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When in Rome, I managed to tick off many of the stereotypical ‘when in Rome’ scenarios. Eating pizza, drinking spritzers and pretending to understand the language, resulting in far to many utterances of ‘ciao’ and ‘si’. Other, more fun and unique experiences included cycling around the lake and eating aperitif at numerous cafes.
Incase you, like me didn’t know the true delights of aperitif, let me explain. At 6pm each evening, many bars and cafes put out a buffet of food for you to enjoy if you buy a drink. It’s a win/win situation in my eyes and definitely something that would have got me running to Italy a lot sooner had I been aware of such a culinary treat. Another favourite treat of mine was real hot chocolate. Forget the powdered form that you get in the supermarkets, Italian’s like to take the drink literally and melt dark chocolate in a mug. It was pure heaven.
An underground bakery was discovered by the friend I was visiting, so eating there was also on the to do list. So much food, so little space for it all. I definitely recommend at least a week if you plan on going to Rome, so you can enjoy as much of the fresh food choices as possible. I would also like to point out that unlike popular belief, Rome is not that expensive to eat out in. Of course, if you go to the main attractions and grab a pizza at the restaurant next door, you will get set back a fair bit. But explore the outer districts, such as the up and coming, bohemian Pigneto (as mentioned in my previous post) for far more affordable an equally as delicious menus.
I went to Circolo degli Artisti in the evening, a great club tucked away in Pigneto, with inexpensive drinks and a large outside area for drinking. It was definitely a local hot spot and a cool place to go, I didn’t meet a single English tourist there, which is always a bonus for me when I am away!
On my final day in Rome, my friend had big plans to show me another town nearby. We were going to go on this fun day trip, but of course it was a Sunday and the trains ran very infrequently. This did mean however, that we leisurely coffee shop hopped, visited many a vintage shop, followed by more hopping – this time to bars. We finished our day at a local pizzeria in Pigneto. Again, Pigneto really is the place to go (it also helped that my friend was living there).
It is always sad to go back home after a break away, especially when it involves visiting friends and family who you don’t see a lot. However, it’s another excuse to go back in the near future. Rome is certainly scribbled back on my ‘to visit’ list, as I believe when in Rome, go back time and time again.
