I am going to Rome hurrah hurrah

(or something akin to that)

http://www.romecentral.com/music.php

There are not even any good new year's parties. I want to dance, can anyone help me feel the voib?

I went to a sort of ravey-thing last time but the DJs were crappy.
If anyone wants to drop by, email me or catch me on AIM and I'll give you the phone number of where we're at.

have fun

By all means recommend me places in Naples (esp. places to stay)!

I can't really recommend anywhere specific, just walk around and get lost in it all, but be careful at night. And watch out for agressive street salesman, one guy put a cigarette out on my arm when I wouldn't buy A SIX PACK OF TISSUES from him. ?????????

!!!

Here's the funny story behind the ring, at least the one I know at this point. Several years ago my house was robbed and they took all my jewelry. I've never been much of a jewelry girl anyway and I kinda gave up on the whole concept. So I don't own any rings and have no idea what ring size I am. So one night mr teeny decides to throw a wine and cheese party for a few friends and of course I get obliterated at everyone's urging and mr teeny keeps me awake as long as he can and then when I pass out, he can finally get my ring size! And he still got it wrong!!

I never thought I would like an engagement ring (too girly y'know) but it really is beautiful. mr teeny knows I hate diamonds (african mines and all that) so it is a white sapphire flanked by blue sapphires, in platinum. Awwww. He said we can still run away to las vegas if we want too.

Go forth and have the best half-century! May you have joy always....

Congratulations teenys, btw.

I'm going to Rome. I don't think I will have as much fun as teeny did.

I'm going to Rome as well! (Over Easter) Any suggestions for what to see (including the obvious) and more importantly where to eat would be very welcome.

I went there last October. Rome is amazing. But it has odd features, viz - coffee is incredibly expensive, if you want to sit down in a cafe, yet food in restaurants is amazingly cheap.

With regards to food, I think you will struggle to find bad food in Rome. Try the spaghetti with cheese and pepper - sounds bland but is amazingly tasty. I think Rome is also good for meat people, but I wouldn't know about that.

Yeah, we went in Feb.

Nice place to eat was up at the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II, which has a snack bar/restaurant which is way better than it should be by rights. And a great view too.

the sandwiches the various kiosks around the city sell are really nice - great if you are hungry and don't want to stop into a restaurant.

great wiki detail:

Rome is since 1956 exclusively and reciprocally twinned only with:
Paris, France
(French) Seule Paris est digne de Rome; seule Rome est digne de Paris.
(Italian) Solo Parigi è degna di Roma; solo Roma è degna di Parigi.
"Only Paris is worthy of Rome; only Rome is worthy of Paris."

I am going for just 2 nights (and for work) - is this enough time? I think maybe if I make the most of the time, it is. I will need a PLAN in advance to do that.

'm going to Rome as well! (Over Easter)

You'll be there over Easter Week/Weekend? Are you going then because it'll be insane and you want to see it, or is it a work thing?

PF - 2 nights and for work will be enough time to make you think "Blimey, Rome is amazing, I must come back for longer".

Yes - that would be a good experience?

I would be happy if Saucepan, Vicar et al could give me a list of 5 or 10 things to do, that I could then aim to do, in my limited time - I could even Report Back.

I will eat as much as possible.

I'm actually there for a couple of weekends, Easter then the royal wedding weekend. Bit of work but mainly hanging around with friends. I would like to see the insanity, but I'm also wondering how open for business the city will be more generally.

I'll make some inquiries amongst what Italian friends I have and see if I can get any recommendations, pf.

Piazza Navona is my favourite, just a lovely place to hang about in. The Pantheon is very close by too I think and is also beautiful and quite calming. The little streets around those are lovely for a wander. Eat ice cream. I've been to the football a couple of times (both for Roma) and loved it, but people are scared of Italian footy now.

Campo di Fiori, real nearby Piazza Navona, also great for hanging out. And apparently the Palazzo Farnese (just south of Campo di Fiori) is open to visitors until apr 27...usually not visitable, and sounds worth it: http://www.economist.com/node/18329644?story_id=18329644&fsrc=rss.

