|
Some of
us get up early to go check out the market at Campo de Fiori. I am not
one of them. Seth is leaving today and wants to do some last minute shopping.
It seems like a good idea, but he comes back empty handed. He gets in
a cab and heads for the airport and thus the mom's birthday portion of
the trip comes to an end. We pack up our stuff and then dad, Michael,
and I jump in a taxi and head to the Avis to pick up the rental cars.
We have justified in our minds that we need two cars...There will be some
day trips in opposite directions, Maureen and Franco are coming out to
Civita for the weekend and they don't have a car, so we will need space
for six, the price for a large enough car will be the same as for two
small cars, and then there is our ridiculous amount of stuff....So two
cars it is. When we get to the Avis place we have an odd experience. They
ask for the voucher for the rental. We don't have printouts, one car was
only ordered a few days before and we got an email confirmation only.
They are peeved. Then they ask for passports. Dad doesn't have his. he
says no one has ever asked for it before. The guy responds, 'how did you
get on the plane or into the hotel?' That seems a little aggressive. After
more unhappiness from them, they agree to rent to us anyway...it's not
as if they don't have the reservation in the computer.... Anyway so we
get the cars and we ask the best way to get back to the apartment. And
they say we can't drive there. This mystifies us. They claim that they
entire downtown area (they Avis is just outside) is off limits to non-residents
on weekdays. And that we will get a 75 euro ticket if we go inside and
that there are cameras that take pictures of the license plates.... So
now we have to figure out how to get the luggage from the hotel to the
cars without driving into the city center. The closest we can get legally
is about a half mile, which wouldn't be bad if it wasn't 90 degrees and
we didn't have soooo much stuff. It would be multiple trips on cobblestones
and without sidewalks. So we decide to see if we can get one car parked
and take our chances with the other one.
Street parking in Rome. Yeah good idea. This is not going to happen.
So we decide to take both cars in and see what happens.
Well I'll tell you...they really do have cameras...there are chicanes
that force you into one lane and there are huge signs and cameras that
take pictures of every car. If you don't have an orange placard in our
rear window, then somehow they will find you. Well, it might be an expensive
lesson. We get back to the apartment and load up and then we are off.
Because getting out of Rome should be easy. We only take one wrong turn
and we recover quickly and we work our way out to the autostrada pretty
quickly. Civita Castellano is less than an hour north of Rome in Northern
Lazio. It's situated similarly to Tivoli, on either side of a river canyon,
but not quite as picturesque. The hotel is really nice, with a large courtyard,
a big fountain, several terraces with tables, chairs , and umbrellas,
and a small tower with a belvedere.
We are staying a full week, this should be good.
The first order of business is, of course, lunch. Just next to the hotel
we saw a store advertising porchetta. It turns out to be a small grocery
store and we decide to see if we can find anything better. A quick circle
of our part of town finds limited options. By the time we get back to
the store, it's closed for the afternoon. Then we try the restaurant located
on the grounds of the hotel. The door is shut. This is not good. tempers
are short and hungers are long. and it's hot. We press the buzzer to the
restaurant, just in case. Someone answers...we are saved! They are open.
I think they were keeping the air conditioning inside the building. Why
the door was locked...who knows.
We head in and sit in a converted stable. It's very nice, white tablecloths,
stone everywhere, the feed and water troughs now hold wine bottles. Very
impressive. The maitre'd pulls up a chair to the table and starts telling
us the menu...there is nothing printed. I have to concentrate very hard
to remember what he is offering, but he is very charming and describes
each dish slowly. I order a pasta with asparagus and pancetta, mom and
Michael have artichoke ravioli and dad has gnocchi with sausage. Everything
is outstanding. The gnocchi are the best any
of us have ever had. ever. They are so light and airy, they melt in your
mouth. they have nearly no mass or density, they are just a little bit
of potato wrapped around air. Absolutely amazing. the other pastas are
also excellent, if not as awe inspiring. the main courses are equally
successful. Mom and Michael have stuffed roulade of rabbit with roast
potatoes, I have thin cutlets of beef with fresh cheese and arucola, and
dad has tripe. I avoid tripe and I'm not changing my tune today, but this
is unapologetic tripe. it's not chopped or camouflaged or made to look
like anything but what it is. intestines. thick and coiled and lots of
them. Dad says they are excellent, but is mostly impressed with how proudly
they are served. everything is tasty...a nice bottle of local white and
we are happy. Dessert is chocolate mousse for me...like the gnocchi, light
and airy, just sweet enough, and covered with slivers of white and dark
chocolate. We share the five quarters dessert, the tasting plate. a zabaglione,
some mousse, a profiterole, a lemon semifreddo, and another unidentifiable
confection. All delicious.
This place is a find, but is in noen of the guidebooks. It's one of, if
not the most enjoyable meals we've had in Italy.
Now it's nap time. It's so hot and we are tired out from lunch. An hour
and a half later, Michael, Dad and I manage to go for a walk. It's cooled
off some. The town is totally untouristed. We get stared at like space
aliens. There's not much going on in town, just normal life...We walk
for an hour and end up back in the hotel courtyard. Michael and I sit
and play scrabble for a while. then we decide not to go out for dinner..instead
we have a 'picnic' on one of the terraces eating the food we have collected.
Some bread bought just in case lunch didn't work out, some leftover cheese
and meat from previous snacks, cookies from the bakery this morning, chocolate
from Lucca, and drinks from the bar. The sun sets, the air cools, and
we have a pleasant lite dinner. one more game of scrabble in the lounge
with the Juventus/Real Madrid game on in the background (Real 2-1) and
it's time for bed.
Tomorrow: Hill towns.
|