Would you like a little cheese with your cheese? and other adventures in Rome

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Friday morning dawned much too early for me, after an enjoyable evening at Casina Valadier, but the business session was productive and successful, so it was worth it. After a quick change, it was time to head to lunch at Caffe delle Arti. Originally, the plan was to eat outside, but with bad weather threatening and showers earlier in the morning, our hosts make some quick phone calls to move us inside. Caffe delle Arti is attached to the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, so our lunch was held in a beautiful room dotted with large statues. We enjoyed a delicious buffet - I should probably just assume that "delicious" goes without saying from now on, since I never had a bad meal in Rome. Someone mentioned that there was a lot of eating during the conference, which there always is for our meetings, but we said that when coming to Rome, you have no choice but to showcase the food - even if everyone puts on five or ten pounds!

Also, even though lunch was a buffet, that didn't stop people from visiting the table two and three times - so we can't take all the blame! Among a multitude of dishes, I had the dried beef with rocket and parmesan, Italian mozzarella with tomatoes (I think I had mozzarella at almost every meal, but it was so good, I couldn't help it!), and cous cous with vegetables. For dessert, I was good and stuck with fruit, but the little cakes that they had also looked great. Finally, after we were all stuffed, it was time to head over to the Forum and the Colosseum, which I was very much looking forward to. When I was in the fourth grade, my teacher assigned group projects, where we had to build famous monuments of our choosing. My group had the Colosseum, which we built out of papier mache, and I very much wish I had a photo of it! Ever since then, I have wanted to see the Colosseum in person, and driving by it from the airport last year only gave me a taste.

We headed first to the Forum, and everyone was sweating within minutes of being outside, because of the heat and humidity. The weather was the only uninvited guest for the afternoon (after the few who tried to have some of our lunch buffet), but our tour guide did her best to keep us in the shade as we wandered around the Roman ruins. It was fascinating to think of the ancient Romans walking these same streets thousands of years ago, and to see the places where historical figures like Julius Caesar spent their time. It was very impressive, and it would have been a very pleasant walk without the humidity!

From there, we walked over to the Colosseum, an infamous place for Christians like me. I was surprised to learn that the building as it stands today is only half the size of the original Colosseum - being inside of it overwhelmed me, so I could not imagine how it looked back in the 1st century, especially to those who were fighting for their lives. According to Wikipedia, construction began under emperor Vespasian between 70 and 72AD, and was completed under Titus in 80AD. It was originally capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, and we were able to see the marble stairs where the royal family was always seated, as well as the archways through which the emperor, and the condemned, would pass through. It apparently was in use for 500 years, with games being held there in as late as the 6th century. It is incredible to think of the number of people who must have been killed during the gladitorial games held there over a period of 500 years! We even learned that recently, Paul McCartney held a concert in there, which must have been quite a spectacle!

It's quite interesting that a place that was so horrific for Christians would be so close to the Vatican, but according to Wikipedia, the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession to the Colosseum every year on Good Friday. Maybe it is a way to make peace with the many Christians that were slaughtered there.

I was fascinated by the architecture of the building as it came into view, and again when we walked into the cool interior. We took an elevator (not original to the Colosseum, obviously) to the top to give us a view of the entire ampitheatre, which was really breathtaking. We could see where the original floor had been, where the gladitorial games had been held, as well as the two levels of storage underneath, which held people, food, and animals. We were able to go down to the ground level to see this, and that gave a better sense of how impressive the amphitheatre is, as it rose around us. Our guide pointed out where some of the walls have had to be reinforced over the years, but it was still incredible to see how much of the original structure still stands and to wonder what it looked like thousands of years ago.

