Saturday, May 19 - Ciao Roma!

Drive into Heathrow went smoothly, had time for tea at Hampers again. BA flight to Fumicino was uneventful and we were glad we had pre-arranged for a driver (Alberto) to pick us up. Little things like that took a lot of the hassle out of the trip.

We were actually supposed to have been picked up by Gino, but he was stuck in traffic so Alberto showed up.  All went swimmingly we thought until we arrived at the apartment building on via Pastini just steps from the Pantheon.  Alberto went into the souvenir shop and returned with our contact, Eni, and left.  As Eni was helping us with luggage has confirmed that we were the 'Zimmermans'.  Uh no. 'You are sure?'  Quite.  Eni wasn't our contact at all.  He represented a small hotel on the first floor of the same building our apartment was in but wasn't our guy.  He did however, help us track down our agent, Italo.  We grabbed a table at the cafe next door while we waited for him to arrive.  

We were thoroughly enjoying the moment, but it was terribly crowded on our little via Pastini.  We couldn't imagine what was going on until this beautiful bride in a knockout dress strolled by - hints of Pippa yes! Quite stunning.

When Italo showed us the flat he was embarrased to find it had not been cleaned (Tom is surprisingly calm throughout this) and then there is confusion about how much the flat actually costs.

In the end all was fine and Tom and Italo worked out the details. Italo made sure the apartment would be cleaned while we had dinner.  This is not the flat we had chosen which was determined to be unsuitable by the agency at the last minute and they 'upgraded' us to this one. It is very baroque;  but surprisingly quiet given that we are just steps from the Pantheon.  Let's get going, we are in Rom!


We were carried away with the moment and had a glass of wine and beer in the piazza dello Rotunda (the Pantheon) for a mere 37 euros (about $50) - boy did we get taken.

 Counterpoint; there was a huge protest going on  piazza as two ten year old children had been shot to death by the mafia in Brindisi earlier that day.


We stopped in to see our friend Alfio at Tre Amici down the via from the Pantheon.  I was surprised he remembered us right away, after 12 years - even though we are all sporting grey mops.  He then fed us until we thought we would die.  Truly.  We started with antipasto of artichokes, chicoria, peppers, mozzarella and olives; then he brought plates of prosciutto and dry sausage from Calabria, his home; then the primo piatti of spaghetti in tomato/olive sauce, and another primo piatti of mostaciolli with scallops; I thought we were done when he served what looked like dessert (a little triangle of something with a gorgeous chocolate sauce) turns out it was swordfish with a rich brown sauce (kind of odd); we're not done yet... then he served up plates of prawns, mussels and white fish only to finish with a plate of chicoria; unbelievable.  What could we do???  Alfio uncorked two bottlse of wine to ease the pain and of which he drank half.  He was so happy to see us...and even happier to serve up our bill.

Friends of Alfio sat next to us.  A Norwegian, very matronly, rather tall, and probably in her early 80s.  Both her italian and english were exquisite - she was incredibly elegant -  and she engaged us in some dinner conversation.  These are the moments we remember and covet.

We tried to walk off the dinner and enjoyed this street cellist for a moment, but frankly we couldn't move a limb. Such was our first night in Rome.

Sunday, May 20 - Rome!

We slept in still unable to move after last night's indulgence.  Before we knew it a housekeeper was at the door to finish up cleaning the apartment so we dragged ourselves out.

I love this city.  I just want to walk and walk and walk, which we did.  It's been 12 years since our last visit and much has changed, which is hard to accept because we came here annually for about 6-7 years in the 90s and NOTHING changed in that time.  So there is some regret in seeing old haunts modernized, names/owners changed etc.  as we could always rely on them being there in the past.  None-the-less it's still spectacular.  We decided to get out of the center as it's just so jammed with people  so we ended up on the other side of the river near the palace of justice and Castle St. Angelo. Tom has such a wealth of knowledge about Roman history that I'm going to start recording him at various locations; he wouldn't let me today because he said he looked like rubbish after last night's food romp.

At about 3p we came back to the flat for tea and a nap then headed out again for the passegiata (everyone who has legs, and some who don't, get out between 5p - 7p and stroll).  Tom was hankering for a decent beer, not having made the psychic switch from beer to wine yet, and I recalled reading about a craft beer bar so we headed for it.  Open Baladin near Piazza Argentina - odd name but intended to be welcoming.

