Rome Day 4
Our 4th day in Rome was somewhat adhoc. We had no real agenda or list of things to see. We decided to just sort of set out in a direction and see where it would take us. You have to do that at least once in a foreign city!
The previous day we had asked our concierge for a good place to shop for art. We wanted to take home something - a painting or sculpture or something - to remind us of our trip. What she ended up directing us to was the antiques district. And while it was not what we had in mind when we had asked, we do both love antiques, and it was a fun and interesting day!
We started off in Piazza Navona. Piazza Navona is about half way between Vatican City and the Palatine, both of which you've learned about if you've read our previous days pages :-)
(Don't you just LOVE mappoint.msn.com?! I type in a place name, like Piazza Navona (actually - I typed in Piazza Narvona, which is incorrect) and it brings me a beautiful map like this.)
Anyway - back to Piazza Navona. Piazza Navona was built by Bernini in the 1600s. It is rather long - more of a rectangle than a square, resembling an ancient "circus" (stadium for races, like Circus Maximus which I've mentioned on previous pages), and that is not by accident. It was built over the remains of Circus Domitianus.
This piazza features 3 beautiful fountains, and is surrounded by many beautiful, old buildings. On the western side of the Piazza is the Church of Sant'Angese in Agone. (pronounced, apparently, as "uhn-YEH-seh").
The piazza comes alive as morning progresses - Italians out for their morning stroll, the newspaper, or a coffee; artists setting up their booths, people gathering by one of the fountains; tourists with maps out, planning their route for the day. It's a fun place to hang out and people-watch.
There are tours available that will take you underneath the Piazza to view the ruins of the circus on which it was built, but we didn't know that at the time, and we were content to just wander... It was actually a really fun experience. We'd be walking down a rambling cobblestone street only to turn a corner and find ourselves in a small piazza with a beautiful fountain, or standing in front of a huge and ancient church, or staring at some monument dating back to the 7th or 8th century. It was like being on an Easter Egg hunt, only finding beautiful roman treasures instead of eggs.
This 4th day in Rome was also The Day of The Bad Dining Experience. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we had a bad dining experience in Rome. Didn't think it was possible did you? Furthermore, it was all my fault. Me. I am the one to blame. Here's the story.
We had been wandering through the streets all morning. It was about noon and I was starting to get hungry. There were cafes on every corner, but I had my heart set on two things. 1) Dining outdoors (better people watching; more fun; great weather), and 2) Pizza. (Real italian pizza). Tim only had one criteria - that it not be one of the cafes that bordered the square because it would be too filled with tourists. I shared my criteria with Tim, and he shared his with me and together we started looking for a cafe that fit our desires. We finally came across a pizzeria as we turned onto another street. It was pizza. It was set back from the square. But alas, had no outdoor dining. "How about this?" said Tim. "It's ok. But I want to sit outside and eat", said I. "There don't appear to be any pizza places with outdoor seating" said Tim. "Let's just eat here". I was about to give in when I spotted another restaurant across the street. "How about over there?" I asked. "Where?" Tim asked. "There" I said, pointing across the street to a little cafe with outdoor seating, and a waitress carrying a pizza over to a table. "They have pizza, and outdoor seating. Let's eat there!" I said enthusiastically. "Are you sure?" asked Tim, puzzled. "Yes! Absolutely. Let's eat there". I was determined to get my outdoor pizza. So Tim gave in, and we wandered over and sat down. Tim kept giving me weird looks the whole time, wondering what was going on in my head.
The waitress came out and handed us menus. "Thanks!" I said. Still enthusiastically. I was about to have pizza. I opened the menu. I remember commenting to Tim unless you didn't mind ending up with seafood on your plate, which I do, so I always diligently translated the menu using the pocket dictionary, before ordering :-). Tim looked at me as if to say "Duh". I thought, "what duh? We're in Italy. Why put English on the menus?" That should have been my first clue. But I ignored it.
I selected my pizza - the Marguerita. Tim decided to order the Caprese salad. We love caprese and ordered it almost every chance we got - big juicy slices of fresh tomatoes and fresh basil leaves, thick, soft slices or chunks of mozzarella di bufala (real mozzarella is made with buffalo milk, not cow's milk), drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Yum! I didn't order any salad. I figured I'd have some of Tim's :-). We ordered drinks. I didn't get asked if I wanted fizzy or non-fizzy water. I had acquired a taste for the fizzy stuff, since our honeymoon started. I didn't notice until she brought out my bottle of flat water that she had neglected to ask. That should have been my 2nd clue.
My 3rd clue should have been all of the English-first-language speaking tourists surrounding us. I have to admit, I did notice that. But it wasn't until Tim's salad actually arrived that I realized that something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.
