How to pick a restaurant in Rome!

I'm getting behind on my journaling! Maybe I should be going to bed earlier so the I can wake up in the middle of the night again to write!

9/27-
Monday I chose to take it easy. Although I woke up at a decent time, I did not fuel myself well at breakfast & not long after, I started to feel punky. It was only two hours after I woke, but I was already ready for a nap. Thankfully, as soon as my blood sugar stabilized, I felt fine. We decided to stay "close to home.". We would walk through Villa Borghese to Piazza De Popola for lunch & ride the bus back. We only planned on being gone a short while but I realized later that we were away five hours!

My BIL directed us through the park, zigzagging from fountain to circle to fountain along the paths of the park. When we were about a third of the way through the park we stopped to snap some pictures of the kids. Another young woman and a couple of children were nearby and when she heard my American accent, she started chatting with us. We ended up visiting at a little playground so the kids could play while the adults visited.

After we had visited for a while, we continued on our walk. It was very pleasant among the trees, walking at a leisurely pace down the hill to the piazza. We exited the park at Piazzle Flaminio. For a minute I thought I had overshot the Piazza, but I found I was just on the other side of the gate from Piazza De Popolo. Entering the Piazza, I was blown away. It was breathtaking! In the center of a large traffic circle, there was a tall obelisk. On the other side of the piazza, visually flanking the obelisk, were two huge buildings with domes. The size of the circle, the obelisk, the two huge domes; it all effected an amazing visual impact. I don't know if I have yet seen anything that compares.

Unfortunately, few travel books have addressed this piazza, so I know very little about it. As we approached, it appears that the two domed buildings, which I assumed to be churches, were abandoned. I'm dying to know more about them, their history, if they are Churches, if they are in use, etc.

On the left, down the center, and on the right of the domed buildings were narrow streets lined with shops. Again, these streets had an iconically Italian look. I wish I could have translated what I saw onto film, but somehow what I see in my eye I never seem to translate. I didn't have much time to take it all in; we were on a mission to find pizza, per ML's request, and we were looking at a very late lunch due to our playdate in the park.

I have learned a few tricks of Rome from my BIL: stay away from the obvious trattorias, look for the little restaurants down the side streets, the food is much better. So after walking a ways, I saw a promising restaurant down a little alley. Ah, it looked good! I'll bet the food was great, but alas, no pizza on the menu. So we wandered on. Next side alley... no, that place had no place to sit. I wasn't looking for another place to grab a bite & go, I wanted to sit down this time and it was getting late. Finally, in desperation, I found a place on one of the main streets. This place, although it met my needs for a sit-down bite, was a major let down... Well, all except the Fanta for the kids & my...ah, yes...first cappuccino on the trip. That was, in fact, a little cup of heaven. However, the place ended up being grungy, the TV had inappropriate music videos blaring, and the food was...just OK. I'm not saying we didn't enjoy ourselves; this was all part of our adventure and it was a gorgeous day, we were in Rome eating pasta, and we'd just worked up an appetite walking through the park! However, this restaurant confirmed my BIL's advice. This was a tourist trap if there ever was one!

After lunch, since although I had promised the kids daily gelatos, we'd only had it once, I made a bee-line for the first gelatoria I saw. Everyone was very pleased with their selections and we walked down to the piazza to sit on the steps of one of the domed buildings to enjoy our treat. I broke down and ordered a hazelnut. It ALMOST taste coffee-ish. ML asked for a taste of mine while we were sitting on the steps & surprisingly said that he not only liked it, but might order it next time.

After this we walked to the bus stop & rode home. The younger cousin had an afterschool activity but the older cousin went out scootering with my kids for a bit. For dinner this night my BIL made sausage and roasted cauliflower. I'm embarrassed that most of my journal is food focused, but we've had some amazing meals so far! My BIL, although he says he "can't cook," is a bit like the woman who doth protest too much....he's a great cook! And eating out in Rome, well, that's almost as important as sightseeing for getting the full experience of the city.

I think the kids finished the evening watching a movie while the older cousin did her schooling. Somewhere in there I gave the kids baths in the deep, long tub. It was almost like swimming and MAF was in heaven playing with the cousin's great tub toys.


-Jen