We took a trip with our friends, Billy and Heather, leaving our toddlers and babies behind with their grandparents. Ryan's amazing parents agreed to stay at our place, and his mom took off work to be a full-time grandma!
I'm going to share highlights from our trip, from my perspective. So I can assure you this post will not be overflowing with historical sites or museums. Sorry, but my heart for travel lies with food, people and relaxation.
So our trip began with a layover in Geneva, Switzerland. We quickly learned their native language is French. We grabbed a coffee and pastry and enjoyed our freedom to talk and eat without distractions:
Our first night included the most amazing pizza with old friends. We met up with four of Ryan's friends from college (Purdue University) whom are missionaries in Rome. The crust was what made the pizza so fabulous. Each person ordered a (big) personal pizza, and my favorite was the Caprese (fresh buffalo mozzarella, basil and tomatoes).
Next stop, one of my faves of the whole trip, the market:
We decided to buy groceries to make an authentic Italian dinner one evening. Here's what we picked up:
Grapes: tasted like candy, but they do not have any seedless grapes.
Tomatoes: Were just as sweet. We brought home cherry tomatoes on the vine and made bruschetta (which we were forced to pronounce "broo-sket-uh").
Didn't try the artichokes, but aren't they beautiful?
And what I had been waiting for....
Cheese.
So many types of fabulous cheese. We chose a parmesan, pecorino and fresh buffalo mozzarella.
Hello, my love:
And of course we had to try some fresh pasta. Our choice: Fettuccine and pesto:
We also grabbed different varieties of olives, along with some bread and peaches.
Something noteworthy was the cross-breed of broccoli and cauliflower:
Another experience at the top of my list, as well as a greatly anticipated one: Coffee and pastries. And enjoying them at a small bistro table outside. Every morning persons dream, right?
I drank the smallest ever cappuccinos while we were there. And I learned the unfortunate fact that Italians don't really drink more than one cup.
Strike one for Italy.
By the third sip, totally in heaven, relishing the amazing pastries, and poof! The last sip always snuck up on me so quickly and unexpectedly. I'll admit, I never really got past this small Italian flaw.
And here's a picture of the breakfast that we got ripped off on. Ryan didn't do the conversion right away, and realized we paid almost close to $20 for this meal. And it was probably one of my least favorite coffees and the pastries tasted stale. It was challenging to know when and where you would get ripped off, especially at the super-touristy places.
So I pretty much had a chocolate croissant every morning. I'm not a big chocolate lover, so I was surprised to have enjoyed the little bit of sweetness, and as a result, drank my coffee with less sugar. Delicious combo. I think I will think twice about hastily walking past the chocolate croissants at Whole Foods next time. Another perk was the freshly squeezed orange juice.
Still on the subject of coffee, because it is one of my favorites, here's my absolute favorite coffee shop of the whole trip.
It was right by the Pantheon, in case you ever go to Rome. We brought home coffee beans from here, as gifts for people and some for ourselves. And I'm already regretting not bringing back more.
So the way you order coffee (or food) was a bit overwhelming, and made me realize why Italians don't order more than one of anything! You had to go to the cashier and wait in line to pay for your coffee first. Then you had to wait in a second line to give your order to the barista. Then wait for your coffee to be made and served. If you ask me, that's too much line waiting.
Here are the beauties that make the world a better place:
Ryan's usual was the Americano (espresso with water; which I read was created and named to accommodate none other than....Americans). My usual was a Cappuccino. I loved the cute little spoons they came with.
Cheers:
Oh yeah, and seating was hard to find. In fact, very rare in the cafes. There were actually sitting fees at some cafes and restaurants. Me? I rather enjoy sitting down and talking, while drinking my coffee. But no cozy sofas or fireplaces were to be found in Rome.
Here's B&H when we were able to snag a couple seats:
Okay, so on to other bites we grabbed.
I'll give a run down of the ones worth taking pictures of.
One morning we grabbed sandwiches for a brown bag lunch. After touring the Coliseum, we endulged. My sandwich was my favorite. (Of course I had to take a bite and try everyone else's, right?) It was ham and parmesan on focaccia bread. For once I didn't regret my order. I am notorious for being the world's worst orderer.
We stopped at a pizzeria one day, and it was unlike any American pizza joint. Notice the wine cellar and beer going on, on the left side of the pizzeria.
And here was an interesting combo, which I must say made me a little queasy. Eggs and bacon pizza:
But it was redeemed by this beauty:
All that freshness. Love it. I wished I would have tried it.
Instead, I played it safe and went with the tomatoe, pesto and blue cheese pizza with fresh basil on top. Amazing, if I do say so myself.
Ryan and I stopped at this restaurant after a shopping trip down a street lined with department stores called Via del Corso. While the pizza and pasta wasn't the best we'd had there, the dipping sauce for the bread was the best I'd every had. It tasted like the kind I've had here in America, basic balsamic vinegar and oil w/ salt and pepper. But it was a bit thicker, with fresh garlic and grated parmesan cheese. One for the recipe box.
My favorite pasta dish there was one Heather ordered one evening. We were advised to not trust the restaurants that solicited outside. But this one proved that theory wrong. The dish was spaghetti with lobster. I was one step away from ordering the same thing, but was unsure how fresh the lobster would be. The noodles were such a great texture, much different than any boxed pasta I've ever had. And the sauce must have been cooked with the fresh lobster, because it was so rich and tasty. Heather let us all taste her fabulous choice, and I secretly sulked over my order-fail once again.
So on to dessert. Ryan's fave. We've been told that Italian gelatto is drastically different than what we have in the States. So very true.
Unending rows of the creamy goodness:
While they are chincy with their coffee, they are generous with their gelato. A "small" give you three scoops! My fave was pistachio, coconut and hazelnut.
One night, while the others stayed within the gelato routine, I ventured out. Somewhat scary for an order failure like me. But I did it, and it was so very worth it. Let me start off by saying that I am not a huge nutella fan. I'm really not a big chocolate fan. You would be amazed at how many dead stares I have gotten upon disclosing this simple fact. Like I had a third eyeball or something, because I would choose something fruity over chocolate-y. But this one is another one for the recipe box. It was a steaming, hot crepe, that made the nutella spread on it melt into a gooey goodness. With the crunch of roasted hazelnuts. If anything could convert me to the dark side of chocolate lovers, this is it, my friends.
Okay, and this one could too. This was Heather's birthday cake, Profiteroles (pro-fit-er-oles). A pile of cream puffs, filled with custard and whip cream, and covered with a chocolate sauce. I can get down with cream puffs like you wouldn't believe. I once won second place in a cream puff eating contest. I ate 11 cream puffs in one minute. First place ate 16. But I did beat out two, (over)grown men.
Seriously, does it get any better than this?:
And last, and most boring: Water. There was fresh drinking water all throughout the city.
Although, Heather would argue it wasn't so fresh. She was quite sick while in Rome, not realizing until later it was always after guzzling down the city water. The rest of us escaped the same results though.
Alright folks, this concludes the Rome food journal.
Mangia bene!