By the time the tour was finished, we were officially hot and tired. We were glad to have a couple of hours to shower and get ready for the evening's dine around, a favorite activity among our group. The dine around consists of selecting several different restaurants in the host city, and splitting up the group so that they get a different sense of of the city and the chance to meet other delegates. Our dine around in Rome had a regional cuisine theme, so we sent everyone to restaurants with a different type of Italian cuisine - there was Roman cuisine at Ristorante Vecchia Roma, Bolognese cuisine at Dal Bolognese, Genoa cuisine at Taverna Giulia, Sicilian at Trattoria, Tuscany at Da Nino, and more Roman at Alfredo alla Scrofa. Although the group loves the dine around, it's not my favorite activity, as we have yet to work out the best way to gather everyone and get them off to their restaurants without crowding the lobby or losing anyone. We tried to use colors this time, but most of the delegates didn't bring their colored sheets with them, so that made it a little difficult.

Adding to the atmosphere of the evening was a tremendous thunderstorm, which exploded over Rome right as we were gathering for dinner. Ordinarily, this wouldn't have presented too much of a problem, but four of the six restaurants were in walking distance so we had not arranged transportation. One of the groups braved the storm to head to their restaurant, while the other three quickly arranged for taxis to take us to our destinations. Although it put a bit of a wrench in the plans, I love a good thunderstorm, so I was happy to watch the lightning and listen to the thunder as we dined in a cozy room. My restaurant was Alfredo alla Scrofa, home of the original Fettuccine Alfredo, which is the star of their menu. We were dining in a private room, filled with photos of celebrities enjoying a meal at Alfredo's. After we were all seated, our waiter treated us to a little history of the restaurant, saying that Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford loved the fettuccine so much, they presented a golden spoon and fork to the owners when they gave them the recipe. It is almost a tourist attraction of its own, even without the food, which makes it a must-visit.

Our waiter suggested that we share a selection of appetizers, to be followed by the fettuccine and then a second course. We compromised, agreeing to the first two options, and then ordering a selection of second courses to share as well. We again had some mozzarella and smoked meats, as well as a number of other wonderful dishes to start, and it occurred to me that I have been sorely lacking in good mozzarella at home. The waiter then prepared the fettuccine at the table, noting that it is not made in the way that might be familiar to most of it - there is no cream. Instead, he uses a little butter, and heapings of parmesan cheese, which he tosses with the fresh pasta to give it a light, cheesy coating. We all agreed that it was incredibly delicious, and one of my dinner companions liked it so much, he was still thinking about it the next evening!

We couldn't believe that we had another course and dessert to follow, and fortunately, they gave us some time to digest the pasta course before bringing out a selection of seafood, as well as beef medallions in two different sauces. I had the beef with a gorgonzola sauce, and observed that I had started with cheese, had a first course with cheese, and a second course with cheese. Fortunately, I like cheese!

Although we were well and truly full, we couldn't depart without a little dessert. One of the delegates suggested the tiramisu, which I ordinarily don't enjoy. However, here in Rome, it was delicious - I think they must be preparing it wrong in the States! When they brought my dish out though, they had given me the tiniest piece, which was easily half the size of either of the people sitting around me. It caused a laugh, and one of my dining companions kindly switched with me, noting that I had only eaten a little of the second course, so I should have a bigger dessert. I'm always up for a bigger dessert, so it was very kind of him!

Once dinner was over, the storm had stopped, which was fortunate because we needed the walk back to the hotel to aid in our digestion! We walked up the Via Condotti to the Spanish steps, which looked formidable at night, slick with the recent rain. I thought I was being smart by wearing my flip flops and not heels, but they had no grip on the wet steps, so I had to ascend them extremely slowly and carefully - fortunately, I was successful! We met up with another group of diners at the bottom of the steps, and took turns photographing each other and the group before heading back to the hotel. It was such a pleasant dinner that I was sorry to say goodnight, but I knew that I would suffer the next day if I stayed up much later! It was tough to sleep in Rome though, because there was so much to see and do, and I didn't want to miss anything!

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Comments

[Sheri Fresonke Harper]

Beautiful place
What a nicely put together view of a wonderful place to visit :) Sheri