Our third day in Rome was a tour de force of quintessential Roman sites and Roman food. To put it simply in Roman terms, everything was perfecto from the start to the end when we made it back to our hotel at 11pm.
After the triumph at Fortunado, we walked to the colosseum to meet our guide. We hired Cristina Giannicchi as a personal tour guide. We hired Cristina Giannicchi as a personal tour guide. Cristina’s company,crisromanguide, was highly recommended by friends and her reputation was well-earned. Highly educated in art and Roman history, Cristina walked us around the ruins and old city sharing a rich array of information on the history and meaning of different sites. She was able to show us pictures of the original sites of these ruins as well as to insights into life at that time. It was fascinating. The tour last over four hours and it was like drinking for a fire hose of information. She is simply amazing. She is simply amazing. She made these sites come alive with detailed and contextual descriptions. We walked from the colosseum to the forum to the Jewish Ghetto to the Pantheon and various churches in between. It included see the skull of St. Agnes preserved in gilded box in the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone in Rome’s Piazza Navona. (It is said that, when she was ordered to be stripped and marched through the streets naked, her hair grew to cover her body). A bit creepy to be sure. Throughout the walk, Cristina supplied a continual narrative that was incredibly informative and engaging.
Before leaving Cristina this evening, we asked her for a suggestion for dinner. We prefer local spots that are not too touristy and Cristina suggested one of her favorite, La Pigna, on Piazza della Pigna. This is not an easy place to find but it is not far from the Coleseum. It is as local as it gets and (again) Cristina was right on the money. The unpretentious, small restaurant had dishes that we incredible. We have archicokes and antipasta to start followed by gnocchi with basil and pasta with pesto. It was incredibly fresh and perfectly prepared. We also had the restaurants unique sunflower cake, Girasole, which we devoured. In a city that is renowned for its desserts, this remains our favorite. The restaurant is a special slice of Roman cuisine and cultural. If you want a genuine Roman meal, go to La Pigna, the Pine Cone.
We walked back to the Villa Pinciana for a glass of wine in our room after an extraordinary day. We leave in the morning for Sicily but we will be returning to Rome for one more night next week before our flight back to Washington. We cannot wait to return to The City of the Seven Hills.
Great travel log again! I don’t know how you find time to do all this while traveling. Your experience with Cristina Giannicchi sounded great. I imagine that you wish that you had booked her for the Vatican tour also. It was pretty cool seeing her pictured on her website guiding Rick Steves.
There is another law professor traveling Rome right now. He stopped long enough to blog the Wendy Davis attack ad on Abbott. Is this some group thing?
What a wonderful experience. And now onto Sicily–I can hardly wait!
Once again, thank you for sharing your visit!
Thanks for the Rome photos and stories. They bring back some terrific memories of great city.
Great sites, and great food. Wonderful combination!
I just looked @ the photos of your tour guide. Va va va Voom!
Rome is great….but not as good as the dozens and dozens of smaller cities scattered throughout the peninsula. Next time, get off the tourist track.
Your posts are making me hungry! The food in Italy is fabulous.
Glad you’re having fun.
Just looked @ Fortunata menu. Looks superb. I see they have Carciofi alla Giudia. We had that when we ate in the Jewish Ghetto, which if memory serves, is near the Pantheon? I liked those fried artichokes as much as alla Romana. My women like alla Romana better. It’s always about what the women like!
Great post. Looking forward to Sicily, on our list of future travels.
Lovely sights and pictures. Feel free Professor Turley to take as many photos of the cuisine as possible so they can motivate me to renew my passports.
Awesome. Now I am hungry for linguini and mushrooms. 🙂
happypappies – had to start didn’t ya. It is too early for dinner here. 🙂
Luckily, I’m going to a friend’s birthday dinner later. It was supposed to be at a steakhouse, but maybe a gentle nudge….
Paul Starting something comes with the territory 🙂
There is a MOOC Roman Architecture class if you are interested. Fascinating course. Think it is from Yale. I learned a lot. 🙂
Thank you for the continued travelog. I have really been enjoying it…