Roma, la migliore
Letter #51: A quick two days in easily one of the best cities in the world.
Did ya’ll notice I posted my last Friday newsletter about 3 hours late? I aim to post by 9am New York time, but I hadn’t the opportunity to schedule my post ahead of time last week, as I was trekking in the Italian Alps for a couple days. ❤️ It was a very good excuse to be a few hours late for the Friday publishing and I am AMPED to share photos from the trek. But that’ll be a few weeks from now as I’m only getting to write about our couple of days in Rome! 😅
8/4/23
The following morning, Thursday, July 13th, Hilary and I packed up our stuff and I made one more little breakfast with the remaining food from Roberto’s store. We were both sad to be leaving Pari, and when Jenna’s text came through to meet for a coffee at the bar, we grabbed our bags and walked up to the teeny town square.
Jenna was there with Macchia, and shortly after Julie came by with Pixie, having just returned from a work trip in Barcelona. They wanted details about our time in Siena and we shared the info of the vineyard we’d visited the previous evening.
I asked Julie if I could come back and watch Pixie while she traveled for work, so we exchanged contact info. I was eager to stay in touch with the friends we’d made here, as I felt that I was meant to come back. The draw we felt to this sweet, welcoming place was too strong not to want to return.
We got in the car around noon and headed towards Roma, about a 2.5 hour drive ahead of us. I’d gotten much more comfortable driving here and was better able to keep up with traffic—people drive VERY fast on the highways here, and it is common for them to drive over the middle line when not around other cars. The lanes are narrow without shoulders, so many drivers take up space in the middle of the road.
Hil and I reached Rome by 3pm and dropped our car off in the underground parking garage in the park. It was pretty confusing to find so I had to circle and backtrack a couple times before finding the nearly hidden entrance. We parked the car and trudged our bags up to the street to find a taxi. We had an extra 2 bags of groceries and a case of wine and olive oil from Begnardi that we had to carry as well, so we agreed to use a taxi instead of public transportation.
We reached Cancellaria 6 by 4pm and waited a good 15 minutes before the rental agent came to let us into the apartment. Rome was equally as hot as Tuscany—maybe even more stifling with the taller buildings, lesser green space, and the fact that our room was at the top of a 3rd floor walk-up. I was a bit unimpressed by the room, spoiled by how amazing our room in Pari was, but this place had A/C that we immediately put on full blast.
We napped a little bit, I updated my Instagram feed through early July, and then we climbed out of bed to take showers. We got all dolled up, ready for dinner and a night out.
Rome is BUZZING. I was excited to be back in Rome after my first trip in 2016, but I was still starstruck when we exited the apartment. We had picked a place close to the Pantheon, one of the sites Hil and I both had not visited in the past, and it just so happened to be in a bustling part of town, right off the pedestrian street of Via del Governo Vecchio.
People are BEAUTIFUL in Rome. Almost intimidatingly so. Men, women, teenagers, families—you name it. People have super unique style and are effortlessly cool. The tourists sometimes stick out like sore thumbs—you can tell who’s a local and who isn’t. Hil and I tried our best to blend in. 🙏🏻😅
We grabbed a sidewalk table at Osteria Pasquino and ordered wine so we were properly set up for some people watching. Hil had been craving oysters so she ordered a dozen and I ordered a salad. We decided we’d have cacio e pepe at the next restaurant—Rome is known for this dish—so we walked down the pedestrian street and found ourselves at Mimi e Coco. There had been a line previously to get a table, but now we were seated immediately, surrounded mostly by tourists, only a few locals. The wine was so good, pasta was so good, and Hil and I were thrilled to be in one of the greatest cities in the world.
It was Thursday night and the streets were filled with people. We walked around a bit more, then decided to head back to our apartment for bedtime. We planned on sightseeing the following day, so wanted to get some rest.
We slept like babies in that A/C-filled room, my first good night of sleep in the past 6 days. I scoured Google Maps the next morning, looking for a coffee shop and creating a schedule of what to see that day.
When Hil woke up we got dressed and headed down to get a coffee. The spot I chose had a line (ANOTHER LINE?! MID-DAY?!) for people wanting to sit down for brunch, so the guys at the front door suggested we just order coffees to-go from the barista at the counter. I was shocked at how handsome and flirtatious even the host and manager were! The Romans are just so laid back and beautifully styled…
Hil grabbed her latte, I made small talk with the attractive manager out front, and then we wandered the streets on our way to the Pantheon. We passed through a market, claiming we’d go back (we didn’t), and by so many cool boutiques we claimed we’d go into later (we didn’t).
