Rome, The Eternal City
Due Café (which means espresso, duh)
Because consistency.
Meccanismo, Piazza Trilussa 34, Trastevere
We started out the day by meeting one of new friends from Lisbon, Jaime, and her beautiful baby girl, Ruby. We met up at near her home in the hip Monti district. Annalemma Café functioned as both a brunch and a bar venue at night, and had a dubious surfer-punk vibe despite there being no nearby beaches that we could make out. We chatted about living and working in Rome, traveling, and upcoming concerts in Europe (we’re all seeing Beyoncé, Jaime is going to see Rihanna!). Jaime hosts Roma Brunch Club, which we would love to have joined but we were leaving before Sunday. At the café we had some meh food, all of which seemed to contain salmon in one form or another (not a favorite of Yennie’s). Bryan became addicted to the Chin 8 brand of Chinotto.
After saying our goodbyes, we headed over to the Borghese Gallery in a park just north of the central district. The Gallery was the family’s converted palazzo and contains an impressive amount of sculptures and paintings from their private collection. Among our favorites were the few Bernini sculptures and their Caravaggio room. So much Bernini! So much Caravaggio!
We spent the rest of the early afternoon walking through the adjacent gardens, an impressive expanse filled with fountains and manicured pines. It was a tranquil break from the hustle of the touristic center of Rome.
Bryan has desperately needed a haircut for the past few weeks, so we went in search of an OG gentlemen’s barber shop in Rome to do it right. We found Antica Barberia Peppino on Yelp - yelp. As we entered we got a “bonna sera” and Bryan was whisked away to a chair. Yennie, meanwhile, took a seat against the wall and cracked open a Playboy. 😉 Barber shops in Italy seem to be pretty old-school. The haircut itself included using a lit match to burn away split ends, a hair washing, and a delicate comb. 👱✂️ Since he was there, he decided to get a shave, too. Definitely not an everyday luxury, but when in Rome… 🤗
After sitting around in a sweaty barber shop, Yennie wanted some sweet treats, and there’s nothing better to satisfy a sweet craving than to get some fresh fruit! In San Francisco, the only time you get a tray of ice is with oysters on top; in Rome, they put fruit on it. We went to Ginger, right down the street from the barber in the Spagna neighborhood. If a salumeria, bar, and a primo LA juicery had a baby, it would probably look like something like this place. We decided to do the medium fruit tray, which contained papaya, pineapple, apples, strawberries, and more! 🍍🍓🍏 Yennie was in heaven. #fruitbat
After gorging on Roman fruits, we decided to continue our tour of places in Angels & Demons - the film adaptation of a Dan Brown book on Vatican conspiracies (don’t hate, the Illuminati is real!), visiting the Pantheon. The Pantheon is somewhat curiously where Raphael is entombed. It closes at sundown, as it is entirely illuminated by a huge opening at the apex of its dome, which happens to be the largest unreinforced concerete dome in the world! It also happens to be the location of a recent visit by Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston (I know, right?).
By the end of the day, we met up again with @elizabeast and her sister Colleen, this time at a total dive in Trastevere called Bar San Calisto. You know it’s a good place to go when you see all the Rome locals hanging outside and smoking at 2am. They keep it simple – beer in a few sizes, or liquors by the shot (in little plastic glasses). A “grande” Moretti is very true to its name, and Colleen and Bryan both inadvertently ordered something close to a 40oz for 3.50€ (but who’s complaining?). From there we headed over to Freni e Frizioni, a legit cocktail bar near the river. We found out later this was the night before a holiday so it made it seem even more busy than it would likely be. We ordered something (honestly don’t remember) that our pro bartender had made for a previous patron; Bryan ordered the week’s special, which was named after the book Please Kill Me and contained three different liquors, including a cognac.
Our night was not over! Bryan at this point drunkenly stumbled to get yet another beer at the nearby Meccanismo and brought it back, bravely swimming through drunken Roman youth to get back to the group. Later on, we headed there for some late night food, only to find the kitchen had closed, so we grabbed some drunk pizza instead at a place across the street and ate before parting our separate ways.
Bartender’s Special
If the bartender can mix drinks by pouring 3 feet in the air, let him pick what you drink.
Freni e Frizioni, Via del Politeama, 4/6, Trastevere
