Back Alley Eats in Rome

After getting our fair share of beaches and pizza, we took a train up to Rome to meet my good friend Gitanjali from Singapore. From the experiences of our first few days in Italy, we quickly discovered Italians weren’t the nicest or most accommodating to tourists. Plus they kept saying lines like “you’re the best thing I’ve seen in three days” to our girl friends from New Zealand. Smooth. So you can imagine how happy and  surprised we were when the hostel owner in Rome turned out to be really helpful and accommodating and...Filipino.

Kevin posing for his HK album cover.

After our first night of keeping things low key by walking to the Spanish steps and having dinner, we went all out on day two to see all of the touristy things we were supposed to see. We started with the coliseum, which was definitely the highlight of day one. In general, things I already have a good idea about don’t really impress me (and by good idea, I mean I’ve watched Gladiator), but the coliseum was definitely impressive. It was on such a large, grand scale that you couldn’t help but be amazed.

Cool kids (and us) at the Spanish steps.

Our first delicious meal in Rome. Panna cotta!

Thumbs up!

After the coliseum, we machine gunned through Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, and the Pantheon (btw, does anyone else get the Pantheon and Parthenon mixed up?). Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum were nice, pretty much just a bunch of ruins on a hill. But the Pantheon was definitely a sight to see with the giant hole in the ceiling to let sunlight in. The Pantheon was a favorite for another reason: we had some of the best gelato nearby. After getting some espresso at the famous Caffe Tazzo D’oro, we saw a huge line and decided to investigate further. This line ended at Giolitti – our first taste of whipped cream on gelato (this ruined us for the rest of our time in Italy because if it didn’t have whipped cream, it wasn’t reaching its highest potential).

Pantheon...parthanon...

Discovering whipped cream was a blessing and a curse.

That night for dinner, we decided to wander over to the Trastevere side of the river because my friend Jessica said we HAD to try out this restaurant. The hard thing about this recommendation was that the restaurant was run out of a house, so there wasn’t really a sign or a specific address to follow. So we wandered. And wandered. And after wandering a bit more, we found a few tables in an alleyway that might be the restaurant. Once we heard that the restaurant served all you can drink wine, as well as all you can drink limoncello and grappa, we knew we had found the place. Jessica was so right. This dining experience was so authentic and tasty. Literally three little tables in an alley way, and one guy cooks you an appetizer, pasta dish, and meat dish…out of the house kitchen! Definitely felt like we were eating a home cooked Italian meal. We ended the night with a couple hours of grappa-lubricated discussion and Gitanjali making fun of Kevin and me not meeting more girls (hey, we got one phone number!).

Amazing dining experience.

Post-dinner limoncello. Gross.

The next day we went to Vatican City to be herded like cattle through all of the sights. And herded we were. It was so packed we couldn’t even walk with any free will. It was just a wave of people slowly moving from one end to the other. Still, it was pretty amazing. The Sistine Chapel was beautiful and it was nice to have a guide explain all the different elements of the ceiling. St. Mark’s Basilica was also really beautiful, but like I’ve mentioned before, I had a heavy case of cathedral fatigue, so I probably didn’t appreciate it as much as I would normally have.

The Vatican Museum.

Taking stealth-mode pictures in the Sistine Chapel.

St. Peter's Square.

That night, we headed back to Trastevere for an awesome dinner in a place called Freschetta, which was so Italian, it’s not funny. It was also a local place, so it wasn’t tacky Italian. It had checkered table cloths and garlic hanging from the ceiling. The portions were huge and we left very, very happy. After dinner, we walked to the Trevi Fountain to soak in the night atmosphere, gawk at the beautiful fountain sculptures, and make a few wishes as we tossed coins into the fountain.

Pre-dinner stroll.

Making wishes at the beautiful Trevi Fountain.

Our last day we took it easy after all the walking we did, and just lounged around with some tasty gelato from San Crispino! You know it’s good gelato if it’s served from a metal container, and they won’t even let you see or taste the gelato! Bold, very bold. All of Rome’s sights definitely lived up to expectations and the food was tasty to boot. And remember, if you want a great meal, go down that one street at around 7pm and look for tables in the alley. You’re welcome.

Beaches, Romantic Lunches, and the Best Pizza in the World

After saying my 5am goodbyes to Kim, I headed off to Italy! I originally planned to be in Italy by myself for my 2.5 weeks, but my friend (and mortal enemy - I'll get to that in a bit) Kevin saw that I was traveling and we decided to travel together in Italy before he headed off to get his MBA and become a big shot.

