Vacation Highlight Reel: Rome
The 12 best things we did (and ate and saw) in the Eternal City
Last fall, after hosting a Puglia food tour, I took the train to Rome to meet my husband Andy for vacation. The only other time I’ve ever been to the city was for three days in blistering, crowded August when the kids were teenagers, so I was eager to return in October when the crowds are somewhat thinner — it’s still the tail end of tourist season — and the weather is pleasant enough for cotton sweaters and cropped pants. The only thing I did by way of advance planning was book a dinner reservation for the first night (I always do this, no matter where I travel) and secure two tickets to the Sistine Chapel, a destination that had long been at the top of my Life List.
Other than that, I really just wanted the week to be about exploring and cooking and eating and doing that Rome thing where you dip into churches and then…oh, look, a Bernini sculpture…a Caravaggio masterpiece! I found that in Rome, I had none of that inner anxious chatter going — Am I doing this right? Am I seeing enough? — because just going about my day, just heading out for a morning run under a 2,000-year-old footbridge along the Tiber, or eating a pizza rossa for lunch while sitting on a fountain that is older than the discovery of America felt like I was steeping myself in the history of civilization and experiencing the city the way it’s meant to be experienced. (I was really regretting bringing along My Brilliant Friend for my “Italian read” instead of SPQR.) And of course, we ate extremely well. I almost can’t remember a trip where we did better on that front, but I guess that’s not really surprising. It’s Rome, after all, Land of pasta, pizza, gelato and beyond. And now — andiamo! — my highlights…
