Rome š Florence
Due CafƩ
Once more, with feeling.
Meccanismo, Piazza Trilussa 34, Trastevere
This was our last day in Rome, so we decided to make the most of it by visiting St. Peterās Basilica, about a 20 minute walk. We headed over in the morning, just after a morning service by the pope had been given (our friends Elizabeth and Colleen had woken up at dawn to see it!) The church opened up at noon. St. Peterās is free to enter. The interior is massive; the altar is in one of the photos and the scale doesnāt come across in the photos ā everything seems so much bigger in this place. Swimming through the crowd, we entered a side door and found a list of the entire history of all popes since the beginning of the church, guarded by a man shhing children.
We āļøed out as the crowd (and heat) got to be oppressive, making our way once again to the Pizzarium. Yennie wanted fishy pizza, so she ordered one with tiny fishes, one zucchini blossom (which also contained anchovies), and a basic tomato sauce pizza. Weāre pretty sure we saw the owner talking up some other people there ā he looks like their logo, a big white ghost.
After that, we made our way to the Metro station to go to Florence, which was actually for once in the entire trip a useful route for us ā to the Termini train station. The metro trains run pretty regularly but are only on specific routes, typically far away from touristic areas. The ticket machines donāt take bills, so we had to run around to find some change; from there we got hustled by some folks hovering over the machines, pressing buttons for us before we could ourselves and then asking for change (we didnāt give them any).
At the train station itself, we spent some time picking up bags and eventually got our ticket for the trains. As our train time got closer, we became progressively more impatient as our train wasnāt listed on the board. With 10 minutes to go, we discovered that we actually had bought tickets (from Termini) for a neighboring station. Thankfully we were able to switch out tickets to one at roughly the same time, narrowly avoiding double paying for a relatively short trip. š
The train took about an hour, and after checking into Florence, we wanted something to take the edge off. Off to Archea Brewery! Definitely one for the books. The bar was lit by mostly candlelight and felt like a real find in the city. It fit right in with the 14th century buildings we walked by to get there. The bar had a few house brews, which were all delicious. Bryan got the Hydra IPA, while Yennie got a sour from Lover Beer, which brews only sours and was local. Very very tasty.
Elizabeth and Colleen had been in Florence, just a few days earlier and shared a lot of food finds with us. For one, they said we had to get bistecca alla fiorentina, a Florentine steak. We did some second-order research (i.e. lazy Googling) and decided on La Casalinga Trattoria. There is always a fear that you will be turned away for lack of having a reservation, but we were seated and waited upon immediately. š We ordered spaghetti al pomodoro, minestrone soup (Zuppa Toscana IRL), veggie contorni, and a bistecca all fiorentina - 800g, minimum order. It was perfectly aged, seasoned, and cooked. This was a food baby worth having!
Hydra IPA
Hops and tasty, emphasis on tasty.
Archea Brewery, Via deāserragli 44r, Florence