>>> people are scared of Italian footy now. <<<

Not at White Hart Lane they're not!

(thanks for the tips - would love to see footy but guess that's not gonna happen)

Well, the things we went to in Rome were:

- Circus Maximus (which is just a field), Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Forum, all in one day. That is loads of ancient Roman stuff.

- Capitoline Museum: more ancient Roman stuff. Also paintings.

- Largo di Torre Argentina: basically a square with ruins in the middle, with two claims to fame 1. It is where Julius Caesar died and 2. the place has been turned into a cat sanctuary

- The Trevi Fountain: there is a distinctly so what aspect to this, but if you are in the vicinity it is maybe worth going to look at all the people vacantly staring at the fountain.

- The Pantheon: ancient Roman temple that is still intact and that has been more or less continuously in use for the purpose for which it was built (though it is now a temple of popery rather than a shrine to the pagan gods).

We also went to some churches and looked at paintings by Caravaggio.

To be honest, your best bet for things to go to would probably be to get a guidebook and see what tickles your fancy. If you are only there for two days, and much of that at work, you probably will not have time to see much, so I suspect you might only have time to see one thing.

I will try and remember what restaurants we went to.

I have just remembered the one great downside of Rome - accomodation there is rather expensive.

Oh yeah, people saying to eat ice cream are totally OTM.

re: paintings by Caravaggio in churches....Santa Maria del Popolo, at the north side of the Piazza del Popolo. 2 huge, great Caravaggios in there. Very worth seeing.

A piece of good news is, the work aspect might only be in the mornings (Wed and Thu). Time could well be left over, for other explorations!

Also I arrive at 3:30 Tue so Tue pm is available for eating, walking or something; and my return flight isn't till Thu 9:20, freeing up as much Thu as possible (though also meaning I will probably wind up returning home on a night bus).

Thanks for more tips and yes, it seems a guide book is in order.

walking around is good.

Where I'm staying, tomorrow:
http://www.hotelsaintpaul.net/EN/hotel.html

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=Via+Vito+Volterra+43+Roma+Italia&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Via+Vito+Volterra,+43,+I-00146+Roma,+Italy&gl=uk&ei=qKSQTaSyOpSyhAejx-W7Dg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ8gEwAA

that's quite a bit away from the historical stuff, I think. but probably still interesting in its own way.

by "quite a bit away" I probably mean "ten minutes by bus".

I have printed out your recommendations today.

San Paolo cathedral's really nice, pinefox. So is the Trastavere area, but I can't really judge distance on that map so don't know whether it'd be walkable or not.

it's a short Metro ride to Piramide (in Testaccio), short walk from there to Trastevere.

Tazza d'Oro is great for coffee - it's just opposite the Pantheon. Incredibly cheap too - eighty cents for an espresso.

If you're after Caravaggios, the small Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica is worth seeing for the magnificent Judith Beheading Holofernes alone.

The Rome Pass is reasonably expensive at 25 Euro but gives free admission to two sites and unlimited public transport for three days. Best of all, it lets you skip the massive queues at the Colosseum.

For something different to the main historical sites, EUR is quite interesting for a brief visit. If you happen to be in the area, it's worth stopping to see the Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro. I was there on Saturday afternoon - it's fascinating and horrifying in equal measure. Gives a real sense of what Rome might have looked like had the Fascists ultimately won.

The Capuchin crypt at Barberini is well worth the ten minutes it takes to see it. It's decorated with the bones of 4000 monks, in a grim, unintentionally comic and highly inventive manner.

I was there for five days last summer, stayed in Trastavere, it was great. I thought the Colesseum and Forum were totally worth checking out, as was the Pantheon. Campo di Fiori and Piazza Navona were both great for people watching and checking out the insane Bernini statue. The tour of the Vatican was kind of insane also, just ridiculous amounts of wealth and seeing St. Peter's was mind blowing, but you really should buy tickets ahead of time - we walked right in, past the two hour plus line of people waiting on the hot sidewalk in the sun dying of the heat. I liked the Capuchin crypt but it was sort of a hike to get to for us, but we had figured out the buses and streetcars by then and it was fine.

