Rome

From Sorrento, we moved onto Rome, the Eternal City. On the way, we took advantage of a short layover in Naples to sample deep-fried pizza, a dish unique to the region. We can report that it is simultaneously as delicious and as nauseating/overwhelming as you might expect. If cheesy pizza isn’t greasy enough for you, this is the answer.

Yum!(?)

After polishing off our polarizing pizza, we caught a high-speed train to Rome where we met up with Wyatt’s best man who flew all the way from San Francisco to join us for the week. We didn’t think he would be able to make it but, the stars aligned. Not only did a reasonable flight appear last minute but there was also an extra room available for rent in our Airbnb. As a result, we got to stay together for the week and, as always, hanging out with our friend was the highlight of our time in the city. Together, we toured all over Rome, exploring ruins, absorbing history, eating delicious food, and even fitting in a day trip.

Touring

History

The ancient Roman Empire influences western civilization in a myriad of ways. In Rome, that influence is palpable. From art to architecture or philosophy to government, the more we learned about ancient Rome the more we marveled at the 2000-year-old civilization. Proving the point, the Roman Empire was so important that we call the period after its collapse the Dark Ages.

Naturally, we loved exploring such influential history, and we did a lot of it. To start, we oriented ourselves with a walking tour: Rome Ultimate Walking Tour. This walking tour was outstanding, possibly the best we’ve done in Europe. Our guide was enthusiastic, funny, and knowledgeable. We gained an appreciation for the importance of Roman roads and aqueducts, why so much Roman architecture has survived 2000 years, and how Romans reshaped the river to prevent major floods.

With our orientation complete we continued exploring on our own and, over the next several days, toured the most important buildings, monuments, etc such as the Colosseum, Forum, Trevi Fountain, and Pantheon. (Side note: The Spanish Steps are boring and we don’t understand why they are an attraction.)

Vatican

If you want to talk about an organization with staying power, look no further than the Roman Catholic Church. At 2000 years old, it’s easily the world’s oldest organization and its influence can be seen throughout Europe.

We did the City Wonders Tour and, while it was fascinating, we wish they focused more on the organization and less on the buildings. The buildings are extravagant, the art is beautiful, and the people are interesting but the organization is the truly remarkable entity that we were curious about.

Most of a country in one picture.

Food

Italy is known for its delicious food so, naturally, it was a focus of our time in Rome. On top of hunting for the best restaurants, we joined two delicious food experiences.

Perfect Pasta

Exhausted from power travelling Rome, we were all ready for a slow day. At Steven’s suggestion, we searched for a cooking class and found an AirBnb Experience called My Perfect Pasta that exceeded all expectations.

We started by making 2 pastas from scratch. While the dough was “resting”, we sat in the living room sampling various Italian hors d’oeuvres including 2 kinds of olives, 2 olive oils, wine, 4 kinds of cheese, apricot jam, honey and more. Next, as we transitioned back to the kitchen to roll out our pasta, Steven noticed a piano and, after asking who played, he was encouraged to play a song. Finally, if all of that is not enough, our host’s husband and daughter joined us at the dinner table where we ate together, family-style. All told, we felt intimately welcomed into their home and the experience was rather magical.

Appetizers!

Olive Oil Tasting

Jackie’s friend was recently in Italy and, when we asked for fun things to do, she mentioned olive oil tasting. Intrigued, we searched online and found one at Rimessa Roscioli. Although it was not quite as epic as our pasta making experience, it was still really cool.

Our host was not only a wine sommelier but also an olive oil sommelier, yup, that’s a thing. Who knew?

We started the experience sipping 4 olive oils right out of a glass. Surprisingly, this isn’t as bad as it sounds but, honestly, it’s still not great. With the raw oils tasted, the experience moved onto something more our style. Our host brought out 2 types of bread, 4 kinds of cheese, burrata, pesto, and 2 balsamic’ s (including a few drops of real balsamic, costing over $70 per 100ml) which we were told to pair with each oil, paying attention to how each affected the flavor of the food.

Once we polished off the pairings, we were asked to pick our favorite oil which they then used to prepare al dente pasta. Finally, the meal culminated with a strange but tasty gelato burrata topped with, you guessed it, more delicious olive oil.

All things considered, we found distinguishing the 4 different olive oils difficult. There were 2 we liked more than the others but, really, we would fail a blind taste test (FWIW, the sommelier claimed the oil we picked is her favorite too). Still, the ingredients were excellent, the pesto was the best we’ve eaten, and real balsamic lived up to the hype. Consequently, we recommend trying an olive oil tasting in Italy and think Rimessa Roscioli’s would serve anyone well.

Observations

Ruins

Ruins are to Rome what Starbucks is to Seattle. Every square seems to have some sort of ancient ruin cutting through it. Immediately after arriving in the city, in a short 20-minute walk to our lodging, we counted 5 separate ancient ruins. Amazing.

Food Pride

Italian food pride is no joke. Our cooking host and sommelier both bragged, not about their own skills, but all about Italy’s exceptional olive oil, wine, pasta, etc. We loved having hosts so passionate about food that they can’t help but enthusiastically share it with visitors.

Driving

We drove for a day trip and, as with France, Wyatt was decidedly not a fan. Italian drivers are aggressive. For starters, they absolutely do not make space for you to change lanes just because you’re signaling. Instead, you make your own space by forcing your way into the other lane. Adding to the chaos, mopeds are all over the streets, swerving through traffic to take advantage of any gap in the cars. Finally, Google Maps loves to route you through tiny pedestrian-focused streets where cars should never go. All things considered, the experience was a bit harrowing and we should have taken public transit.

Carb Overwhelmed and Hummus Deprived

As we mentioned in the previous post, we’ve been completely overwhelmed by all of the carbs. We both love Italian food so we entered Italy excited to devour lots of pizza and pasta. Despite that initial enthusiasm, we’ve found our limit. After 2 weeks of living on pizza and pasta, we’re not sure how Italians manage to eat as much as they do.

On a related note, we like to make a meal of store-bought hummus and veggies whenever we feel we’ve eaten out too much. Tragically, Italy has denied us this simple escape by producing mankind’s worst hummus. Over 2 weeks, we bought five different brands of hummus (yes, 5, we’re desperate here) and only 1 of them was edible. We literally threw hummus away 4 times! One of them included apple juice as an ingredient. It’s scandalous!

Fortunately, Greece is our next stop and we’re thrilled to eat delicious hummus there.

Conclusion

Rome is an awesome city that we see ourselves returning to. The city contains layers of history, from ancient Roman, to Italian Renaissance, to recent fascism. There’s far more to explore than the tiny piece we explored in one week. On top of the history, Rome abounds with delicious Italian food which, once we’ve recovered, we’ll eagerly want more of. Finally, Rome is surrounded by interesting day trips, with hot springs, history, hiking, and more food just waiting to be discovered. In short, we want to go back and hope you get to too.