque alley towards the Duomo, and stopped at a pizzeria for lunch. My pizza had the most powerful anchovies I've ever tasted on it.
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| Picturesque alley and the girls. |
After lunch, we continued towards the Ponte Vecchio, and crossed it to Oltrarno. The entrance fee to the Pitti Palace was free, but we still had to go pick up tickets to the palace and the Boboli gardens.
The art collection in the palace was huge, with a lot of work from the period just after what was covered in Uffizi. Caravaggio, Titian and more are housed in this massive collection of chandeliered rooms that reminded me of Versailles.
There is also a section called the Costume museum, which to me was a totally pretentious waste of time.
Afterwards we entered the Boboli, which were shockingly vertical. As a side note, my health tracker program told me I'd climbed 20 flights of stairs!! The gardens were not so impressive as their view once you reached the higher part.
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| Panorama from the top of the Boboli Gardens |
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| Fat guy on a turtle-- "No autographs". |
Once we finished our time in Pitti, we exited and started our wine tasting extravaganza in Oltrarno. We had some wines at Le Volpe e L'uva, just a block away. Then we continued to the Golden View, which is on the Arno, directly across from the Uffizi.
Finally we ended up at Enoteca Pitti Gola e Cantina, and had some decent dishes, the best of which was stuffed zucchini blossoms. We also had chicken Pate which only I liked.
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| Dana and her fancy spritz at the Golden View Bar |
We walked towards the Piazza Michelangelo with the intent of watching the sunset, but we couldn't find a cab. We stopped on a bridge and took some lovely sunset pix from there. Afterwards, despite some friction from Lisa whose feet were hurting, we walked to La Carriera, for what I'd heard was the best Gelato in Florence. I thought it lived up to it's reputation. I had dark chocolate and creme caramel.
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| Sunset on the Arno |
Monday July 3:
Got up about 8:30...,got my act together to pack everything and bring it downstairs. Got a croissant and cappuccino at my favorite tabbacharia/cafe where they are so rude and unhelpful, but make amazing croissants and fine coffee drinks for very little money.
I proceeded to walk to where the car rental office was supposed to be, only to find out that the address is now a Hertz place. Down the block was an Auto Europe, but my car is Europcar. So I walked further down the street to Europcar, only to notice that I had the wrong printout....and the printout said both Auto Europe AND Europcar!
I walked back to Auto Europe only to be told that it was Europcar. So back to Europcar, and finally got our midsize Volvo.
It's a very nice vehicle, but we can barely fit the bags in it. Anyway, we got in the car and headed for Pisa. We got off the highway following gps and then sat in traffic for about 25 minutes. When we finally got near the tower, there were African guys parking cars just like in Adams Morgan. Everyone was concerned about their belongings being exposed while we looked at the tower, but I knew if I bought something from the guy that he'd watch our car. So I bought a cheapass hat. It might come in handy on the Rome walk.
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| Leaning tower of Lisa |
After seeing the Tower, which I really felt was worth the hassle, we went in search of a supermarket to buy bread and mayo for our steak sandwiches. We found one, albeit in the wrong direction out of town. Finally we stopped on the highway to San Gimignano and found a service plaza with a little picnic area. After lunch, we drove the 75 minute drive to Il Vicario.
It's a cute little place...the rooms are very nice. We had a quick glass of wine and at about 4:30 drove into town. Dinner reservations at Bel Soggiorno were at 8, so we had about 2&1/2 hours to wander. Lisa and I found a great little wine store and did a major tasting, Dana and Kyle joined us after. I ended up buying two bottles, one Brunello and one Chianti. We all waited around while Kyle bought a pair of expensive shoes, then we made it to dinner, which was everything we'd hoped for and more. The view was staggeringly beautiful, and the food was outstanding: maybe our best meal so far. We had: cappellacci with crispy speck and fossa cheese, in pistachio sauce, Risotto in Truffle sauce, tagliatelle with shrimp mojito sauce, pici in truffle carbonara sauce. We also had a big burrata plate, lamb shoulder with pistachio crust, and free-range cockerel. Everything was good, but our favorites were the pici and the cappellacci ( like an oversized ravioli).