 What a gas.  It's definitely a spot for the younger set, but very cool. 120 Italian beers (in bottles the size of generous wine bottles) and 20-30 beers on draft.  We had two Stupid Monkeys and a batch of their hand cut potato chips with a sweet savory paprika sauce - saporita!.  Again, great fun. We didn't stay for dinner as we were in the mood for some trattoria style dining tonight.

On the way back Tom spotted a place which turned out to be just great.  Locanda Antique.  The main room had just 3 tables, very cozy, wine bottles displayed all around.- husband and wife team run it. I had the spaghetti con vongolle (clams), the artichokes Romano and some chicoria;  Tom had bistecca with rosemary potatoes.  It was excellent and I hope we get back here.  We ambled back and called it a night.

Monday, May 21 - Out and About in Rome

The days are blurring together a bit and I'm having trouble just keeping them straight!.  We slept in today - seems to be a trend - and didn't get out before 11:00am - which wasn't necessarily bad as the morning was wet with rain. Tom spoke to Valentina and we planned to meet at her flat in San Saba Tuesday evening.

Tazza d'Oro is THE place for cappucino in Rome - so they say - and it is just at the corner of our little via Pastini.  It is very good but I thought slightly weak now that our coffee tastes have been steeled by Starbucks.

We headed in the direction of Trastevere, crossing the Tiber at Ponte Garibaldo and just walked a bit.  Tom bought some stamps (francoboli) but feels he paid too much so he has been annoyed by this since. I'm afraid this was not so interesting a day as far as travel writing goes, but a pleasant one. I spent a little time people watching around the Pantheon - such contrasts.

Later in the day we walked down to Piazza Argentina and visited Open Baladin again.  Alessandro the barkeep is just lovely and we sampled several very unusual beers. This is what we enjoy, the conversations with people of interest.   We moved on back to our apartment and had dinner in the area - nothing special.  It's began raining when we sat down so after dinner we hustled back to the flat; but it was a good old midwest thunderstorm with bolts of lightening.

Our flat is on the third floor (without a lift) and Tom is now leaning out the window (smoking a cigar) and chatting up people below as they walk by telling them how beautiful the rain is. He has also managed to bash his toe, cut his finger and lacerate the inside of his mouth.

I'm heading to bed.  All the walking and fresh air is great and it has me looking forward to my pillow.

ciao ciao

Tuesday, May 22 - A Torrent of Rain

Torrents of Rain this morning.  I was beginning to think that bringing my wellies was a bit of overkill - but not today!  And, the rain didn't stop us from having a hugely expensive American breakfast on the piazza.

We hopped a taxi over to St. Paul outside the Wall (Fuori Le Mura) which we have visited on previous trips and continue to be stunned by its scale and beauty.  This was the papal basilica that preceded the present day vatican.  Built in 324 A.D. by Constantine and consecrated by Pope Sylvester (more details here.) However, it was entirely reconstructed after a fire burned it to the ground in 1823 - and by then St. Peter's had already been in place for 200 years!

We had to pack up this afternoon as tonight we were seeing Valentina and tomorrow we want to start the long drive to Puglia early (hah!)

On our way to Valentina's I recorded our female taxi driver in conversation with Tom and will try to post as it's fun to listen to her.  We had dinner at Valentina's with her 90+ year old mother in San Saba one of Rome's beautiful residential neighborhoods.  It was so wonderful to see them.  We met one our first trip to Rome together when we were studying the language.  Valentine hosted us and we became great friends.

Wednesday, May 23 - Andiammo a Puglia

Our plan was to leave the apartment about 9am and hope to be on the road by 10am - what were we thinking!  I won't bore you with the details, but getting the rental was a disaster and we didn't leave until almost noon.

The drive was easy enough though - all autostrada - and winds through some really beautiful countryside around Benevento east of Napoli.  We tried to get some lunch in one of the hill towns but of course everything was closed.  Thanks to Italian hospitality one of the locals walked us from his mercato to the town center where we found an open bar.  Before we hit Naples we headed to the East coast and then south through Bari.  The land is almost arid, the soil a deep rusty brown - like nutmeg or cinnamon; and it is crowded with olive trees.  The thing that surprised me though is the color of the homes - a lot of them are white.  I guess it's not unlike southwestern U.S. and the adobe homes.

We arrived in Cisternino without much trouble and our hostess Angelita met us in the center and escorted us to the house she grew up in, Casa Cecca.  Not unlike Sansome Cottage it was a lovely blend of the old world charm and good plumbing.








The patio is both open and very private with a smashing outdoor stone shower and a jacuzzi!

The garden out back is filled with an amazing variety of fruit and nut trees - cherries, almonds, plums, peaches, pomegranate and of course olive trees.  The cherries were abundant so we had plenty of fresh fruit.

