Pagan Rome

(April 7, 2014)

Sadly, I had a very bad night and hardly slept at all. Moreover, the taxi we thought we’d call to pick us up never showed, so we ended up taking the metro and NOT having time for breakfast. So today’s tour of the Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine Hill with Context Travel was exhausting and more than a little painful for me.

That said, Olivia was a fabulous docent. As is the usual with Context, she really knew her stuff and gave a lively informative tour. We would never have seen or learned as much on our own, and it was a fascinating tour. Its four solid hours of walking and standing, and the day was hot hot hot. (70* at least, and clear. May not sound like much, but back home it was high 50s and overcast.)

I managed to get a nap after lunch (at Caffe Vitta — we didn’t have enough energy to be adventurous — melon w/ prosciutto and spinach ravioli) while J. did laundry. So the afternoon was a better perspective for me.

Dinner was at Taverna Trilussa, down in the Trastevere district. This was a very different meal from the others, no fish offered for one thing. They pride themselves on their meat, and meat you shall have in abundance and variety. We didn’t order it, but you can have cured meat as an appetizer, and they will bring you a mound, at least 1/2 pound of it and nothing else. Or you can have an equivalent plate of cheese. Not both.

We shared a prosciutto with melon plate, even though we’d just had it at lunch, because it was the most accessible of the appetizers. It was delicious, the meat being very different in flavor from other’s we’d had to date. For a primi, I tried their ‘award winning’ ravioli and J. had the carbonara; they were also delicious. Tender and cooked perfectly with tons of flavor. (I like the tomatoes here, though still not raw.) We had problems with the secondi: grilled lamb with roast potatoes for me, steak with peppercorns for him. J. figured he’d just say medium, since medium rare was so underdone last night . . . and got a piece of meat that was gray it was cooked so hard. My lamb wasn’t grilled, at least not over an open flame, and lacked any other seasoning. It was also a very gristly piece of meat. Not so great. I’d go again, but make different decisions about my secondi.

Our last night in Rome ended with a lovely walk.