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| View from Bel Soggiorno during golden hour. |
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| Towers of San Gmignano |
After dinner, back to Il Vicario (exhausted) and up to bed, but the AC was non-functional so we got a terrible night's sleep.
Tuesday July 4:
This is the way I always wanted to spend the 4th: a typically American day. Truffle hunting in Tuscany followed by a cooking class.
We got up and had our breakfast. By the time we finished eating, Francesco and Angie were there to take us truffle hunting. Francesco speaks very little English, and Angie speaks less. Angie is a dog.
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| Truffle hunting with Francesco and Angie |
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| Group selfie on the truffle trail |
We all jumped in the jeep, and went to the forest. It wasn't a ton of hiking, but certainly enough. Once free to hunt, Angie ran to an area of brush, and truffles came rolling out! She makes it fairly easy- digging them up and kicking them out in one quick motion. Francesco then inspects the truffle to see if it is bravo o brutto. The harder ones are actually better. They all have an odor of dirt and grass before they are cleaned, but you can still smell the truffle.
Dana and I had a fun time translating Francesco, and we did find some nice truffles to cook with.
Once back at Il Vicario, we set right out to do our cooking class. Fulvio basically taught us our skills...which included pasta making. We made Pici by hand, rolling with our fingers from dough made with Semolina, All-Purpose and water. We also made Tagliatelle with semolina, eggs and EVOO.
We made a simple tomato and pancetta sauce. Starting with onions in EVOO, adding pancetta and rendering, finally tomatoes.
The tagliatelle went in butter and our found truffles.
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| Fulvio teaching us to assemble Saltimbocca |
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| Hand rolled Pici; the good ones were done by Lisa |
We also made bruschetta, and chicken saltimbocca. These were easy recipes, so what did I learn? The cooking is not too complex, but the ingredients need to be fresh and topline.
Also...I did learn how to make two pastas from scratch. Fulvio was very entertaining, and he constantly called Lisa "Princessa"!
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| View from Volterra |
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| Dana and Kyle at sunset in Volterra |
Our drive back was definitely interesting as GPS took us on a strange road. There was still just enough light all the way back to the hotel, and I was thankful for that.
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| Wish we'd eaten here on the crazy drive back to Il Vicario |
Wednesday July 5th
Colazione at Il Vicario and into the car by 10:00. We drove to Pienza, past Siena, down the A1 and through some little towns. When we got to Pienza, we found the cheese tasting place Dana wanted to hit, but.....yep. Closed. I realized that the place I'd been reading about was their farm which was outside of town. Anyway, we did some cheese tasting at a tiny store right around the corner and loved the pecorino made with Nobile Montepulciano. The lady told me about Pulcino winery where they have a great view of Montepulciano and tastings and lunch, so after a brief visit in Pienza we checked that out. GPS took us right past it (also the sign was facing the wrong way) but Dana got us back to it. The view was spectacular, the lunch unremarkable, the tasting pretty meh with the exception of one wine I liked a lot.
We bought that bottle, then got back on the road to Rome. On the way to the autostrade, we drove through Chianciano, and we passed right by La Bussola!
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| Pulchino wine and cheese tasting |
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| Gorgeous view of Montepulciano |
The highway was easy, but GPS took us off it at the equivalent of Yonkers, so I spent a goodly amount of time on Rome's 4 lane streets. We got to the Hotel unscathed, and the doorman recorded my plates so I wouldn't get a ticket from the cameras for being in the restricted area.
Then came the real adventure...dropping off the car. I drove around Roma Termini but couldn't figure out where to drop the car. No signs were visible, and I had no address. I pulled over and searched the internet for a phone number for Europcar but my connection sucked. I did a search on dropping off rentals at Termini and on TripAdvisor I found one post that said go under the tracks to Rua Giolitto. I did that, and magically my map app showed me the Europcar office. I illegally parked, ran into the station to the desk, and a lady inside told me where to go...."200 meters back" down the one way street to a garage... 231 Rua Giolitto. So I drove around the block down about 5 blocks so I wouldn't undershoot it, turned and I undershot it anyway! So...I crazily backed onto the side street, and went in the right direction into the garage, which sported the tiniest signs that rental companies could be found therein.