Angelina's english is quite good as she spent five years in San Francisco studying criminal law.  She is also very funny and very Italian.


The casa is a short, but steep, walk to the centro storico so it's well placed. Cisternino is about 15 minutes from the sea and 40 minutes north of Lecce which we will visit tomorrow.  It's one of many hill towns in the area and seems to thrive without being touristy - how do they do it??

We have dinner just a few steps away at La Giardina and call it a day.

Thursday, May 24 - Claudio and Lecce

Finally a glorious day of breezes and sunshine!

However, we had a rough start getting acquainted with the new Villa Cecca - spilled a pot of coffee, couldn't find a cutting board etc. We didn't really feel like making another long drive but today was the only day Claudio was available and we havent seen him in more than 12 years so off we went.

A very special day.   Lecce is about an hour from Cisternino - an easy drive.  It is also a very lovely town.  Many baroque churches and monasteries still intact as they were not bombed during the war.  Claudio and Tom met in Chicago studying Italian together.  We met him again in Rome and Florence but hadn't seen him in 12 years.  He looks just the same, a lovely and elegant man - lithe in spirit and figura. 

He gave us a tour of Lecce and clearly loves the city.  He lives about 20 miles southwest in Cutrofiano as his uncle left him a house there.  We couldn't get over the fact that we were seeing each other again and so far from Rome. 

We lunched at Alle due Corti - exquisite.   Tom had agnello with patate,  Claudio and I had the fava pure with chicoria (OMG!) A beautifully creamy (without cream) pure of fava beans blend beautifully with the slightly bitter bite of the chicory.

As secondi I had wide ribbons of pasta in a light tomato sauce and Claudio had offal,  a specialty in Puglia.  Everything was excellent.  A little more walking and a stop at a bookstore so he could present us with a lovely book of Puglia cooking.  

We finished the afternoon with ice cream, pastry and coffee.  Claudio complimented Tom on his "perfect Italian" even though he spoke mostly English with us.  Alas we needed to move on but we are so glad we made the effort to see him.

Back at the Casa Cecca ) we caught up on laundry, reading and Tom went in to town for a few necessities .  It was so wonderful to just sit in the sun and enjoy.  I didn't think I could eat any more but we went in to town for a stroll, and had a terrible dinner.  We agreed that we have had only two superb meals since arriving in Italy - today's lunch and our dinner at Antiqua Locanda in Rome.  Tonight though was really bad.  An arugula salad turned out to be iceberg lettuce with a few sprigs of arugula.  The pork was absolutely raw, even after we sent it back.  The pasta was well cooked but too salty.  The only thing that was good was the eggplant which was sliced paper thin, and grilled with a little oil and garlic.  C'est la vie.  We ate outdoors, had a little conversation, but tomorrow night we eat in. We should have eaten at one of the restaurants the Angelita recommended - lesson learned!

Monday May 28 - Arrivederci Roma!

Great day! Up early. Coffee at History Bar and headed back to Rome. Uneventful and swift drive until we get to Rome. Ugh what a debacle just finding our way in and returning the car - we about lost it there,  but we manage and get to our room in the exact same building that our flat was in. The first floor is a hotel so we booked it since we knew the location.

Pantheon Relais Hotel

Its great, if a bit sybaris like. big round bed with zebra headboard and a rather grand statue of venus greated us. It is very thoughtfully done though and dead silent.

Tom tried to resolve a parking ticket we got in Lecce - unsuccessfully.



Just a few random shots around Rome - my flowering vines NEVER looks this good!

There are alot of tacky street vendors now but this little gentleman was not among them.

We went into the most beautiful church though and if you look closely at the celing you will see that some of the ceiling is 3d! .

After returning to the hotel for a short and exquisite soak in our 'chromatherapy' tub we head back out for the evening passeggiata and of course a stop at Open Baladin for a final beer with Alessandro.  He couldn't be sweeter.  He is in love at present with Beatrice who works at a competing craft beer pub, and tells us his passions are films, music and writing.  He works very hard at perfecting his english and asks us the difference between the words 'enemy' and  'foe.'  Alas, we exchanged emails and said our goodbyes.

Dinner at Locanda Antique where was talk with a Texan who has lived in Rome for 11 years and not bothered to learn the language - how can you not!    We are done for the night, except that we lost our room key and the front desk closes at 7:00. Thank god we had a contact at the souvenir shop next door who was able to replace it.  It was much more involved than this and quite hilarious, but let's just leave that for another time.  Arrivederci Roma!