Nomentano

It was a late start today as we were all tired from last night's concert. When we finally got moving, we realized how crazy hot it was outside as there was no breeze today! With sweat running down our backs, we walked over to Roscoli again to have some baked goods. We had the ricotta filled hand pie again, but we also tried a Neopolitania. I have no real idea what it was, but it was kind of chocolatey and kind of nutty.

After our snacks, we walked over to a gallery that was showing a Basquiat exhibition. We had seen posters for this show and after Googling it, found out it was still on! The exhibit was really interesting (and the free audio tour was helpful) and well put together. I've only seen a few Basquiat pieces previously, so it was nice to see an entire show of his work.

We finished our tour of the gallery and then decided to walk to the Villa Borghese. It was only a 30 minute walk and we have walked longer, so we felt confident. What we failed to understand was that almost all of it was uphill! Rome is actually quite hilly, and is often described as a lasagna because of the layers of settlements and civilizations that just built on top of the old ones. Anyway, our legs are in awesome shape by this point in our travels!

We arrived at the Borghese Park, which is absolutely huge (3 square miles). We walked through part of it on our way to the Borghese Gallery, which, to our surprise, was sold out for the day. This was a bit disappointing, but there was nothing to be done so we hopped on the bus (and then tram) and headed home where Brad and I enjoyed cold beer and Evan snacked on a chocolate bar in our AC.

We couldn't relax too long because Evan and I had a dinner reservation! Brad went to the Ryan Adams concert at the same amphitheater we were at last night. Evan and I didn't want to go, so we made a dinner reservation at Tavernaccia da Bruno (the place we couldn't get into on Sunday)! We dressed up and Evan used his Google Map to walk us there.

We were seated at a lovely table for two once we arrived. The hostess was very kind and explained the menu. Evan decided that his primi course would be paparadelle with wild boar ragu, while I had cod ravioli with tomatoes and olives. Both were outstanding! We shared a secondi (you don't have to have primi and secondi, but it was a date so we indulged) of oven roasted suckling pig with roasted potatoes. The skin on the pig was so crispy and salty and porky - heavenly! Evan said it was his favourite thing he's eaten here! I also had a glass of wine and Evan had a glass of Fanta, so we were able to cheers to our date.

Our dinner ended around 9, and then Evan guided us back to our neighbourhood. We made a detour so that we could get gelato at Fatamorgana. Evan chose straticalla again along with cherry cheesecake. I had avocado and lime, and a tea smoked chocolate. I know they sound crazy, but both flavours were delicious! After our gelato, we headed home. He's not a cheap date, but he's certainly a cute one!Read more