7 flights up the tightest cornering garage I'd ever seen, was a place to drop the car. I walked back to the hotel, glad to be done with driving around Rome. The neighborhood near the garage was a bit scary, but I NuYawked through it, and got back to the Hotel soaked in sweat.
I changed my shirt...the room is really nice, and I wrote in the journal. Dinner was at 7:30 at Il Nido del Pettirosso, the Robin's Nest, right around the corner. It's a tiny place, and we sat right up next to the door. The food there was tasty and beautifully plated. I had Red Drum, which was smoked and in Banana leaves, Kyle had Lobster, Lisa had Rack of Lamb and Dana had Chicken. Our meal was going well until the manager/maitre d' told us to quiet down....customers were complaining. This pretty much ruined my mood (especially since we were not the only noisy table) which had been good and celebratory now that we were in Rome, and the car was returned. We were going to stay for dessert, but opted instead to walk to Trevi to see the fountain ---which was crowded beyond reason. We grabbed a very pedestrian gelato, and headed back to the hotel.
Thursday July 6th
Up early to meet at the Colosseum for our Ancient Rome tour. The walk was nice, not too long. When we got to the meeting place, the Metro station, it turned out to be the wrong exit. The person meeting groups told us to go into the station, down the stairs and out the other side, but right as we got to the exit, they started locking up for a strike. I whined, and they let us through. We met our guide, Larissa, who was really funny and informative.
She took us into the Colosseum, and then out into the Forum. We continued to Trevi, Hadrian's Wall, the Pantheon and eventually Plaza Navona. It was a great tour. We grabbed a quick bite in the Piazza, and I had my first Carciofa. We then straggled down to Via del Corso so I could buy a jacket to replace the one I left in Il Vicario. I found a nice one, and a white linen shirt to match.
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| Larissa and her umbrella |
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| Dana and Kyle sweating at the oldie |
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| "We ARE TOURISTS!" |
Back to Artemide to relax and prep for our big dinner tonight..
We grabbed a cab to the Cavaliere Hotel that houses La Pergola. This will be my first 3 Star dining experience, and even though I grew up,eating regularly at Lutece, Le Cirque, Cote Basque and Le Pavillon, I am thrilled to have this experience. The restaurant is on the top floor, and the view it has of Rome is all-encompassing. Thankfully it was crystal clear out, and we can make out many landmarks. St. Peter's is close and very clear. Ancient Rome is much further, but we can make out La Patria (which thanks to Larissa we are calling The Wedding Cake) and behind it the Colosseum. Dana, Kyle and I all opt for the 10 course tasting menu, which with all the little extras thrown in is like 14!
We had 3 amuse bouche that were small and unremarkable except for the plating which in each case was unusual and whimsical.
Amberjack crudo served on this strawberry ice...a perfect starter for the hot weather. The lime of the crudo marinade and the sweetness of the strawberry ice went very well together.
Marinated crustaceans. For some reason I don't remember this one.
Pinzamonio 2017- a melange of vegetables with celery root being a strong component- kind of a salad but not. It was wonderful, light and refreshing.
Fagotelli La Pergola- the signature dish and deservedly so. It's an Italian take on Soup Dumplings.....little purses of pasta that explode a light carbonara sauce when you bite them. Exquisite! Lisa's ala Carte included this dish and she loved it also.
Composition of John Dory, Squid and Red Shrimp in citrus fruit steam. This was the most complex dish. Each fish had a different flavor, and the steam was not visible, but seemed to have affect the 3 components differently. The squid was fork tender, and only the John Dory was a bit bland in comparison to the other two. Lisa had Cacio e Pepe with marinated shrimp.
Cod on kidney beans and iced parsley snow- a perfectly cooked tiny filet on a bed of bean purée. Right before serving, the waiter sprinkles this flash frozen parsley on top. More for effect then flavor, but it was a delicious dish. I'm getting full....the service is at about 2 hours now. We had ordered a bottle of white for this first part. It was a Northern Italian wine suggested by the somm called Quarz. We loved it...it paired beautifully with everything so far. We were out, so we got a half bottle of Brunello for the last part.
