Rome, Italy
41°53'30" N, 12°30'40" E
All roads lead to Rome. Rome is also home to Mary’s high school friend Janel and her family. We sped through the Tuscan countryside at 250 km/hr and made it from Florence to Rome in an hour and a half. The trains in Italy are far superior to any train we have ever been on. We also dreamed of living in an old ramshackle villa surrounded by olive trees. The subway in Rome ushered us to possibly the steepest escalator in the world just west of Vatican City. We welcomed the comfort of our one star hotel after hiking up and down the San Francisco steep hills loaded with all of our possessions: Anno Domini for the win! We plunked down on our patio overlooking an incomprehensible intersection and marveled at the bustling web of organized chaos then headed to the local grocery store for some epic snacks.
We have both been to Rome and in the past it hasn’t been our favorite. Given that we planned to be in town for less than 48 hours. This visit changed both of our hearts thanks to the welcoming love of dear friends and the best tour ever. We were welcomed for the most incredible home-cooked meal! French cheese, eggplant parmesan, lamb skewers, a bolognese that hit Krystal right in her Italian DNA, killer pastries from Pasticceria Siciliana Switzerland, and more sparkling chardonnay than either of us has consumed in years. Thanks to Bea (7 years old) we had the best party makeup to play a side-splitting game of Cards Against Humanity. HUGE shout out to Massimo for epic interpretations of US innuendo. Janel’s mom was also visiting from California and hooked us up with the trick to being able to wake up for a day of Roman adventures after drinking 7 bottles of sparking wine: MetaRelax® and really good wine.
Rome in a day! It can totally be done and sort of broke our hearts to leave at the end. Thanks to Janel’s incredible knowledge we traded busy sites for intimate portraits of Roman history. We wandered across Isola Tiberina on our way to circo Flaminio, a gorgeous collection of ruins from 221 BC. Then through the Jewish Ghetto (Stolperstein here too) to a little shop with a photo collection that dared to melt Krystal’s little heart. Libreria-Galleria Il Museo del Louvre has an online presence and you can peek through the image collection from the comfort of your living room. We wandered up the spiral stairs to admire the work of Francesca Woodman, a young woman who captured a prolific amount of images before ending her own life at the age of 23. We pulled chairs up to tiny tables squeezed on the side of a bustling street to enjoy pasta. The passing garbage woman shouted “Buon appetito” as she and her garbage truck just barely fit by us. Our dear friends made us dinner again and a few secrets we learned include cooking your pasta IN the artichoke water and soaking the bread crumbs before adding them to your meatballs. It was truly a gift to dine with our friends for a second night. The next morning we woke at 4am to catch the 7am flight to Palermo. Rome, we love you!