Roma Day 3 & 4

Roma - Day 3 & 4

Day 3

Today we lounged about most of the morning. We are tired after going and going, ever eager to make sure we see everything we came to see. And that's impossible. We didn't go in to central Rome until almost 1:30 and we went to a restaurant we stumbled upon yesterday...the food was good, a little overpriced but the staff was very nice and we enjoyed it.

Today we are taking a "Gelato, Espresso and Tiramisu" food tour. Turns out there was only one other participant and she canceled so it was just Leah and I...a private tour! Our guide's name was Valeria and she was very nice and very much a foodie. She has great pride in her city and loves what she does....we were in good hands. Our first stop was Tazzo d'Oro. And this is where I discovered "Granita Caffee Con Panna" and now I am so screwed. (I will need an intervention before this trip is over). We were given samples of God's dessert and I'm determined to make it at home! This coffee house has been in the same place since the end of WWII. The owner began buying coffee beans directly from Brazil (and they still do) and roasting them on the premises (and they still do) and the place became instantly popular....best coffee ever! I might have bought enough coffee to necessitate purchasing a cheap suitcase in which to bring it home....no joke. It really is THAT good...to hell with Starbucks!

Next stop was another coffee house called S'ant Eutaschio il Cafe. This coffee house has been around since 1938. Here we sampled espresso....so good. To be honest, drinking espresso is not my first choice of getting a caffeine fix. It's finished in 2 gulps and I'm a sipper. I prefer a cup of brewed coffee with heavy cream and sugar but this was really very good. Espresso is thick and strong (how I like my men?? oops, did I say that out loud???) and can be bitter...but not here. It was wonderful. However, I truly like Tazza D'Oro's coffee much better.

On to gelato!!!! Oh mercy it was yummy. We went to two different shops. The first shop was called Punto Gelato and it was fantastic. We learned so much about gelato....it really is a science and a high art form...well at least for the artisan gelato shop. The tourists-trap gelato shops use a premix and simply whip a lot of air into the

pre-made mix. And you know what, some of it I like. BUT once you taste the artisan made small batches of REAL gelato the other stuff just blows. There is absolutely NO comparison. At Punto Gelato I tasted a couple before deciding on the vanilla bean and salted caramel. (Whoever invented salted caramel anything was a freaking genius!) I really liked it. All the gelato in the shop is made in front of patrons throughout the day. The gelato at Punto Gelato is all organic and only made with LOCAL and IN SEASON ingredients. Valeria made sure we understood that artisan gelato makers go to school to truly learn the science before they begin the art of creating their own flavors. A+

On to shop number two and my favorite....Gelateria Del Teatro. Awesome, awesome gelato. Like Punto Gelato, the gelato here is made in front of patrons with organic, fresh and mostly local ingredients (they do sell a pineapple gelato and banana gelato that

wasn't ready when we got there so not entirely LOCAL) They have some very interesting combinations and a bigger variety than Punto. I had the fresh Sicilian peach and fresh raspberry-sage. Out of this world delicious!!! I wanted seconds and maybe thirds!! Leah chose the lavender and peach....she really liked hers too.

Our last stop was at a place called Zum for fresh, made to order (literally made right in front of you) tiramisu. I chose strawberry and Leah chose their house tiramisu...a hazelnut with chocolate combination that she said was wonderful. So though we didn't choose traditional Italian tiramisu what we had was so above and beyond that we didn't care about tradition!

We parted ways with Valeria at this point and headed out to keep up our exploration of Rome. We headed to the Spanish Steps via the Piazza Navona. It was a lovely, very picturesque walk. We clearly needed to walk off all the sugar and caffeine! As we headed to the Spanish Steps the local bars and restaurants were packed solid with people. They were yelling, screaming, laughing and drinking and oh yeah, and watching Italy play Spain in a soccer match. Based on the overheard conversations Spain must truly be their arch-rival. The entire city was going nuts! (Spoiler alert: Italy won) At this point we were looking for a taxi to take us back to our apartment. We found one and ask them to take us to our part of town...he reluctantly said he would but it would cost 38€....um no, it's only about a 15€ ride. We found out he had a television in his trunk of his taxi so if he was gonna have to drive anyone it was going to cost A LOT! We declined and found another driver who was happy to take us. Of course we listened to the game all, the way to our apartment, and we congratulated the driver when Italy scored their second goal...our driver was grinning ear-to-ear! Spain could not come back from that!

Day 4

Today was our laziest day yet! I did some laundry, hit the local coffee bar for cappuccino and croissants and otherwise relaxed.

We headed in to central Rome for lunch at a new and now our favorite place. Very small and very delicious. AND I might have had both Granita Caffee Con Panna AND gelato....don't judge me! When in Rome!!!

Tomorrow we hit Pompeii and the Amalfi coast. I imagine Pompeii may make me a bit emotional but the rest of the time will be hydrofoils, boat rides, grottos, beach and, most importantly? LIMONCELLO!!!!!! Sorrento's gift to the world!

Buona Notte!