We made the most of our last day in Rome by visiting the covered market in the Testaccio neighborhood, which has excellent food stands to pick up lunch and nice little boutiques to pick up last minute gifts. It was blissfully free of large tour groups and instead there were small discreet groups of foodies on tour. We had superb fried artichokes (from Foodbox) and pizza, including one pretty (and tasty) one with zucchini flowers and burrata. We wandered around the former slaughterhouse grounds near the market which still have the rusty conveyor belt-like track with big hooks. Oddly, the place is now a contemporary art museum (closed when we were there, on a Monday) and what appeared to be an art school.
Made one last attempt to find a mother-of-the-groom outfit at the chic boutiques along Via del Pelegríno by the Campo di fiori in centro storico but no luck. Dinner was at da Cesare Al casaletto, a humble looking trattoria on a residential street in the Monteverde neighborhood, an easy #8 bus ride from Trastevere. Glad we had the hotel book ahead for us (I couldn’t do online.) Very unpretentious for one of Italy and Europe’s best restaurants (according to several lists). We had the best pasta matriciana (what we’d call amatriciana ) of our trip, bucatini in a red sauce with inch-size slices of extra crispy bacon. The lamb chop, also recommended, was a disappointment, the meat gnarly and unappetizing. The service was spotty too. Our waiter kept forgetting us but the owner kindly offered us a free glass of a bubbly white wine akin to Prosecco. We didn’t try some of the restaurant’s best reviewed dishes – fried appetizers, meatballs, Cacio e pepe ( Parmesan cheese and black pepper spaghetti, a Rome dish) because we’d been there, done that elsewhere.
Our Rome hotel, Casa di Santa Francesca Romana continued to be a good option. The triple room we stayed in on our return to Rome (a double wasn’t available) was worth the extra money, with more space, nicer bathroom. It’s still a no frills place, with spartan decor and Catholic knickknacks everywhere but great value, location, breakfast and service. Glad I remembered to book way ahead of time. The place was packed with an international cast.
TakeBetsywithyou 