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Natalie in Rome

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Time to go home

So, I am off to tidy up as I leave at lunchtime. It's hard to believe that I'll be home in less than 30hrs.

This trip has flown by. It was my first time in a single location and I have to say its a lot more relaxing than moving about every two or three days.

You'll probably have noticed that there was a distinct lack of church and garden visits compared to previous trips.

I think this is mostly due to the weather. It was just too hot to have to cover up to check out the interiors of churches. Likewise, the idea of walking through parks when it was 39c was too much to handle when the lovely garden setting and outdoor shower was calling!

Thanks to everyone for your messages. I hope I’ve convinced you that it’s worth spending some time in Rome.

Ciao,

Natalie

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Dinner at Urbana 47

Urbana 47 is on the border of Monti/Esqualino.

It uses organic and locally sourced produce. I actually had to wait 10 minutes to get a table, but it was my last dinner in Rome and I was interested in some modern Italian cuisine.

Last night I had the Calamari stuffed with ricotta and spinach on a bed of spiced lentils. It was delicious. The calamari was incredibly tender. The stuffing light and tasty and the lentils were very nicely spiced.

I then had the rabbit kababs. Admittedly I thought this would be skewered meat, so I was a bit disappointed with this dish… the rabbit wasn’t very tasty, and the wrap had an odd sweetness to it (almost banana flavour).

Still the calamari made the night worthwhile.

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Today I took a little trip to Tivoli (don’t get too excited, Villa D'Este is closed on Mondays). I did see the Villa Gregoriana Gardens. Pictures above. It was a lovely walk, but it was incredibly hot, so much so that I decided it would be unwise to visit Villa Adriana (Hadrian’s Villa). I’ll have to make an autumn or even a spring visit to enjoy the gardens of Rome and Lazio. Things are looking pretty dry here at the moment thanks to multiple heat waves and higher than average temperatures.

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Mmmm Truffles!

Last night I went to Ad Hoc (very in at the moment).

I couldn’t resist the truffle tasting menu.

Everything was suburb. All the bread, including the poppy seed and the paprika crostini were homemade.

The entrees were a steak tartar with truffles A zucchini flower stuffed with ricotta and truffles And a very tasty beef with truffles.

The pasta course was two types of carbonara, traditional and with mushrooms (did I mention the truffles).

The main meat course was a lovely piece of duck breast and a roasted beef.

Dessert was truffle free but still delicious. A very light (more whipped cream than mascarpone based) tiramisu, a cannolo with ricotta and coconut filling an a mint flavoured crème brulee.

As a parting gift I was provided with a little jar of lard with black truffles… I’ve checked, and I don’t think I can get it into Australia; likely to be considered a “meat product”.

So, Ad hoc was brilliant, and I’ve had a few great meals, but at the end of the day I’ve decided while Rome is amazing, I’d rather eat in Sicily.

I realise that I am naturally disposed toewards a Sicilian style diet, but Roman food is actually fairly boring.

There’s a distinct lack of variety in the pasta dishes here: Carbonara, Arrabbiata, and Cacio e Pepe are everywhere, and they’re basically dishes you cook when the cupboard is bare.

Most places serve frozen seafood rather than fresh, and there’s an overreliance on pizza.

So, Rome, full of wonders, but the local food isn’t that great (Ad Hoc excepted)!

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More on books

So, I've been meaning to re-read the Ides of March for a while (I was a little shocked when I realised it had been 10 years since my original reading). I thought being "on location" as it were would be a good plan.

A second reading does not disappoint. Wilder's work is pithy, political and provides laugh out loud moments. Julius Caesar’s work to undermine the augurs is hilarious.

Because it was in the same Kindle edition, I also read The Woman of Andros, a small tale by Wilder.

The thing I love about Thorton Wilder is his ability to change his style so completely between works. I am now going to read, The Cabala, which is also set in Italy.

Keeping up my Italian theme, I just finished reading Elsa Morante’s “La Storia”, or History: A Novel.

The novel starts in 1941 and ends in 1947. It is set in Rome and focuses on the suffering of the locals during the war and particularly during the German occupations as they waited from the allied troops to read Rome.

It’s an interesting work because Morante, an intellectual, wrote a novel for the general public, and it was a best seller here and in Spain particularly. That said, it was repetitive and pretty dull in parts (possibly a reflection of civilian life in war-time).

