Piazza del Popolo, Marzapane, Monticello – Sunday in Rome

Rome got overwhelming today, too many tourists (a crush of people in matching blue hats, at times), too much noise, too much trash, too many shops closed in the trendy Monti neighborhood (but hey, it was a Sunday.) Sometimes travel and the pressure to make every moment count in a magical faraway place can be too much. Not to mention so much walking.

Nothing that some down time and an afternoon nap couldn’t fix. And a splurge tasting menu dinner (yes, I ate a wee bit of rabbit) in a less touristed neighborhood by the Piazza del Popolo at Mazapane, a small out of the way “it” restaurant with a rising Spanish chef. I’m glad I booked a few restaurants out of our very touristed Trastevere neighborhood, although unlike Paris there is no handy metro and we haven’t figured out the buses so we’ve taken taxis.

Two observations: we had mediocre pizza last night in a great people -watching outdoor snack bar in central storico and excellent pizza today in an awful location, in an empty back room of a pizza bar. And near the restaurant tonight we were happy to be rid of American and other tourists but the Italians were shopping at American stores (Gap, Sketchers, Lush, sephora, Nike)…nearer to the restaurant we seemed to be in a neighborhood with recent immigrants from the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

We also were impressed with the quality of the buskers, especially on the bridges in Trastevere. We met a shopkeeper today in the TESSTACIO neighborhood who is also a busker. He said buskers have to get a permit for the location where they want to play.