The waitress brought out Tim's salad, set it in front of him, and walked away. Tim and I stared in horror. The salad... it was in a BOWL... and worse, it had... LETTUCE... in it. Mounds and mounds of shredded lettuce! It might as well have been a regular garden salad! Sure, there were tomatoes (2 chunks), and one slice of mozzarella, but there was also lettuce, and I think some sweet peppers in there too! What WAS this atrocity?! It was about as "caprese" as the stuff they serve in our salad bar at work. At that point, as I was expressing my indignation at seeing lettuce and peppers in caprese salad, I happened to glance over Tim's shoulder and notice the sign pronouncing the name of the cafe.
The Big Apple Cafe
In big bold red diner letters against a stylized backdrop of the New York skyline.
ACK! We were eating in an American diner in the middle of Rome! I pointed this out to Tim. Who gave me a REAL "duh" look this time, and said "Yeah... I thought you knew!"
Thought I knew?! Had I known that was the name of the restaurant, I'd never have suggested we eat there! Why didn't he say anything?
Apparently, he did. He said "are you sure?". Ahem. Yes, well, a little elaboration at the time would have helped. Of course, in his defense, it was a pretty big sign. But I was so enamoured with the idea of Pizza outside, that I hadn't seen the sign (quite literally) and that's where we ended up eating.
The horror didn't end there, however. The waitress returned with my marguerita pizza. I stared glumly at my plate. I had my pizza all right. Big fat rolls of dough that was undercooked (raw in some places), a bunch of haphazardly placed cherry tomatoes that would roll around and fall to the ground whenever I picked up a slice, or attempted to cut into it. Cheese that had the consistency of mozzarella, but that is where the similarity ended. And... no tomato sauce. No sauce!
Sigh.
I picked through my pizza and Tim picked through his salad. We were both disappointed. And every now and then Tim would pause, look at me, fork in the air, and say "How could you not know? How did you miss the sign?". D'oh.
Ah - but we're still not finished.
To top off this wonderful feast, we were accompanied by a couple of wandering accordion players. Yes - they knew where the tourist money was. It was at the Big Apple Cafe. Because the patrons who frequent that place - what do they know? They think that stuff is romantic. They'll love it! It's in all their American movies. And then they'll give us money. Yup - so there we were, eating our caprese salad full of lettuce, and our doughy pizza without sauce, to the romantic strains of Italian accordion music.
As if that wasn't enough, when they finished their ditty, they began soliciting the tables for their "fee". If the food wasn't enough to make Tim grumpy, you should have seen his face when he realized that they were asking for money. Muttering under his breath "I didn't ask them to play. They weren't playing for me. I didn't even think they were any good. If they had been good that would have been another thing. Why should I give them money". Of course, if you know Tim, you know that wasn't a verbatim quote... he said some other things too :-). It was the moment that he finished this private little tirade that they chose to appear at our table, jingling their little purse in Tim's face, nodding and smiling. He was trapped. And with nothing smaller than a 2-Euro coin. Into the bag he tossed it, scowling. They bobbed up and down in thanks, and, still smiling, moved on.
The waitress came back out to check on how we were doing. I asked for the receipt. She looked at our plates - still half full (half empty, I was thinking optimistically. I couldn't figure out how we managed to consume half the meal, given how much we didn't enjoy it). She asked "Everything ok?". "Oh yes, it was fine. Just a lot of food. We're both full", I replied with a smile.
We paid the check and left. Yup. It was all my fault.
Finally Tim started to see the humour and irony in the whole experience. I wasn't there yet. But that didn't keep him from poking fun, and practicing his spin of the story he would tell all our friends when we got back home about how I led him to his worst Italian meal ever, in the heart of Rome.
I told him that he could make fun of me all he wanted to, but NOT until we found a very authentic Italian gelateria, in which I could drown my sorrow and embarrassment. He consented. We quickly found a gelateria (by this time we had walked nearly back to the Spanish steps), bought me an ice cream cone, which I happily consumed as we sat on the steps watching the crowds of people go by. OK. Gelato takes away all the pain and makes the world a happy place. Mmmm.
So that was our Bad Dining Experience. I promised to write about it on the web site, and to take full blame, and to let Tim review it before I published it to be sure I captured the whole abysmal experience accurately.
So one moment, while I call for Tim.
Well, aside from the dining experience the rest of the day was spent pleasantly window shopping and browsing antique stores. Many stores had workshops attached, that were open, so you could see the woodworkers at their craft, restoring old furniture and art frames, etc. We passed a movie shoot (Italian). And many more monuments and fountains and little secret piazzas tucked away where you least expect it, and beautiful buildings and narrow streets, and people on their vespas touring the marketplace. All in all, a wonderful day. Enjoy the pictures! :-).