It sounds kind of cheesy but we had the Rick Steves Rome book and it had a "night walk across Rome" bit that was really fun. Started out in Trastavere, through Piazza Navona, to the Parliament, Trevi Fountain (which is kind of an obligation, not all that awesome, super crowded), then to the Spanish Steps. Kind of an organized wander that hits lots of things in a logical manner.

Food was all really good assuming you do a bit of reading beforehand and avoid the really obvious touristy places near the landmarks. Ate tons of pasta, pizza, chicory, artichokes, pecorino, guanciale, wine, zucchini flowers, cured meats, etc.

I wish I had been able to print these posts out also, as part of my tourist package. Thanks to everyone for their advice.

I don't fancy queueing for anything, given that my time is limited.

People here seem keen on seeing very old buildings - perhaps rightly so - I don't feel intuitively so keen on them but perhaps I will feel different when I arrive, if I arrive.

I have remembered that I am going to be awkward and ashamed once again at going somewhere where I don't speak the language.

I saw a RICK STEVES book on Rome the other day but didn't buy!

It must be good to be able to go to places with other people, rather than alone. I expect it makes life more interesting, rewarding and happy, though occasionally frustrating.

It is really quite impressive how many different people have posted expertise and experience about Rome to this thread.

Nobody mentioned the Vatican until joygoat did! It's worth going to of course, even if you avoid the museums and just go to St Peter's it's really impressive, and the square is awesome too - there's an odd perspective trick about it so that you don't appreciate the sheer vastness of the edifices even though they tower over you like cliffs. Maybe best for a morning, when crowds are thin.

The Vatican museum was decent if not spectacular - save for the 1/4 mile long hallway of insane maps - and the modern art museum there was fun because nobody gave a damn except for us; everyone else was rushing to the Sistine Chapel and just blowing by rooms full of work by basically every big name in the last century. St. Peter's and the square were really the best part.

I wasn't necessarily all into old buildings for the sake of old buildings, but my wife is a professor of rhetoric and was hell bent on seeing the Forum and getting all HOLY SHIT CICERO WAS HERE. Once I was there it was kind of mind blowing to me, just thinking about daily life in a city that has existed for 2,500 years or so, compared to usual American concept of "old" being from the 1800s. We were in Florence for a few days before Rome and stayed in a rented flat; I asked how old it was and the manager told me it was really new, from 1870 or so, which is still ten years older than the town I live in now.

Maybe your town is from the late days of the Old West!

Joygoat, I had the same thing, when I was in the actual Senate House (I mean, the actual Senate House!!!!) and I was imagining Cicero sayign "O Tempora! O Mores!" so much that I got my beloved to talk a picture of me saying "O Tempora! O Mores!".

Likewise looking at lolcats walking over where Caesar was killed. Or at votive offerings still being left to Caesar at the Temple of the Divine Julius.

I only looked at the outside of the Vatican, but it made me angry. It is so opulent, and the cockfarmers who own it took a vow of poverty.

I returned from Rome late last night. I can now share in all these things that people have said about it, agree with most of the sentiments and surprisingly find that I have seen most of those places.

It is a remarkable city, the like of which I've never seen, mainly for its visible age as DV has just been articulating. Perhaps Athens, where I've not been, is similar. So the Renaissance or even middle ages seem quite recent in Rome. I was stunned by the sight of the Colosseum as I emerged from the Colosseo metro stop (itself a great Roman combination of old and new). On my last evening I finally made it to the Circo Massimo and this was worth seeing too, green grass in the magic hour light. I did not go in the Forum which I regretted once I'd learned it was free.

I did go to Trastevere on my first night; did like the San Paolo area - Roman suburbs interesting in themselves, attractively modern and designed to an English visitor - and the Marconi subway stop that reminded of perhaps Brooklyn.

