Roma

Perhaps today’s lunch is a suitable illustration of the good things about this city.

We decided we wanted to eat pasta for lunch after our morning tour guide talked about the two local specialities, pasta carbonara and pasta cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper).

As we drove back from Tivoli gardens and Hadrian’s villa, half an hour outside of Rome, she told us how to cook these two simple specialties. We walked from where the tour bus deposited us, to our apartment, and lacking the ingredients at home, thought it would be great to find a cafe on our way there and eat these dishes, having had our appetites thoroughly whetted. Sure enough, on the short trip to the apartment we found an enticing small cafe with two men at the door inviting us in.

“Ah, but you don’t have cacio e pepe on your menu”, we lamented. “No problem, we’ll cook it for you, have a seat.”

The tiny restaurant was spotless and gleaming with warm wood and a fancy chandelier. The host was thrilled that we cared about these dishes and that we wanted the usual Roman aperitif of Prosecco (and not Coke as the other tourists seemed to be drinking). He told us he had a very good one and opened a new bottle. He was right, it was delicious.

The pasta was the best we have had, so full flavoured, it’s impossible to believe that both dishes have so few ingredients (three or four).

It was all so convivial, so easy, SO delicious and indulgent. It wasn’t the first time we have felt like we had been invited into the hosts home, rather than his business. (It does seem to always be a he).

And then there is the other experience of Rome. The difficulty in knowing where you are going, due to the lack of information and signs (and the difficulty of reading maps due to the extraordinary layout of the city). The endless hawkers.

The litter and the gritty air, the refusal of drivers to stop at pedestrian crossings, the good luck to you, you figure it out kind of mentality, that seems to be pervasive.

And the glory of the buildings, the ever present history. The surprises round every bend and at the end of every enticing lane way (not all of them good). The crowds of tourists. The plethora of fountains, the marble, the remains of city walls………………………………

The artworks and glorious singing to be found in the churches, the statues and sculptures on every street, the cobblestones , the cigarette butts, the poor city dogs being dragged along treeless streets panting on the end of the lead.

Eternally, Roma.