Why is he my mortal enemy? In short, because he made me cry over a game. Story time, children. I know Kevin from church basketball leagues we each played in together since I was in high school. His team was always more talented than our team, but we managed to stay with them in a few games. In one of these such games, a playoff game to boot, we had the game won, up five or six points in the final minute. Or so we thought. Missed free throws and a couple of baskets by them lead to Kevin making a three-pointer while getting fouled to beat our team by one point. Cue the tears. I've hated him ever since. All joking aside, Kevin's been one of the really great guys I've met through that basketball league, and I was really happy to be able to spend a couple of weeks with him in Italy catching up.

We met in Rome when and immediately took a train down to Naples for what other than pizza. Naples has the best pizza in the world, so we decided we had to at least stop by for a few hours to try a slice or six. Unlucky for us, we got there on a Sunday, so not much was open, but we were able to find one famous pizza place called Il Pizzaiolo del Presidente, named that because they served President Clinton back in the day. We got the classic margherita, as well as their namesake which was ordered by Bill himself. We were happy we only stayed in Naples for a couple hours for pizza, because the city was pretty gross. There was garbage everywhere and was just kind of a bummer to be in.

Roaming the streets of Naples looking for pizza.

Closed.

First pizza in Naples. So good.

Once we got our pizza fix (for the day), we took a train to Sorrento, where we would be camping out of for the next four days. We decided to stay in Sorrento because firstly, it was a great base to be able to take day trips to the Amalfi coast and Capri and secondly, because it wasn't Naples.

Long travel day for Kev.

Our cabin, or as Kevin would refer to it, mosquito central.

After an okay night of sleep in our cabin, we took a boat ride to the island of Capri, where we spent the day. Capri was really beautiful, and insanely beautiful and touristy. Obviously being in Capri, we had to stop by the blue grotto. It was beautiful, but it was 12 euro for like three minutes in a cave. Google image it and save yourself some cache.

The (expensive) blue lagoon.

On the boat, we met a few backpackers from New Zealand that happened to be staying at our campsite, and spent most of the day with them exploring the city and laying out by the tiny beach. Capri is also the first of many places where Kevin and I had a meal way too romantic for us. This being on the balcony of a tiny restaurantmeant overlooking part of the city. Being in Capri, we had to try the caprese salad, which was very good. That night, and our remaining two three nights, Kevin and I explored downtown Sorrento looking for snacks and gelato.

The beach on Capri.

Shopping, shopping, shopping.

In Capri, must get caprese salad.

Center of Sorrento.

Our second day trip was to Positano, a small town on the Amalfie coast. Again, a really beautiful little town with windy little roads, slightly less crowded than Capri. We laid out by the beach again, eating mini homemade croissant sandwiches (an ode to Kim), before exploring the town for a couple of hours.

More beach time in Positano.

Dinner with the girls: football sized calzones.

Beautiful sunset from Sorrento's port.

Our third and final day trip was to the town of Amalfi itself, my favorite day trip of the three. We took a little tour of Amalfie's very old paper mill, then took a really nice hike into the woods past some lemon fields and gorgeous views of the city below. After the hike, I thought I peed my pants, but don't worry, it was just sweat. In order to cool down, we hiked back down to a small beach in a very tiny town next to (literally five minutes away) Amalfi called and laid out by the beach for a few hours. After a late lunch of pizza/paninin, Kevin and I explored the cathedral, where St. Andrew is buried.

Kevin getting a hands on lesson at the paper mill.

Start of the hike.

More gorgeous views from the hike.

Amalfie cathedral.

With our three day-trips completed, our next stop was up to Rome, but before we got there, we obviously had to stop by Naples again and get some more pizza. This time our goal was the mother of all pizza joints: Da Michele. It's been around forever and is apparently the best pizza in the world according to a lot of pizza experts. Also if you're lady folk, you might recognize it from the book Eay Pray Love. They only serve two types of pizza, margherita and marinara, but boy do they get them right. Really delicious and simple pizzas, and for only four euros each!

"Best pizza in the world." I don't disagree.

I never thought I would like pizza without cheese or meat as much as I did.

As an afternoon-cap, we stopped by another famous pizza place called Di Matteo, but not for pizza. Our NZ friends said we had to try something called frittatina. Listen to this. it's a deep fried ball of mac and cheese filled with ground beef. I'll give you a second to wipe the drool. Yea, it was good.

Heart-stoppingly good.

We boarded our train to Rome fat and happy, a feeling we'd be familiar with for the rest of our time in Italy. Oh yea, and gassy.