JULY IN ROME...
We spent the five days wandering through Rome, trying to stay as cool as possible to escape the summer heat this summer. Find below some of our highlights for a Roman summertime.
REGOLA
Our favorite neighborhood to stay in is the Regola neighborhood. Not far from the Piazza Navona and the Pantheon, but a bit more secluded from the more touristic neighborhoods. We arrived late morning after a flight from London, so we were quite ready for a bite to eat.
Our first stop was naturally Pierluigi, not far from where we were staying and we were craving something light in the heat. We settled on no less than their outrageously delicious and fresh fish.
Later, we take Alfie for a spin, albeit next to a dangerously photogenic fiat 500. Rome is always full of these delightful surprises.
We walk through the streets, stopping at a few favorite shops, L'Archivio di Monserrato (by Soledad Twombly) and Lisa Corti to see what we might find. To our surprise, it's a success.
TRASTEVERE
After lunch, the heat has broke slightly to muster up the courage to head over the Ponte Fabricio to head into Trastevere. We stop briefly for a shakerato (a delicious cooled espresso concoction with a wee bit of sugar) at Tiberino on the Isola Tiberina (a small island consisting of about three perfect cafes en route to Trastevere).
We arrive into Trastevere and without thinking head straight for Bar San Calisto. Located in a charming square, without fail full of Italian men passionately playing cards, buzzing with live music and the right amount of crowds. There we happily sip on 4 euro aperol spritzes and lose track quite quickly of how many we've had.
MONTI + BORGHESE
We take the next day to walk through the city and end up in Monti. We'd been wanting to try this local spot, Rocco, and were delighted that they had room for us. This was by far and wide our favorite meal in Rome. Rocco doesn't have a set menu, rather they cook what was fresh that day from the farmer's market. We started with a basil and tomato salad, cheese and cold cuts and some extradoinary fried zucchini.
We then enjoyed some rigatoni all'amatriciana and a tiramisu I shall never forget. It was such a delicious meal we considered going back every single day, but alas we will save the next visit for when we're back in August.
We head north into the Borghese Gardens to walk off the food coma, enjoy another shekerato and watch the world go by.
OUR LAST DAY
We take Ledbury for a spin through the roman streets to bid the city a goodbye. One of our favorite things to do in Rome is to wander aimlessly until we come across something we've never seen before. This time, we stumbled upon the most beautiful alleyway, right, covered in greenery and the perfect place to rest for a bit and hide from the heat.
We head to Salotto42, a favorite bar of ours in a charming street (the several next door bars just as nice as well), for a final aperitif which sits below Il Tempio di Adriano. We do our final dinner at Ristorante La Campana, an absolute classic Roman restaurant dating back 500 years. We sit outside, take the river route home, and leave feeling oh so satifisfied. Until next time, Roma.