Macellum Magnum

After lunch, it was total crash city. We both took a nap for about an hour before waking up refreshed and ready for our walking tour at dusk. We felt like we’d been walking past so many things, but had no idea what we were looking at, so I booked this tour last minute!

The tour started at Trajan’s column, one of the most well preserved landmarks from that time. We went to the monument of the unification of Italy which is a HUGE white marble building that literally was built with no other purpose. Today, part of it is a museum, but many Italians are still embittered by its existence. Interestingly, it was just within about the last 100 years that all the regions of Italy became one country. Naples, Sicily, Tuscany, etc were historically separate. The tour guide gave us bits of info as we walked and landed at St Ignatius Jesuit church (Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola) which is remarkable because also though they ran out money to finish building the dome, the man who painted the ceiling made it look like there is one! In fact, the whole ceiling is an optical illusion, making it look much higher than it is. Next stop was the Trevi Fountain, first set to be built in 19 AD, but finally completed about 200 years go. We walked over to the Pantheon, the oldest remaining structure of the Roman Empire still standing in completion. And still in use! Very wild. Lastly, we visited the Piazza Navona and learned about the four rivers fountain. It was the perfect bit of sightseeing to cap off our time in Rome.
https://www.viator.com/tours/Rome/Rome-at-Dusk/…

We were feeling a bit of food insecurity regarding our travels the next day, so we stopped at Il Panino Ingegnoso to get some supplies. It must have been fate, because there was a gorgeous porchetta just sitting on the counter waiting for us. We decided to sample a porchetta, olive tapenade and orange panino as our appertivo. We sat outside and enjoyed a quick drink with this bite as they made us our to-go order. Matt agrees, this combo was transcendent. The orange slices were thin, but with the entire rind included, which were the perfect bitter foil to the salty olives and the fatty meat. 10/10 👏🏻. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g…

Dinner tonight was a thoughtful choice by Matt— GS anticipated that we’d have had our fill or Roman fare and made a reservation at Colline Emiliane, which serves food from the Bologna/Emilia Romagna region, and the menu stays true. Not one hint of roman food to be found. This isn’t a revelatory thought, but it really is true that the regions stick to their own food. Of course you CAN find pesto in Rome, or florentine steak, but it’s really not common! We started with tortellini in brodo, which was totally different than the one we had in Florence. The broth was much more unctuous, I doubt it was only chicken. Next we shared large tortellini (tortelloni) filled with spinach and ricotta and finished with a butter sage sauce. Lastly, tagliatelle bolognese. It was the most perfect dish on which to end our pasta tour. Matt had been staring at the dessert case all meal, so I obliged, despite my plans for street desserts after dinner. We tried the lemon meringue pie (in honor of Papa Stan) and strawberry tiramisu, and both were outstanding. https://www.collineemiliane.com/en/

As we wondered back home, I got the most delicious warm and fragrant roasted chestnuts from a street vendor (I think they’re out of season, but it felt nostalgic from my prior trip to Italy, and they were delicious, so who cares). I was in the looking for gelato artiginale but strangely we didn’t come across one on that walk. As we neared the hotel, I was forced to make a choice. Go generic or skip it altogether. I chose the former. I again went with my favorite, yogurt flavor, and this time got passion fruit as well. My review is this: in comparison to the gelato from the metal cylinders, this definitely has a lighter/fluffier texture, probably from some sort of stabilizers. It certainly isn’t BAD, but you can tell the difference. The yogurt flavor was a bit more chemical tasting, but the passion fruit was divine and I’d get it over and over again, despite the “inferiority” of the product. We went to bed around 11, in anticipation of our 3:30am wake-up— off the ground at 6:30 and headed home to our boys!!!Read more