Roma: A+ Eats and Tourist Treats!

Ever since we got married in Rome, we continue to get requests from friends about where to visit in the Eternal City. Who knew that so many people were traveling to one of our favorite spots in the world? At any rate, I decided to upload to the blog some of our secrets so that we always have our recommendations available. Consider this your personal Lonely Planet or Rick Steve’s…

For great food in popular, central areas of Rome:
You may want to try Pizzeria Baffetto on Via Governo Di Vechio (near Piazza Navona); Pizzeria Monte Carlo (right around the corner from Baffetto); Ristorante da Francesco (Piazza del Fico near Piazza Navona). We’ve tried pizza and pasta at all three and all are delicious and cheap.

OUR personal favorite spot, which incidentally is two blocks from our old apartment is:
La Rusticella. Via Angela Emo 1. It is near (sort of between) the Cipro and Ottoviano Metro Stops and also in walking distance of the Vatican. Basically if you look on your travel map, I have a feeling you won’t see the street Via Angela Emo-BUT you will see Via Candia. Right about where you map stops (I bet) and close to the Cipro Metro strop, Via Candia turns into the street named Via Angela Emo. If you go to that point on your map, the restaurant is #1 on the street. And, for reference, it is basically right across the street from the steps from the Vatican MUSEUM door—you go cross the street, go down the steps and around the corner). The food is excellent. We recommend their pizza (although the pastas are delicious too) and split fried calamari for the second plate if you like seafood. Incidentally, we had our rehearsal dinner there!

And finally: the place you will LOVE is where we had our wedding dinner:
La Osteria del Sostegno (Via delle Collonelle 5) http://www.ilsostegno.it/sostegno_SWF.html. Go here for some of the best Italian food you will find in Roma. Basically, find the Pantheon Piazza. With you back to the pantheon walk away from it up the road leading out of the square in front of you (of the two roads leading out of the square, it is the one on the right-- McDonalds should be on your left as you walk up this alley/road). Continue up that walking street until you get to the next “big” cross street. Take a right on it—that is Collonelle. (Mind you--these are all walking streets) the restaurant is on the right side of the street, down a little side alley. It should be about a 4 minute walk from the Pantheon.

In case you going other places in Italy, we can continue to feed you!

For example, in Florence, you MUST try Acqua Al Due (http://www.acquaal2.it/2008/index.html). The 'assaggio" plate (which means mixture) is best option here, as it allows you to sample a variety of appetizers, salads, pastas, meats, and/or desserts! Incidentally, there is a “sister” restaurant in San Diego if you are ever in Southern California (http://www.acquaal2.com/)!

And here are some spots that we recommend for guests to do while visiting Rome—these are complimentary of Mike, who put this list together for our wedding guests.

Borghese Gallery

In terms of museums, this one is perfect. It is small and contains masterpieces by Bernini and Caravaggio. You need to reserve a two hour block of time for your visit; you can do that here: http://www.ticketeria.it/ Located within the Villa Borghese park, you can do this before or after we meet for our park lunch.

Cost = 8.50 euro per person

A walk along the Gianicolo

One of the most beautiful walks takes you from right outside the Vatican, up overlooking the city of Rome, and into Trastevere.

cost = free

Go to the top of St. Peter’s dome (via stairs)

Skip the elevator and climb all the way to the top. As you come closer to the apex of La Cupola, your body will need to contort and conform to the curve of Michelangelo’s greatest dome (watch your head). Once you reach the top, you will appreciate just how massive St. Peter’s is and, perhaps, have a little one on one with God while you are up there.

Cost = 4 Euros for stairs; 5 Euros for elevator/stairs

Sistine Chapel + Vatican Museum(Sistine Chapel, Map Room, “School of Athens”)

You could spend hours here, but if it’s your first time to Roma and you have a ton of things to do, this is my favorite option. First, avoid all the lines by coming at 3 or 3:30 – last entrance into the Sistine Chapel is 4 pm. However, it does not close until 6 pm. This gives you 2 ½ - 3 hours of prime viewing time; you will practically have the place to yourself. It takes a while to walk through the museum and to the Sistine Chapel, but I recommend going straight there and then doing the other things on the return trip.

Sistine Chapel – This will blow you away; absolutely stunning. Sit for a bit, look up a lot, bring a book that explains what Michelangelo did, including the Final Judgment.

Map Room – This long stretch is my favorite part of the Vatican museums; the ceiling shines brilliantly, and the maps are just a lot of fun to study.

Raphael’s Rooms, including the famous “School of Athens”

Cost = 14 Euros

Ostia Antica

If the ruins within the city of Rome don’t do it for you, and you are sick and tired of harrowing rides in taxis and near-death experiences with mopeds, take a quick trip out of the city to the quiet ruins of Ostia Antica. As beautiful as the Forum, and perhaps more impressive than Pompeii.

To get there take the metro from Roma Piramide (look for signs to Roma-Lido) and take the train to the stop Ostia Antica. You will find a path that will lead you to the ruins. It takes about 45 minutes to reach the entrance.

