Rome ain't all that!

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11 May 2009

It's a good thing this blog is obscure because I'm about to violate all the rules of travel writers with regard to Rome.

From the moment I first came in contact with experienced travelers in Europe, and especially in the writings of Rick Steves, I'd been led to believe that Rome was to be the ultimate experience. Quoting Rick when he was commenting on Roman traffic, "Chaos, bella chaos." A smartly dressed young Roman gentleman once told me, while we were drinking coffee in a plaza in Barcelona, that everything was better in Roma, especially the coffee.

Now, I'm going to give you the bad news. Rome ain't all that!

Not only is it pricier than many other cities, but it gives you less for the money. Oh yes, you can get good pasta of many types and the taste reflects the use of fresh ingredients, but step away from the regional specialties and you will find a distinct lack of interest in food preparation. For instance, around the corner from the hotel is a fairly typical restaurant. It is convenient when you don't want to go far, but everything is priced the same as more upscale restaurants farther away and everything is ala carte. You want a vegetable with your meal, it's 8 Euros. Everything that's put on your table is charged, even if you didn't ask for it or want it.

The waiter charmingly says, "just for the taste" as he slips a plate of 12 or 16 olives in some flavored oil onto your table, but later you find the olives are a three Euro charge. In Barcelona, youy can easily find a menu de la dia that includes a meat, vegetable, bread and a glass of wine, sometimes a dessert is included, for about the same price as one entree at any Roman eatery.

I am a pork eater. I grew up eating off the hog from the low and the high end and I respect what can be done with pork and judge a cusine by how it treats the most common of meats. A properly done sweet and sour pork determines for me how good a Chinese restaurant may be--a pork cutlet tells you much about a culture's respect for the meat. Yesterday, I decided to try the meat. Connie ordered a fish--yes, a whole fish--from the ones already precooked and sitting under glass, apparently a local speciality. She enjoyed the meal, even though I found it odd that it had to be reheated before serving. But she likes fishy things that smell and taste strongly. I ordered a pork cutlet off the menu--13 Euros-- about what you would pay for a steak dinner with all the trimmings in an average US joint--diner, sport bars, etc.

The meat came to the table on a large plate. Admittedly, there was a bit of salad more as garnish than as a side dish. The meat was two cutlets, completely uniform in size and shape and breaded and deep fried.

Uh, oh!

This meat came out of a box, chopped cookie cutter style from stamped meat parts, breaded and precooked at some factory. It was served plain, after being dropped in a deep fryer, apparently. No sauce, no flavor, no panache!

In France or Spain, the cook would have put something flavorful on it--a sauce, a spice--something. In Germany, where pork is well-respected, it would have been breaded in the kitchen, irregularly shaped, included some fat and gristle, covered with a sauce, served with cabbage and potato and been utterly delicious.

More later with pictures of ruins and all the tourist stuff. Tivoli redeemed Italy, so more on that later.

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Photos

The Hotel Saturnia
The small street doesn't allow for an easy shot of the hotel front. But it is a a friendly place to stay.

St. Peter's by fisheye
There is no way to show how large this great open area in front of St. Peter's really is.

A colorful ceiling
I could show you the Sistine ceiling, but there is this copyright isue!

All roads lead to...
Almost 2000 yeqrs and we finally have it surrounded by the engines of its final destruction

Michelangelo's Moses
With horns, yet.

St Peter's chains
In the same church as Moses' statue are the chains that bound St. Peter. They are in remarkably good shape.