Made it up to Piazza del Popolo, also saw Piazza Navona, Campo dei Fiori, Spanish Steps and eventually the Trevi Fountain while seeking San Crispino ices.

My guidebook endlessly recommended churches (900 of them?) and the paintings they held - I'm afraid this didn't interest me that much. I have sometimes visited churches as a tourist but these were to excess. You get 3 huge ones on one square. And I don't think I would feel comfortable amid the gangsters of the Vatican. The Vicar's anti-Vatican comment above quite moves me. But I liked the bustle of modern Rome, the people amid the winding streets.

One area I did not do well in was eating. One good meal on Wed night but otherwise constant miscalculation - I almost managed to eat poorly in Rome, which as DV said should not be possible. I should have focused more time on getting really good eats.

The city I know that is closest to it is Paris. But it is Paris without the Seine (the Tevere seems very marginal to city life compared to other cities), without the beautiful elegant homogeneous C19 makeover, and with ancient monuments instead of modern ones; and with a madly inflated ecclesiastical dimension - the Paris guidebook regularly lists churches but they come amid secular places with literary histories, etc, not as the main content of the place. I think in its own way Rome holds its own next to Paris as a place of beauty and interest.

I think it is worth visiting one or two churches, but after that you get the idea, yes.

I am fascinated by your sub-par food experience. Even when we went into what was patently a tourist rip-off joint we ended up with very tasty reasonably priced pizza.

Oh yeah, you have to be pragmatic about eating close to the 'attractions', the food gets better with distance.

(which is why Elvis Costello always ate in his room, arf arf)

... the best 'cheap eats' we found was north of the Spanish steps, past the big open space I forget what it's called, just where the trams begin, around there.

PF, were there loads of people staring vacantly at the Trevi Fountain like they were on day release from a home for the limited?

just on Rome v. Athens, I suspect that Rome would win in the impressiveness stakes, as it was an important city for a much longer period of time.

Very glad you had a good time Pinefox.

I mildly disliked Rome when I went. It was only a couple of days, but I didn't take to the city. Narrow streets, & too much hideous Baroque or after. Good coming across triumphal pillars, the history very enjoyable, a lot to think about, but I just didn't enjoy walking around.

All I really liked was some of the art & the full-on kneel-before-Zod horror of St Peter's (but with the Michelangelo pieta inside, heartbreaking). oh, also all the crazy relics (that you can't see, typical) appealed to Catholic me - veronica's hankie, spear of destiny, head of st andrew, etc etc. And the tomb of King James III of England.

Much preferred Florence on brief trip there afterwards.

the pinefox!

Pinefox, does "Ringleader of the Tormentors" make all the more sense to you now? I was listening to "Please Help the Cause Against Loneliness" the other day and thought of you.

DV: you did better with the pizza than I did. I did so poorly that tonight, back in London, to make up for it all, I went for a ... pizza, in an Italian restaurant.

Mark G you might mean Piazza del Popolo or maybe not as I saw no trams.

DV, re Trevi Fountain, yes, pretty much. People seemed to be there for no purpose. Perhaps I was one of those people. I have not seen the film that features it and I suspect if I did I would not like it a lot. David Thomson says some bad things about it.

Woof, I am not sure what you mean by 'hideous Baroque or after'. To some extent, to me, old buildings are old buildings, though even I could tell the difference between Ancient Rome and the rest. But not sure what counts as Baroque. I was surprised by how blocky some buildings were. Unlike you, I did quite enjoy walking around, though, as I've said, I would have liked less Catholic buildings and hence a greater variety of urban texture. Perhaps if one believes in a god it is a very inspiring experience to see so many churches? Or perhaps even then, one would find it rather absurd and think: well, I only really need one church to go to pray to my god. I did not see the art work that you mention. I find it odd that so many of the churches supposedly contain paintings by famous people. The churches I went into were ludicrously ornate. I am not a religious person but I think I can understand how some people like to see them as historical sites.

