Rome, Italy
- Kyra Menzel
- May 21, 2019
- 3 min read
Roma Roma Roma! In all my European travels, I had not made it to Italy until this trip. And I am super excited to come back and explore even more. For now, we have seen Rome and it was wonderful. Oliver and I enjoy basing our travels around food. We find it gives us the best insight into the culture and people and it makes for delicious travels. This trip was no different.
The hotel we stayed at was privately owned and one of the employees there gave us amazing recommendations for pizza in the city. He chose not to tell us which his favorite was as to not add bias to our decision. The first restaurant was Pizzeria da Baffetto. This place gets all the points for ambience. It is absolute chaos when you first walk in. Italian is flying back and forth between the waiters, owners, the mama in the front, the customers, and the kitchen. It’s an incredibly tight space and you will probably end up sharing a table with a complete stranger. (We became friends with a nice woman from Prague on our second trip) There is no real system other than the pizza making which is right in the front of the shop. You can watch the dough being rolled out into thin perfection and see all the toppings that are put on top. The guys have it down to a science and can roll out 6-8 pizzas in five minutes between rolling, topping, and baking. I am so obsessed with this place and the pizza was extraordinary. I got pizza margherita and zucchini flower the second time. Oliver got pizza baffetto both times which consists of cheese, onions, sausage, peppers, artichoke, and an egg. Needless to say, this place is permanently on our list of places to eat.
The second place was Pizzeria La Montecarlo. Arguably, the pizza is just a little bit better but the ambience is not as fun as Baffetto. It is a little harder to find but definitely worth the hunt. We really enjoyed the pizza and the pasta was also pretty fantastic.
Now on to the most important thing, gelato. There is a rule in eating gelato and ice cream. The higher the ice cream is piled, the worse the quality. Just something to look out for when in search for the good stuff. Anyways, we found some excellent spots although I’m sure there are more. The first being Venchi. This place is a little higher end but oh so delicious. They have a chocolate wall, yes wall, and are known for their chocolate. Which they do oh so well. From flavors like chocolate with whole hazelnuts to 75% dark and mascarpone with caramelized figs to caramel, they will have something for everyone. It. Was. Excellent. The second place was Neve di Latte. They had a wider variety of flavors and the cutest atmosphere. But the real stand out was their Italian Pistachio gelato. Oh my word there are no words. They have two types of pistachio, the Syrian (sweet) and the Italian (salty). The Syrian was good, no doubt, but the Italian was on another level. I have never tasted anything like it ever and I will forever dream about it. It was SO good!
We got to see a lot of the wonderful sights there are to see in Rome of course, and they were amazing, but a real highlight was the temple. For those who don’t know, there was recently a temple built outside of Rome from my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a huge deal because it has been almost ten years in the making. It was amazing and beautifully made as always. There was a special spirit on the grounds and in the temple. (For more information on temples click here). One piece of advice, take a taxi. We got so terribly lost on public transport that it took is three hours to get there! It only takes about forty minutes from the center of town by taxi. Worth every penny.
Overall, Rome surprised me and delighted me. I think the countryside and smaller towns will be where I will truly fall in love with the country. I can’t wait to see more of it! Any recommendations are so welcome!
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