One thing I found quite interesting was that the female protagonist, Ida, is a primary school teacher and the daughter of two primary school teachers. There’s nothing of the petit bourgeois in her demeanour or indeed in her own personal reflections. She teaches as an automaton, utterly incurious. She appears almost outside of society, despite her position as a government employee, even throughout the war. Her isolation is staggering.

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Last night I went to Checchino dal 1887, which is in Testaccio.

I’ve been chasing some liver for a while and I read this was the place to go for offal.

I started off with a cold meat made from veal head. It was very tasty.

I then had sautéed liver with wine and onions, very yummy. The side was roasted potatoes.

For desert there was and almond and ricotta with choc chips.

It was a very nice meal.

I’ve noticed that often when you order, if there are multiple items, you get encouragement from the waiter if they view the dishes as complementary. I wonder if they let you know if they disapprove of certain choices.

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Pyramid of Cestius from around 12bc

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Yes, Nini assures me she's comfortable

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Fresh from the biscuit shop. Little treats to have with coffee! They were low on stock because the owners are about to escape the heat at the beach.

There’s a lemon flavoured set as well as almond and vanilla. The shopkeeper was completely freaked out about Australia having watched an episode of Border Security. I assured her these biscuits would be eaten here!

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Finally, a Turandot I can get behind!

Tonight I went to the ancient ruins of the Caracalla Baths to see Turandot. It was a beautiful evening, with just a slight breeze.

Angus, you’d be interested to know that the demographic is quite different to the Sydney Opera crowd, with far more young people. The audience was generally better dressed too.

The setting was very minimal, but the big shock was that the Opera ended with the mourning of Liù.

I’ve always hated the ended by Alfano (added after Puccini died). I believe the best thing would be for Turandot to discover she love Calaf and for him to utterly reject her as he realises that Liù was his true love and he had simply been blinded by lust for Turandot. Anyway, ending with Liù’s death was almost as good.

Ending this way also makes Soprano Rocio Ignacio the star of the show. She was a great Liù.

There was much murmuring in the crowd as people wondered why the crew were taking their bows ‘early’ (clearly I wasn’t the only person who’d booked a ticket prior to the reviews coming out).

A lot of people left while the cast were still taking their bows, but this could have been because the taxi queue was enormous (I ended up walking the 2.5 km home, thankful I hadn’t worn heels).

Anyway, it was a great night.

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il Mare

After I finished looking around the ruins of Ostia, I popped back on the train and went to check out the sea… Not much compared to Perth beaches I am afraid.

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Highlights from Ostia Antica

Today I took a train ride to Ostia to view the remains of the old city which served as ancient Rome’s Port.

It’s a very large site, and the archeologists have done a great job exposing streets and key features.

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Dinner at L'Asino D'oro

Last night I managed to get into L'Asino D'oro (golden donkey), which is a trendy place in Monti (come on, I live in Northbridge, I am clearly one of those arseholes supportive of the gentrification of old suburbs … This comment makes sense if you’ve read the rest of the blog)!

So the meal started with a complementary gazpacho and basil flavoured ricotta. Both delicious.

I then had the octopus salad which came with rockmelon and panzanella. This was great, octopus was very tender, but I would have liked some contrasting acid (lemon or vinegar) with the octopus.

I had the fresh pasta with a green fig pesto. Despite the presence of pine nuts (or indeed any other nuts, as they seem to often be missing in Roman pesto), this didn’t really work for me. It was a bit zingless.

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the wild boar in chocolate. This sound like it would be sweet, but on the contrary. The cocoa and chocolate were dark and the spices made this a very tasty dish.

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The Raphael Rooms in the Vatican. Commissioned by Julius II because he wouldn’t use the Borgia Rooms.

While Raphael was working here, Michelangelo was working on the Sistine Chapel.

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The Borgia Rooms were decorated for Alexander VI. The rooms survived because Julius II (Cardinal Rovere) refused to use the rooms of the Borgia Pope. he had the rooms shut up and they remained closed til the 19th Century.

Talk about holding a grudge… He wanted all the Borgia family exhumed and sent back to Spain!

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Some of the statues in the Vatican. That’s the Emperor Claudius at the bottom.

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Random goodies found in the Vatican.