Tracer Hand, hello: I recognize you once more as a great, personable and wise person from ilx history. I expect you have been to Rome.

Virginia, thank you for kindly remembering me when hearing that quite good track. Your question sounds outlandish but is actually relatively close to the bone. You will already know that 'the youngest was the most loved' starts with a generous sample from an Italian police siren. I first learned this in Trieste last year, and even caught the sound on a little video. At the time I thought this was striking. But I heard the same sound over and over in Rome. I became so ready for it that today, back in London, I fancied I could still hear it in the distance.

about the LP more generally - I'm not sure about this - I did think about it, partly because the city reminded me of publicity pictures from when it was related. I thought about 'dear god please help me' but I'm not sure it has much to do with Rome per se. I suppose I think there is a risk of projecting somewhat arbitrarily, ie imagining that the record talks about Rome when it really doesn't and we just happen to know that SPM lived in Rome at one time. But I do admit that the trip made me remember that record. I would naturally be happy to hear your views on this.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5107/5581514849_fbf4c06a10.jpg

Back to DV's comment: I visited Chiesa di Santa Maria at Piazza del Campidoglio and was astounded at the ornateness: paintings, stained glass, gold, silver chandeliers everywhere - like an episode of Dynasty or something. And this was a Franciscan church - specifically, I think, dedicated to people who renounced worldly goods and served the poor!

I have never seen a church like it. But I think there are even more lavish ones, though this is hard for me to picture.

http://magnetos.org/files/images/Morriseyinrome.preview.jpg

he looks besotted.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5029/5588441978_bfe9fd6a76.jpg

elaborate ceiling of the French Embassy, rarely open to the public, in Piazza Farnese.

PF = Baroque in the Roman context effectively means ornate but not classical, so it looks like you get the difference even if you do not know the term.

Is the Palazzo above considered baroque, then?

I don't find these buildings ugly but again, I'm surprised by how square and blocky they are.

Yes, I meant the ornate stuff from the end of the Renaissance onwards - oversized statues. scrolls, fluting, curls, big forms, tons of classical elements thrown in, dramatic effects. Trevi fountain-looking things. From the impressions of a day or two, found Florence's architecture much more sympathetic and elegant - more early renaissance stuff around. But I didn't see much of Rome, & it was strictly first impressions.

(that was an xp)

No, if that's the Palazzo Farnese it's high renaissance: the ornament hasn't gone over the top, it's quite a restrained exterior (baroque moves towards showier façades).

(no architectural historian, so slightly out of my depth here)

well, I agree that Rome is OTT overall - too many statues everywhere, kind of diluting the effect of each one, ditto the churches etc. But that's its particular character I suppose and makes it different from where we live.

the noblest Roman of them all:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5190/5588447564_3954125b11.jpg

"too many statues everywhere, kind of diluting the effect of each one, ditto the churches etc."

sorry, but I couldn't help smiling. :)
quite interesting to read how Rome is perceived abroad, anyway!

Talking of churches:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5093/5592464688_fb2fd74001.jpg

nice photos

rome was rather overwhelming

nice langoustines

"rome was rather overwhelming"

It's the side effect of squeezing 2500 years of history in one city!

I agree that it's rather overwhelming, and that that's why, in large part.

Marco, do Romans find this as odd as I do?

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5174/5591870827_0d9b578d3e.jpg

I don't know about Romans, I certainly find it rather odd!
I lived in Rome for four years when I was a kid and I still have nightmares of traffic jams on the Circolo Anulare. That said, I love it to death: it is a beautiful city with lots and lots and lots of equally beautiful secret corners.

Marco you're needed on the current EXCELSIOR thread regarding an Italian reggae band.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5183/5594870992_62c12e9740.jpg

One thing I was struck by in Rome was how many tourists there were.

Funny, that.

Actually, the thing I was 'struck' by (or not-struck, if you see what I mean) was the traffic.

