Roman Food Tour

Yesterday I shared a few pictures from our time in Rome last week, but the best thing that we did while we were there was....a food tour! We went with a company called The Roman Foodie (the sister company of The Roman Guy, a popular tour operator in Rome).

The first time that Ryan and I went to Rome together, two years ago, we crammed everything into three days: the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, St. Peter's and the Vatican museum, the Borghese Gallery....and then we needed a vacation from our vacation. This time we were excited to try something a little different and to appreciate Rome through its food.

We did the Trastevere Locals Food Tour which was fun for us because we stayed in Trastevere this trip and it was fun to explore our neighborhood in greater depth. There were six stops on the tour: we started at a cheese shop where we tried all different kinds of cheese including Pecorino, Parmesan, a cheese made with saffron that was bright yellow (!), buffalo mozzarella and my personal favorite, Burrata. Burrata is type of mozzarella; when it's being made, they cut the mozzarella ball open and put smaller pieces of mozzarella and cream inside and then tie it up again. When you cut into it, it's the most creamy, delicious thing you can imagine. We learned that it's originally from the region of Puglia - where we were headed after Rome - so we were excited to be on the right track.

Then we headed to a tiny restaurant that primarily makes baccala. Baccala is cod fish - up north, in Cortina, we eat it creamed, with rice or polenta. So we were surprised to find that in Rome, rather than being a main course, it's a street food! It's one of the only foods that Italians take to go and eat while they walk. In Rome, they fry the baccala and it's eaten in paper napkins.

It was fun to wander around Trastevere, stopping at tiny places with delicious food - and the weather was great, so that was a plus!

My favorite stop was a place called TASTEvere (ha). It was a tiny cafe/shop selling and cooking with only local foods. Everything was so fresh - we tried various meats and cheeses, crostini topped with an arugula paste, cauliflower hummus and fresh raspberry and apple juices. If I lived in Rome, I would have gone there every day.

Then it was on to a popular neighborhood spot, Trattoria da Teo, for Roman pastas. But first! A fried artichoke - my favorite - so I got to have two during our stay in Rome. Then we tried the two famous pastas, Cacio e Pepe (which is just cheese and lots of black pepper) and Amatriciana. Both of these pastas are so simple which is typical of Roman dishes and Italian food in general. (And this article in the New York Times was fascinating about the secret to Roman pastas).

Appropriately so, we ended the tour with gelato. Ryan had a fantastic lemon/basil flavor which was so refreshing and would be perfect for a hot summer day (actually it was perfect after an evening of great food too!).

Ryan and I weren't sure if we were "tour" people, since we generally like to do our own thing, but this was a fun way to see Rome in a different - and delicious - light, and we were really glad that we tried it.

You can check out The Roman Foodie's website here (and The Roman Guy's here) - and if you're in Rome in need of a tour, think about this one!

Rome

Last week we were in Rome for a few days - the second stop on our grand tour of Italy. We were invited to do a food tour with The Roman Foodie (more on that tomorrow) and obviously couldn't pass up that opportunity, so we made our way down to the city from Cinque Terre.

We were in Rome two years ago and it was so.busy. Rome is tricky because there is so much to see and do and try but that can be exhausting. This time we wanted to slow down and appreciate the city a little bit more.

We stayed in Trastevere, a neighborhood across the river, which I would highly recommend. Our street was quiet (for a big city) and there were tons of great cafes, bars and restaurants right around the corner.

Most of our trip - appropriately so - was centered around food. There are tons of amazing Roman dishes, but my favorites are fried artichokes (we were in luck because it's artichoke season) and cacio e pepe (and Ryan's is the Negroni cocktail). So we made sure to have lots of everything.

We're strong believers that the best way to get a feel for a city or town is to wander, so we spent most of Tuesday morning doing just that.

We ended up at the Pantheon where we bought sandwiches at a cafe and continued on to the (very crowded, as usual) Spanish Steps for a lunch time picnic.

My favorite thing in Rome is when you catch a glimpse of the Colosseum at the end of a busy street. It's such a great mix of old and new.

On Wednesday we headed out of the city, to Orvieto for the day.

Orvieto is a hill town in Umbria (a little over an hour outside of Rome, on the train) known for their Cathedral, ceramics and Classico wine so we checked out all three. 

The funniest thing happened during aperitivo: this cat came over, hopped up on my lap and settled right in!

Tomorrow I'll be sharing more pictures/details from our very exciting food tour, so stay tuned!

Cinque Terre

Part one of our trip (Cinque Terre) is - sadly - over, but we have some great pictures, if you'd like to see...

Cinque Terre (translation: five lands) is made up of five towns along the coast of the Ligurian Sea. It's really popular with tourists who love to hike from town to town, and it's a great spot to take a break from too much sightseeing! We stayed in Corniglia, the middle of the five towns, which is perched on a cliff above the sea.

When we were planning our trip, I was unsure of which town to stay in; many people prefer Vernazza, Riomaggiore is the largest, Monterosso is right on the sea. I read that Corniglia was the hardest to get to (because you have to hike up 385 steps to get into the town!), was the only town that wasn't right on the sea and was quieter than the other four towns - AND that it was for wine lovers - so, of course I booked it. There were vineyards everywhere in the hills and the wine was delicious. And there were fewer tourists. Cinque Terre can get super crowded during the summer and we were even surprised at how crowded it was so early in April - although it was the Easter holiday so that played a big part.

We arrived last Wednesday afternoon and, after a long travel day, we walked down the steps to the old marina - which has since been washed out - and watched the most amazing sunset.

On our first morning, we hiked on the main coastal trail from Corniglia to Vernazza...

...and then from Vernazza to Monterosso, where we sat on the beach and had lunch.

The main coastal trail is relatively easy hiking - although it can get CROWDED because it's very narrow. The next day though, while hiking in the other direction, we got off the beaten path (not by choice; the coastal trail has been washed out in various floods and was closed) which was much harder, more rewarding and even more beautiful.

We ate lunch at a seaside cafe looking down on Manarola before continuing on to the last town (or first, depending on how you're hiking), Riomaggiore.

In Riomaggiore, we rewarded ourselves for hiking to all five towns with some local white wine and amazing views on the terrace of A Pie di Ma.

On our third day, it was pouring - all the lights went out on the main street in Corniglia! - and we were sore from hiking, so we took advantage of the local train which runs frequently between all five towns and went back to Vernazza for lunch and then on to Monterosso for a wine tasting.

We loved poking around the towns, exploring, drinking local wines, gazing out at the sea and trying local dishes: LOTS of fresh seafood, obviously, but anchovies in particular - prepared every way you can imagine! Also pesto, focaccia bread, olives and lemons.

Cinque Terre was a great start to our travel month and we would definitely recommend a few days there if you're passing through the area.

And now...on to Rome!