Loin of Lamb in cereal crust and goat cheese pearls. Medium Rare, tasty and the goat cheese pearls were a lovely compliment. They served Lisa's Veal at the same time, we are all nearing stuffage at this point.
Cheese selections. You can have as much or little as you want. I want to try them all but I pick four. A goat (which was midnight moon like), a pecorino infused with something that I can't remember, a hard cow cheese that was nice and a blue that was so rich I almost couldn't eat it. My God I am full.
A very light dessert..kind of a fluff of coconut, banana and lime that goes down very easily. Lisa had a Roasted pineapple with coconut mousse and mint ice cream.
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| Gorgeous terrace at La Pergola |
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| View of all of Rome from La Pergola |
Something I can only describe as a giant frozen hollow ball of raspberry tartness, on a bed of the darkest chocolate. They said something about tea, but I don't catch that. The shell reminds me of the coconut ball at Blanchard's in Anguilla. Even though I am near combustion, I finish it. Also, at this time they give you a little silver chest of drawers with tiny chocolate candy variations inside each little drawer.
All I can say is...service was 10 out of 10. Food prep and presentation was 10 out of 10. Ambience was.....like out of a dream (except that part of the terrace was rented out to a Jewish wedding so I felt like I was at a gig for that first hour). I still think it is too expensive...I can't imagine that it needs to be THAT pricey. This is my only complaint. Regardless....I will say it was the best dining experience of my life. And that is saying something!!
Friday July 7th
We started our last day of being a foursome by sleeping late but just making it to breakfast downstairs. For some reason, the whole experience is much warmer...the people are very nice and there's lots of extra food coming out. Not that we want it, we are all still so stuffed from the night before.
About 11:30 we cabbed over to the Jewish ghetto, which is pretty small, but there is definitely a memorial to those who were deported during the Holocaust. The Great Synagogue still stands on the banks of the Tevere. There are a few Kosher restaurants and bakeries. It's not all that impressive, but one must remember that this is the only Jewish community that is still extant that existed prior to the diaspora.
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| Kosher from the original Roman Jews |
We walked up to the Campo di Fiore, which was really not a big deal, and pretty disappointing. Just a bunch of vegetable and salumeria dealers that are not any different than the stuff in stores all over town.
We crossed the river into the area near the Vatican, and found a nice place for lunch nearby. It was really getting hot out. We had pizza, salad and focaccia. The place was called Amalfi, so the theme was food from that area.
After lunch, Lisa decided to bail on our Vatican museum tour, and normally I'd give her a hard time, but I thought it was probably the right thing for her to do.
I had no idea how right she was. The tour wasn't that big a deal to get in, but we did a lot of waiting around to get tickets, to get through the metal detectors, and finally to be briefed by our guide about the Sistine Chapel wherein you are not allowed to talk. When we finally started going through the museum, my back and Dana's feet were squalking like crazy.
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| Head em up, moooove em out to the Sistine |
Anyway, we skipped St. Peter's which was probably a mistake, since it was just as much walking to leave the Museum as it would have been to continue on through the Basilica. We felt at times like we were in a Twilight Zone episode, as went through room after room of displays and gift shops, up and down flights of stairs and eventually this giant spiral staircase that took us down to the exit.
Kyle still wanted to take pix of St. Peter's square, so we talked a cabby into going around to the front, and letting us out for a few shots before taking us back to Artemide.
After some downtime and a quick cocktail on the roof, we cabbed down to Bottega Trattoria de Santis in the Santa Croce neighborhood. The place is smallish with modern decor. I had fried anchovies in a spicy mayo, and gnocchi from potatoes and chicory with fresh clams. Both were quite good. Lisa had Bucatini Amatriciana, Kyle had Oxtails in a tomato sauce, but the star of all was Dana's Spaghetti Carbonara....acclaimed as the 2nd best in all of Rome. All I know is, if there is one that is better, then they need to prove it to me. It was amazing!