Famously, Rome (center) has cars that drive all over, and at all speeds. But if you crossed the road (particularly big open road/roundabouts, but entrances/exits of side streets too), they always slowed down without complaint and/or waited. Certainly by comparison to UK streets.

Yes, the traffic is unusual, and scary - there is a crossing by Circo Massimo which felt especially dangerous - but I did also hear that they are supposed to slow down and let you across. There seems to be an endlessly improvised feeling to this, though not quite in the benign way of that Dutch (?) town that abolished road signs.

That's the exact crossing I was meaning, and yes they do.

Ha yes, first time I tried getting across a big, busy Italian road it was most confusing (a dual carriageway in Catania as I recall). I went by the book, pressed the button and the lights went red and everything - but nothing happened, the cars did not slow down one jot. After a couple of tries of that I was won over to the improvised way through necessity, as there's just no way to get anywhere otherwise.

"Improvised" is a word that perfectly describes a lot of Italian things.

Probably my best shot of this:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5184/5596059697_3c00f0ee96.jpg

Rome, yesterday

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5262/5596058791_db25c10e01.jpg

Largo di Torre Argentina

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5021/5600080797_5f23c39c7b.jpg

I think this is the place everyone talks about being a cat sanctuary, but I saw no cats here.

MAO?

What's that - the noise a Roman cat makes?

Via dei Condotti

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5064/5609035755_12c308a0b0.jpg

If you the chance to visit something outside the city, you should try to see Villa Adriana in Tivoli or the pretty impressive remains of Ostia Antica:

http://www.villa-adriana.net/
http://www.ostia-antica.org/dict/topics/excavations/excavations.htm

and you can always see the catacombs (http://www.catacombe.roma.it/), especially the catacombs of Priscilla on via Salaria.

There is also a relatively small but beautiful basilica called Santa Prassede (it is not far from the Termini Station), with fantastic, Byzantine-style mosaics.

Thanks - though for myself, I have long since returned to London, which for a few days just now had its own Roman-style heat wave.

Last Rome pictures now uploaded, I sign off with the last major sight I saw:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5104/5611499422_628709a616.jpg

People said Circo Massimo was 'just a field', and so it is, but that's what I found likeable and moving about it - wonderful that this ancient site should just be a public space for random lying around; it seems to have found a vocation in aimless idleness, a still purer kind of leisure than the frantic sport that made its name so long ago.

And I hope to find some sweet repose there myself. I'm going next week for a couple of weeks, and think I'm going to find this thread very useful. I've enjoyed your reports and photos, pinefox, and look forward to following up some of Marco's tips as well (as well as some of the other recommendations).

I carried a printout of half of this thread around with me at all times!

Two whole weeks in Rome, that is remarkable.

i like your photos and i enjoy reading your take on things, pinefox.

Thank you!

Many more photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9107386@N06/sets/72157626286542185/

Will try and get a look at this -

Good Friday (April 22)
On Good Friday, instead of a mass, choirs sing St John’s version of Christ’s crucifixion. Later that night, the Pope traces the Via Crucis, or Stations of the Cross, from the Colosseum to Palatine Hill. This torch-lit procession is one of the grandest, most solemn things you can witness in Rome.

Although the grandness of me getting drunk in Rome and the solemnity of the next day might be its equal imo.

Hi PF. I've never been to Italy, but I probably shouldn't go, because everytime I heard the police siren, I would think of Morrissey. I've actually had this problem simply watching Italian movies.

The album seems incredibly Rome-centric to me, with the Pasolini and Visconti references and the enlistment of Morricone, but maybe it's just a ruse--as was the artist claiming to be living in Rome while making it, while he was merely staying in a (5-star) hotel.

Anyway, I also think of you when I hear the song "Honey, You Know Where to Find Me," you know, only the classics.

Just got back. Didn't love the place, but had a great time. Definitely a few things worth mentioning.

Outside of the Colosseum, nothing quite gave me such a sense of scale as the baths of Caracalla -

http://theidiotandthedog.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/dscf2334.jpg

10,000-odd people could use them at once.

