The Delicious Eternal City
Where would be the perfect destination to take your food, wine and ancient history loving daughter? Rome of course! So that is where I went with my daughter, Rachel, when she was on a recent visit from New Zealand where she now lives. One of the downsides of living in such a wonderful country is that you can’t just ‘pop’ across to Europe – New Zealand is just such a long way away from anywhere else!
We enjoyed the perfect break in the Eternal City. I had my very own guide who could put all the Roman Emperors into context when wandering around The Forum and could explain the importance of Hut Urns (literally Urns shaped like huts) for the Etruscans – I always knew that degree in Ancient History would come in useful one day. But I think what really made our trip was the food, the lovely B&B we stayed in and the Prosecco on tap.
Our B&B – Bibi & Romeo’s ( http://www.bberomeo.com) – was a ten minute walk from the Vatican and the owner, Romeo, took the time to show us the easiest ways to get to all the sites, the best restaurants nearby and little tricks to get the most out of our visit. His first restaurant recommendation, Hostaria Dino e Tony, Via Leone IV, was just around the corner. We strolled there on our first evening and waddled back. No menus, we were just offered the antipasti, plates of meats and breads, followed by pasta – ‘red’ and ‘white’, one would have been enough, but two bowls each just about finished us off. We had to turn down the meat or fish course, but the desserts were too good to refuse.
I think our other favourite was actually a recommendation from one of Rachel’s uni friends, La Prosciutteria (http://www.laprosciutteriaroma.com), which is in the Trastevere area of Rome, all small cobbled alleys just south of The Tiber and full of bars and restaurants, lovely to explore in the evening. The restaurant is tiny and at the back of a delicatessen. You just find a space on one of the wooden tables, pull up a crate to sit on and order the meat platter, which was piled high with olives, salad, meats, cheeses, bread and fruit, all for €10 each, washed down with Prosecco – it was simply divine.
I would like to think we walked off all this food by exploring all the ancient sites, the Vatican and simply strolling around the streets, but somehow I doubt it!