london

After Rome, I went to London.

My friend Kinzie lives in London. She moved there for work last October and has spent the past number of months busily exploring her new home. I wanted to visit before she came back to the Bay Area and figured that it would be the perfect opportunity to improve my opinion of London, a city that never managed to wow me in visits past.

This time, I was wowed. Completely and thoroughly. Staying with someone who knows the city and also knows me made an enormous difference. Of course. I had done some research on my own and planned things like a visit to the Tate Modern to see the Damien Hirst exhibit (bizarre, fun) and the Maltby Market (tiny, delightful) and lunch reservations at spots like The Ledbury and Nopi (excellent & excellent). Kinzie made sure I didn't miss out on things I never would have found on my own. We walked along Regent's canal, visited the Columbia Road flower market, drank Pimm's Cup, watched Wimbledon, ate pig's head stew at St. John's Bread and Wine, listened to jazz at Nightjar, and fell asleep to Harry Potter movies. Among many, many other things. Kinzie knows me well.

I couldn't have imagined a more delightful time and was happy to revise my previous assessment of London's charms. Turns out, it's a pretty fabulous place.

ostia antica

While  in Rome, we also took a brief day trip to Ostia to see the ruins of the ancient Roman sea port. As we discovered, Ostia is an easy 30 minute train ride from Rome- we sipped cappuccini, met our guide at the station, and were off.

The site dates back to the 7th century B.C. but the visible structures date from the 3rd century B.C. 

The visit was interesting on a number of levels. Beyond the obvious allure of walking around structures that have been in place for several thousands of years, I was astonished by the quiet of the place- there were only a handful of visitors. This, at the peak of tourist season, while Pompeii gets something like 2.5 million visitors annually. I'm still scratching my head, wondering why this isn't a bigger tourist destination- it is undeniably impressive and extremely accessible from Rome. Still, I couldn't have imagined doing it without a guide to show us around. The ruins are mostly unmarked and I expect it would have been difficult to get a good sense of what things were if we hadn't had a well-informed guide. As it was, we past a very pleasant couple of hours wandering about and getting more than our money's worth in information on the Ostia of yore. All in all, an excellent excursion.

when in rome

So, I was in Rome.

A few months ago, my parents made plans to take a trip to Italy. My father had some business in Geneva and so my mother joined him and they made a holiday of it, traveling to Munich, Turin and Rome. They  invited me to join them for the Rome portion.

I didn't need to be asked twice.

We packed in an ambitious number of activities, including tours of the Vatican and the Farnese Palace, a day trip to Ostia, a visit to the Borghese Gallery, and of course, many, many restaurants. The heat was punishing- Rome in July- but the city was magnificent nonetheless. Rome is one of those places that reminds you why travel is so wonderful, even though the world seems to be getting smaller and more homogenous with every passing year. The fading roses and ochres of the buildings, the lush taste of fresh burrata, the ceiling of the Pantheon. I marvel every time.

Thank you again to my wonderful parents for letting me share their vacation. It was a beautiful trip I'll remember always.

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Where we ate:

Lunches

Antico Arco (Piazzale Aurelio 7 - Gianicolo)

Via Settembrini (Via Luigi Settembrini  25 - Trastevere)

Roscioli (Via dei Guibbonari 21 - Campo dei Fiori)

Dinners

Da Danilo (Via Petrarca 13 - Monti)

Al Ceppo (Via Panama 2/4 - Parioli)

313 Cavour (Via Cavour 313 - Colosseo)

Hostaria Romana (Via del Boccaccio 1 - Piazza Barberini) 

Il Tempio di Iside (Via Labicana 50 - Colosseo)

Gelato

Fata Morgana