A lifetime in Rome isn’t long enough as the saying goes. I
have just finished a week in Rome and fell in love with the city. I said from
the moment I arrived I could live in this place. The city is fantastic and it
has a real individual vibe to it. The food is spectacular and breakfast was the
only time I wasn’t offered wine. And you cant speak of Rome without mentioning
the women.. ahh bella donna !
This leg of my trip I had Mr Trugdian with me as we were
supposed to go to Egypt but there had been some problems there so we decided on
a week in Rome. We stayed at Donna Camilla Stavelli Hotel in Trastevere… yeah
that is a mouthful in Italian. It is a 400 year old monastery located in the
old fashioned ‘Trastevere’ neighborhood of Rome. Trastevere hasn’t changed much over the years
as the streets are cobbledstoned, washing still hangs overhead between the
narrow streets and on every corner there are small shops selling food, wine or
sweets.
Rome is a walking city as you would miss too much if you caught
taxis or trains and it is so flat and easy to navigate we couldn’t get lost if
we tried. Walking also gives you the opportunity to wander across sights and
streets that perhaps weren't originally on the agenda.
Food was the priority throughout the trip, sure we saw all
the important sites but at times I reckon that was just to kill a few hours
until the next meal. We would be eating lunch and discussing what we were going
to eat that evening and had to stop at each trattoria to check their menu in
case we wanted to add them to our list. I have eaten some of the most remarkable meals
of my life on this trip. We would joke at the silence of our table once the
meals were delivered as both Trudge and I just got stuck into everything.
I was surprised at how quickly I picked up Italian, in fact
my Italian could almost beat my English now. Of course I only know food and
drinks but I know them extremely well, I was in fact congratulated on my
Italian a few times.. We followed the Italian
meal of always having Antipasti followed by Primi (pasta normally), Secondi
(meat) some side dishes then desert and finally espresso. We tried not to do the full 4 courses for
lunch and instead focused on Pizza and Panani’s normally.
One evening after a fantastic meal we headed to a little
local bar for a night cap and after a few drinks were pleased to find the local
derby soccer game between Roma and Inter Milan was on. It was one of the most
exciting games I have seen. Obviously it was only soccer so I guess the
excitement came from the noisy crowd in the bar screaming for their team to win.
Like all great tragedies it didn’t work out that way in the end but we still
had a great night.
Rome is certainly a city that everyone should visit once in
their life and make sure you have sufficient time to not rush the city. It is
supposed to be taken at a walking pace and even after a lifetime you still wouldn’t
have covered it all.