The hot rooms to either side of the great circular caldarium offered a range of different kinds of dry heat. Their missing front walls were composed almost entirely of glass, taking advantage of natural solar energy. The surrounding surfaces on the outer facade wall were finished with coloured glass mosaic, so that the whole block will have shimmered in the afternoon sun. All that survives of the caldarium proper (which equalled the Pantheon rotunda in height and was three-quarters its diameter) are two piers of brick-faced concrete 35m high. It contained seven plunge baths and the domed ceiling was probably lined with gilded sheet bronze.

So yeah, liked those.

Gardens at Ninfa were amazing - about half an hour's train ride out of Rome. I like gardens well enough, although usually find them boring as well, but these were fantastic. It has a microclimate you know.

Also went to Cinecittá to get some pics of the real Rome -

http://theidiotandthedog.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/dscf2401.jpg

It's open until November, and has a Fellini exhibition on as well, albeit a footling one.

Was staying in Pigneto, which I get the impression is becoming in the eyes of some residents rather trendified. It has got a great market on a street that in the evening has some bars and lots of young Italians. Market, bars, young Italians all great.

Most of the best eating was food I cooked myself, just simply, with the amazing stuff in the market - artichokes, asparagus, fish, meat, gorgeous red oranges, tomatoes, sausages etc etc et rucking c.

Central Rome is a tourist nightmare, and finding a good place to eat is far more problematic than it should be.

There were some exceptions however - Osteria Qui Se Magna in Pigneto (Via del Pigneto 307), off the beaten track, rudimentary trattoria, very good cheap food, great atmosphere.

There's a bakery in the ghetto where you can get really tip-top pizza and other very nice things, always rammed at lunchtime, strongly recommended, but for the life of me I can't remember the name. Am trying to find out. Is responsible for the greasy paw print on the Cinecittá pic above.

But the very best place was Cantina Cantarini, Piazza Sallustio 12. This place was perfect in every way. It's been going for something like 110 years. It's in rather a businessy/banking area, it's not cheap cheap, but it's very reasonable considering I had one of the best meals I've had in a long time there - pasta in brodo + rabbit stew + a green salad, with incredibly refreshing verdicchio wine. They gave us panna cotta and fruit, which was also delicious, and an aromatic fernet like drink which had been in the fridge for three days with fruit marinating in it. The meal itself was relatively simple, but absolutely delicious, and throughout and afterwards felt that perfect pitch of satisfaction without a trace of being 'full' or 'stuffed' in anyway. It was delightful in every way and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who goes.

Primo in Pigneto gets some press - it's a restaurant rather than a tratoria - but I thought it was poor. Expensive, curiously English in its food and approach, and the quality was mediocre.

There were two things that I wanted to see but didn't, which were The Museum of the Souls in Purgatory in the Chiesa del Sacro Cuore del Suffragio on the Vatican. It only amounts to a glass case of objects supposedly scorched by the imprint of people trying to communicate from purgatory, but i wanted to see it. The other was Istituto centrale di patologia del libro - the institute of book pathology - with books in different states of decay and things. I suspect it's in fact just a fancy title for a book restoration museum. Still, again, it appealed.

I knew we had to telephone in advance (although it's free and there's audio guides n shit) but didn't realise that you have to fill out a form TEN DAYS IN ADVANCE. One for next time anyway.

Lots of gelati.

excellent

Good luck Rome.

I'm off, fairly soon too...

Everyone's off, apparently - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13354988

Earthquake 'predicted' for Rome today.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/10/rome-earthquake-prophecy-claims

Oh jeez

Righto, will be there next week.

Might check out "Pink Moon" the record shop...

I asked this on ILM too - any good record shops in Rome these days?

Well?

Or places to hear African, latin, Caribbean music or other stuff too--r'n'b, rock ?

Doing my last-minute research on Rome to see what we can fit into 3 days in Rome, 3 in Florence, 1 day in Venice, and 5 days in Paris. Food, art museums, music, and outdoors stuff too