The Pantheon was beautiful from the outside, although not so striking as say the Duomo di Siena, or La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. But it was built nearly 2000 years ago, repeatedly repaired and rebuilt until present day. We waited an hour in the sun to get into the building, hawkers constantly walking up to us trying to get me to buy a shawl to cover my shoulders (the Pantheon now being a Catholic monument). I finally pulled out my kimono/wrap thing so they’d leave me alone. 😂
We eventually purchased our 10 Euro ticket and entered the Pantheon, first noticing the huge hole in the ceiling that let in a heavenly beam of light, the floor of the monument flooded with sun. There were ornate, perfectly symmetrical marble inlays of varying color making up the walls. There were sculptures and paintings hovering above along every angle of the building.
I was happy to see another of the great historical sites of Europe, but overall was underwhelmed compared to the amount of people vying to get inside. It must be the thing that’s broken in me where I don’t get super amped about art museums and ruins. Actually it would be much better if I had listened to a comprehensive podcast explaining the history and significance of each place before (or after) visiting it. Sometimes the audio tours available at the site I find distracting and difficult to follow. So if anyone has a podcast recommendation for the antiquities of Rome, please let me know. 😆
Like Lars giving me the podcast about the Nabataeans—listening to that gave me a much more impactful understanding and appreciation for the history and significance of Petra.
After we left the Pantheon, I suggested we wander towards Piazza Navona. We admired another ornate fontana with marble statues before heading over to Museo Nazionale Romano—Palazzo Altemps, a museum housing sculptures in an old palace. Honestly, it was my favorite sightseeing I’d ever done in Rome (yes, including the Colosseum)! 😬 The palace itself was so beautiful with an open, airy courtyard in the center. There were 2 floors of balconies overlooking the courtyard, and within the rooms we found ancient Roman sculptures, some of Michelangelo, many of which had been repaired over time. The museum was nearly empty, hardly any tourists, so it was very peaceful. The rooms had A/C so we could take refuge from the heat, wandering from room to room in thoughtful solitude. We entered the palace chapel on the 2nd floor where we sipped on some water and decided what we’d do with the rest of the day—it was around 2:30pm.
We decided to head back towards our apartment and choose a cafe to stop at for a coffee (for Hil) and a glass of wine (for me). Hil still hadn’t eaten yet, so we planned to get a snack. We stopped into a couple cool clothing and houseware boutiques, admiring the products but not allowing ourselves to purchase—although Hil did get one fantastic throw pillowcase from Lisa Corti. I wanted EVERYTHING in that store. 🥵
We happened upon another shop whose owner who was a young Lebanese woman whose uncle is an artist in Rome. She goes around to different parties, meeting people in different social circles, in search of eclectic designers to feature in her shop. She had excellent taste and reasonable prices, and I was a bit envious of her lifestyle—including the fact that she lives in an apartment across the street in this super chic part of town.
Down the street we walked past a French cafe that had jazz pouring out of the speaker at the front door. We walked in and sat next to each other at a table facing the street so we could do some more people watching. I ordered a rosé but the server accidentally brought me a white wine 🤢, so instead of asking him to change it, Hil took the white wine and skipped the coffee—such a good friend. 😂
I took out my journal to get some writing done—I had SO much I wanted to share about Pari. Eventually Hil took our her sketch pad and began drawing—this of course was after we finished our snack of tuna tartare.
Hil sketched out the old, rustic door of the building on the other side of the street, and the server repeatedly walked by to steal glances of her work. She’s good—like, REALLY GOOD. I had a second glass of wine and we truly enjoyed just sitting there and doing nothing. I knew it was especially important for Hil to have downtime before she flew back to New York on Saturday, the following day.
Once I finished up my wine and we settled the bill, Hil and I headed back to the apartment. I wanted to stop at Cucina del Teatro on our way to see if it was where we’d like to have dinner that night. The outdoor seating along the alleyway was so cute. We walked up to check the menu and the maître d' greeted us. He was so sweet as we struggled to ask him questions in our limited Italian, so we both agreed we liked the vibe and wanted to come back. I got on my phone and booked a reservation for 7:30pm, telling the kind maître d' we’d be returning that evening. That gave us about 2.5 hours to lounge at home and shower before we had to be back at the restaurant.
Hey! Would you like to connect over creativity, self-growth, and problem-solving? Or just to have a virtual glass of wine or mocktail? Please book a time on my Calendly for us to chat! I can’t wait to see you. XOXO.
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Your face for the glass of white wine!🤣🤣🤢