October 21 – Day 2 – Rome

October 21 – Day 2 – Rome

• Slept late, did not respond to the 0700 wake up call
  
• 0845 woke up, cleaned up and went downstairs to have breakfast in the hotel
  
• Nice continental breakfast with eggs, rolls, meat, cheese, fruit and of course coffee, thought we would be the only one’s eating breakfast around 1000, but the dining room was packed, so clearly others had the same idea to not start their day at the crack of stupid
  
• Left the hotel around 1030 and headed south towards the Coliseum, past the Republic Square. 
  
• Passed the train station and decided we could walk tomorrow with our luggage as it was no more than 10 minutes total.
  
• Headed down via Cavour, passing the Santa Maria Magglore
  
• Wound up heading west towards the Forum of Nerva and walked by those ruins towards the Colonna Traiana. 
  
• Decided we were so close to the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II, perhaps the most impressive monument in all of Rome that we decided to see it in person.  It is a massive structure with chariots being pulled by winged horses and an 19 story brass king sitting atop an anatomically correct horse.  This is also where the Italian tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located, so there are active military with automatic weapons, which made Nancy a little nervous, so she did not climb to the top of the monument. The view from the top is spectacular with incredible panoramic views of all of Rome. 
  
• From here, we went back to the Forum, we wondered around the grounds and admired the ancient relics for 30-45 minutes. 
  
• Next it was finally onto the Coliseum around 1300.  We toured the entire structure, from one end to the other and then up to the second deck (perhaps a modern day loge section for you stadium aficionado’s out there).  When they put this together, they really knew what they were doing.  Everything about it was just fantastic. 
  
• By the time we finished it was about 1345.  We decided that lunch was going to be needed soon, but we also wanted to head to the Jewish Quarter and see the old synagogue. We walked down via de Circi past the long Roman green, parallel to the Tiber River.  We took a few stops, since we were both getting a bit tired.
  
• Around 1354, I post on Facebook that we are heading towards the Jewish Quarter, and a friend from College, Jonathan Adelson, posts back that we should “Go to the place right behind the synagoge. I can't remember the name, but the best fried zucchini flower ever. And excellent porchetta.”
  
• We get to the Synagogue around 1415 and find that it is closed for Sh’mini Atzeret.  All that way for nothing, at least we have a good recommendation in real time for a place to sit down and have some lunch.  Jonathan’s recommendation is well received
  
• We find de Giggetto exactly where Jonathan said it would be.  We sit down and order the Jewish style fried artichoke and the fried zucchini flower (with anchovy) for appetizers.  Both dishes were really delicious.  The anchovy simply complimented the flower and brought two excellent flavors together, then again I have always says you could fry almost anything and it will taste good. I had the Fettuccini with Porcini Mushrooms and Nancy had a great eggplant parmesan.  The cheese in the eggplant dish was out of this world.  The fettuccini was so fresh and full of flavor it is indescribable.
  
• After lunch, we decided to wonder through the old Jewish Ghetto and take a little tour ourselves.  We walked into a few shops, but were not compelled to purchase anything Judaic at that time.  It is a shame we did not do this on Monday, since we would have been able to tour the building and be given a walking tour of the ghetto, but unfortunately we did not think that far in advance. 
  
• We took a taxi back to the hotel around 1600 for a much deserved siesta.
  
• Around 1900 we headed back out to find a place to eat.  We decided to walk down Via Vittoria and Via Veneto, where there are a lot of outdoor restaurants and cafes to see what exactly would suit our fancy, our wallets and our palates.
  
• We eventually settled on Ciao Bella, when the Maitrie’d started speaking to us in English and he was very welcoming.   Not sure it was the best place in Rome, but the food was certainly well above adequate.  We had Fried Calamari as a starter. It was not as well battered or fried and it had a softer texture we are used to in the US. It winds up that Nancy was not a big fan and I ate the majority of this dish.   For the pasta dish, we got the gnocchi Bolognese, which was very good.  It was literally ground beef, fresh tomatoes and some oil.  Very good.  For our main course I got lamb tenderloin and Nancy got veal marsala.  Both perfectly acceptable dishes, but nothing to rave about.
  
• After dinner we wondered around until we found a dessert/gelato place.  Nancy ordered a crepe with nutella and a side order of coconut gelato.  I asked for a truffle, was told they did not have any, so I settled for two scoops of gelato, café and vanilla.  A few minutes later I saw a truffle being served to another patron. I would normally say it was a conspiracy theory against me getting truffles but the main server we had was a bit wacko and probably did not understand our English.  The dude that was making the crepes kept winking at me and he reminded Nancy of Robin Hood.  All things considered it was a very strange way to end our last evening in Rome.  Tomorrow morning we are off to Florence by train.