Cost = 6.50 euro

Caravaggio Trail

One of my favorite artists and, if the Galleria Borghese isn’t enough, you want more of that magical light, just take a stroll to these churches, each with another Caravaggio masterpiece:

Santa Maria del Popolo (in Piazza del Popolo)

St. Agostino (right off Piazza Navona)

San Luigi dei Francesi (in between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona)

cost = free

Passeggiata on Via del Corso

This is 100% Italian; starting at about 5 pm on Friday or Saturday, all Italians aged 1-99 hit the streets for the passeggiata – an evening walk. The one on Via Del Corso, one of the main shopping streets in Rome, stretching out between Piazza Venezia and Piazza del Popolo, is a highlight. It will be some of the best people watching every.

cost = free

A drink in Campo dei Fiori

Rome’s most famous drinking piazza. Avoid the backpackers’ spots The Drunken Ship or Sloppy Sam’s, find an outdoor table and order a bottle of wine. It is a great place to begin or end your night.

cost = depends on how much you drink

Santa Maria della Trastevere

Located in the heart of Trastevere, this church is simply a beautiful and spiritual experience for all who enter its doors. There is just something calming when you step inside.

cost = free

Spend the extra euro for a café and get an outdoor seat at the Pantheon (or Navona) and sit for a few hours watching the world go by

A café will set you back $10.00, but you have the opportunity to sit, sip and soak in La Dolce Vita.

cost = 6-10 euro

Our Malko Luna del Miele

Our lovely Bulgarian crew gave us a one night stay at the hotel and spa of Todoroff Vineyards - one of the leading wineries here in Bulgaria. On Saturday morning we started off towards the central part of Bulgaria, stopping for lunch and a quick tour of the former capital of Bulgaria - Plovidv - which has a beautifully preserved old town, before making our way through backroads and wrongturns until Kate eventually spotted the hotel. We loved our stay and thank those Bulgats dearly...

Our fives wines:
Todoroff Boutique Cabernet Sauvignon - Boutique Mavrud - Gallery Mavrud - Gallery Cabernet Sauvignon - Teres Mavrud

Swirl the wine, look at its color, sniff the wine with your nose all the way in the glass, swirl again, sniff again, take a drink, move the wine around in your mouth, swallow, think about each stage of the taste from the moment the wine hits your tongue to seconds after you swallow, eat a piece of cheese, respect the bread, take a drink of water, and now you're ready for a different wine.

Although it is considered somewhat classless, both Kate and I wanted to finish each glass.

Kate and I had our private wine tasting with our knowledgable, professional guide Georgi.

I was getting drunk just on the aroma that came from the Todoroff cellars.

One day we will have a wine cellar that looks something like this.
These bare bottles contain a special reserve that Todoroff will be selling by year's end.



This is from the year's harvest and the wine will remain in these Bulgarian oak barrels for about 8 months.

The clientele at Todoroff was right up our alley. I felt at home as I backed the Volkswagon Passate alongside these other fine automobiles. We weren't sure if the winery just put these cars out in front to give the appearance of exorbitant wealth, or if there all of the other guests are in a whole other income bracket than us. I was also a little worried that they would make us move our car.

Basically the same car.

Bent and Broken

After a four course meal, we needed a little walk through the town and into the Mavrud grape vineyards. Mavrud is a grape used for a wine only found in Bulgaria.


The little town of Brestovitza is home to Todoroff Wine and Spa. A beautiful hotel that is harder than hell to find.

The Todoroff vineyards are found throughout the central part of Bulgaria, called the Thracian Valley.

As we searched for the hotel, we spotted this stork nest with a new momma stork getting ready to feed her young. We have seen these nests, empty, earlier in the year, and they are a sight to see. Very impressive indeed as the massive nest tops the electricity pole, like a cherry.


The closer you get, the more amazing it is to see. A work of art.

Although I didn't catch them in this picture, shortly after this shot little stork heads started appearing and clamoring for food. It was adorable.

Heather's Moment

Our friend Heather, the writer... the poet... the artist... the dreamer... the believer.. the deep thinker... (the over-thinker)...the philosopher...the feeler... the "She's our friend,"(we brag) ....wrote this beautiful poem for us and shared it during our wedding ceremony. We are honored, inspired, envious...and, yet, Heather simply calls it a "thingy."

So here's Heather's thingy:

These Days (with inspiration from Mathew Rohrer)

This morning I woke in the same city they introduced me to.
This morning I dressed in front of a window whose view is always reflected in me.
This morning we all woke and whispered, today we will bless this.

And this day we are here under the trees and shiny things.
This day we were let in on a secret

On this day, the wedding is theirs and we are witnesses.
As we have witnessed all along.

We witness
The secret they tried to keep
(from prying teenage ears and prying grown up eyes)
We witness the world they made their own
(through bicycle tours and downward dogs)
We witness the languages they learned to speak
(from smoothworn cobblestones to communist bloc)
We witness the way they let us in
(when eyes and ears stopped prying there they were, as if they’d always been, just the way you see them now, as if they’d always been)

What we witness is what we strive for.
In the marriages we have and in the marriages we imagine.
In the friendships we celebrate and in the friendships we long for.
In the journeys we plan and the journeys we dream about.
This day, we witness all of this.

Here within the circle of trees.
There just beyond the trees.
We bless this.
We wish for a little bit of this.
We hope for just a little but of this

And here's Heather's Inspiration:

Epithalamium by Matthew Rohrer

In the middle garden is the secret wedding,
that hides always under the other one
and under the shiny things of the other one. Under a tree
one hand reaches through the grainy dusk toward another.
Two right hands. The ring is a weed that will surely die.


There is no one else for miles,
and even those people far away are deaf and blind.
There is no one to bless this.
There are the dark trees, and just beyond the trees.

from wikipedia
epithalamium (from Greek; epi- upon, and thalamium nuptial chamber, sometimes also spelled "epithalamion") specifically refers to a form of poem that is written for the bride. Or, specifically, written for the bride on the way to her marital chamber. The word derives from the Greek epithalamios which means "of a wedding", epi (of) + thalamos (bridal chamber.) This form continued in popularity through the history of the classical world; the Roman poet Catullus wrote a famous epithalamium, which was translated from or at least inspired by a now-lost work of Sappho.

And here's Heather:

The Wedding in Photos