We miss Rome. No bones about it.
What a strange phrase that really is. I mean, I know what it means, but why on earth, right? I just looked it up:
To make no bones about something means to say something in a way that leaves no doubt, or to have no objection to it.
The expression comes from fifteenth century England…if someone wanted to show that they were dissatisfied with something, they would find bones in it – a reference to finding bones in soup, which was not a pleasant discovery!
Therefore, finding bones was bad, and no bones was good. If you found no bones, you were able to enjoy the meal with no objections!
And now we know.
Anywho. We miss Rome. And it’s not just our friends there who we do miss very much. That little slice of Italy got under our skin, and we’ll never be quite the same.
The other day at dinner we brainstormed on what we would do with just one more day in Rome.
You might be surprised. It’s not glamorous. But it is real, and it’s what we really loved.
So, assuming good weather which we WILL because it’s a perfect day, we would wake up for cappuccini and cornetti at Panamino. (Although I don’t really drink cappuccino anymore. Too much milk. It would probably be a doppio caffe macchiato. Or maybe a caffe marocchino if I’m feeling decadent. Maybe both!) Do they have the best caffe in all of Roma? Maybe not. But it is very tasty, and their outside seating is a dream. We would post up, and just enjoy the view. Maybe even order a second round. But not too much food. We need to save tummy space for later.
Depending on the time, we might do a lap around our old market. But this could honestly be too painful. It was hard to say goodbye to our friends there, and I’d hate to say goodbye all over again. Or see some of our friends not there. 😦 Also, it is a pain to walk up and down that hill and it takes us off our route.
Now it’s onward to Villa Borghese. But important provisions must be attained first! I would stop at Enoteca Rocchi for a bottle of truly can’t find outside the country Italian wine. I would grab pizza. Probably at Che Pizza or even Alice. (Che Pizza has my favorite pizza bianca in the city.)
Then we would wander the park and eat our lunch. We’d just see where the day took us. I’m sure some playgrounds would be involved. I would want to hit the Laghetto and the Piazza del Popolo overlook. I might even grab a riscio (multi seat bike). Those things made me so happy it’s not even funny.
(Since I’m attempting realism, I don’t know if we could fit it into the itinerary because they don’t open until noon, but Gelateria Salaria should be mentioned. This was our neighborhood gelateria, and it’s truly outstanding. I feel like I ate a lot of their gelato when we were in Rome. I already wish I’d eaten more.)
Once we got our fill of the park, we would stroll down Via Veneto into town. We would then march over to Come il Latte for our first gelato of the day (unless Gelateria Salaria worked out. Then it would be our second). THIS is the stuff dreams are made of.
We would then meander downtown for a bit of evening passagiata. James has a route through Trevi, Pantheon, Piazza Navona down pat.
This is another phrase that I have no idea why we say. Unfortunately, Senor Google is not shedding as much light on this one:
Unknown, but possibly a use of pat (“light tap”) in the sense of hitting the mark.
But I digress. We would stroll around. Not necessarily trying to see everything. Just enjoying the feel of the City.
I’d like to say we’d stop for a little aperitivo somewhere with a view, but we never really found a great spot. Alas.
Probably for the best because we’d want to save room for our dinner at Hostaria Romana, where we made reservations, of course. And since it’s a perfect day, we’d probably take a cab there because the hill back up Tritone is no joke.
On our perfect day, we would get our favorite, crusty waiter who always jokes about pouring James a full glass of wine and me just one sip. We would enjoy the best antipasti around, and probably split some cacio e pepe and amatriciana, before enjoying some excellent Roman secondi.
Even though I’m sure dessert there is great, we would probably pass (although caffe, certo) and go BACK up the hill to Come il Latte. It’s that good. I probably got salted caramel on both of my visits.
And not that you asked, but on a second day in Rome, I probably wouldn’t stay in Rome at all. We’d head to Bracciano or Tivoli or even just Agriturismo Pacifico. Is that cheating? Maybe. But it is what it is.
For my Rome peeps, what would you put on your perfect day?
Roman Reboot 