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| So happy after the 2nd best Carbonara in Rome |
We grabbed a cab back up to the Pantheon and Ice Creamer's row (as named by Gabriel). Kyle and I grabbed something at Gelateria di San Crispino, also,recommended by Gabriel. I had the Cacao au Rhum....definitely the best gelato I'd had in Rome. My favorite was still the one I'd had at La Carriera in Florence. Back to the hotel since K&D had an early wake up to fly home to LA.
Saturday July 8
Well, we got up with the kids and I had an early breakfast with them. They grabbed a cab and I went back upstairs to write in this journal while sleepy head Lisa stayed in bed.
When she got up, we went back down to the breakfast room, and then we got it together to go to Trastevere. The cabby dropped us right over the river, and we wandered around. I got us to the Church of Santa Cecilia, a site Stick had referred to in his Trastavere video as his favorite place in Rome. It's very sweet, and the statue with her head turned away is very moving.
We wandered some more, but it is so very hot out. We went back across the river after not really finding anything great, then into the Jewish ghetto again so I could get my carciofa. We went into Il Gigetto. It was ok, but I actually like the one I had at Piazza Navona better.
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| Santa Cecilia |
I also wanted to see Capitoline Hill which was very close to the ghetto.
My maps app got confused with the little alleys and such that would lead us to the hill, but eventually we found it, and there were two staircases. I had seen a picture of the lead up to the hill and recognized which staircase to take. Good thing, since Lisa balked at the other, far steeper stairway.
We climbed up to the plaza, not knowing why, but just that it was another can't miss spot according to the Stick.
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| View of the Forum and Colliseum from Capitoline. |
He was absolutely right....the view from the other side of the museum was astounding....right over the Forum not very far from the Arch of Septimus Severus. An amazing view! We walked down a staircase to a church, which I believed was the one Laura had told me about, but the name was wrong. It was open, and beautiful inside. We then went around to the street, and Lisa opted to go back to the Hotel neighborhood to do some shopping.
I tried by using the app to find this other church, but I found it impossible to figure it out. Later I went over some pictures and figured out that it was the steeper staircase we didn't take that led to this church!
After giving up, I went to Via Del Corso to look for another nice Italian shirt. The heat was really getting to me, so when I got to Venchi I had some gelato. It was tasty, but had some ice crystals in there which I had yet to encounter in any I'd had in Italy so far. I walked back past the Quirinal Palace towards our hotel, the same route we'd taken to Trevi the first night.
By this time I was soaked in sweat. My dogs were barking too. I found a nice air conditioned store and bough a lovely shirt that seemed a bit tight, but I figure it's good incentive to get my stomach back to its pre- Italy size!
Back to the Hotel to shower and cool off. It was so hot I couldn't bear going back out, so I hung out in the room. Lisa came back and we rested up.at 7:00 we ventured back out and things had cooled down a bit. We found Sa Tanca Crostaceria easily....it being just a block past Il Nido, and were the first patrons of the evening.
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| Very ornate vestibule of Sa Tanca Crostaceria |
The place, it was explained to us, is a Sardinian themed restaurant, but who cares? Seafood was the order of the night and I was ready!
For primi, Lisa ordered Catalan Prawns, which were cold, cooked and in a dressing with garlic, tomatoes, EVOO and other stuff. It was delicious and refreshing. I had spaghetti and clam sauce, which tasted like it was soaked in butter. There was a hint of garlic but I saw none. Turns out the recipe was EVOO infused with garlic then strained, clams added to release their juice and pasta water. NO BUTTER! Amazing.
For secondi Lisa had seafood tagliatelle in a tomato sauce that was very seafoody tasting, not tomatoey at all. I loved it. Then, I had sea bream which was wrapped in the thinnest slices of potatoes and sauteed till crisp. Some fried rosemary and salt were sprinkled on. This was really a great meal.
We finished up with Tiramisu, the first I'd had since that cup o tiramisu in Firenze Mercato Central. This was probably the only misfire of the meal.
Afterwards, we walked to Piazza Della Republica ISO a gelato mousse for Lisa, but she really didn't want it after all. Back to Artemide for early shuteye since we need to wake before 7:00 am.
