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The Fith Quarter
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The Fifth Quarter
We have actually done most of what we wanted to do in Rome so today was just a day to finish off a few things.
We had our light breakfast at about 8:30am and headed to the Vatican to climb the Dome and take a few more pictures.
This was thrown into disarray because the trains stopped running for some reason. We decided to catch a bus to Piazza Venezia, which is quite large and then walked from there to the Vatican.
This was a considerable walk. Along the way we visited Saint Cecelia's church as this had gotten our interest from references to her at the catacombs.
We the continued on and walked through some very large gardens on a hillside that gave us great views of Rome.
There was also a giant statue of Garabaldi and a line of busts of all his forefathers.
We just about got to the Vatican when we ran into a multilevel carpark. We ended up spending 20 minutes in the carpark looking for a way through (so did quite a few others) before we gave up and walked around.
By this time the queue to get into the Vatican was quite long, so long infact we decided to give it a miss and come back later. It was now about 11:30am.
We had gotten a recommendation for lunch which was quite some way away. We decided to walk along the Tiber river and try and find the restaurant (it was off the edge of our map in Testaccio).
We had a very pleasant walk along the river and then tried to find the restaurant. We were actually about 15 meters from the front door before we started heading in the opposite direction.
It took about 20 minutes of further walking and asking directions before we got back to the same spot.
Now this restaurant cooks very traditional food. It was recommended by Gianpaulo (our landlord). We had decided to make this our big meal of the day so we started with.....
Pecerino Cheese, Fave (fresh broad beens that are served in the pod and you peel yourself) and Bruschetta (toasted bread drizzled with olive oil), for me, and Salicia al Pomodora (Italian sausage cooked in Tomato sauce) for Fiona - we shared!
Now as I said, the restaurant is very traditional and the menu was all in Italian. The waiter spoke practically no English.
We asked for a translation of the menu and he very patiently read out all the menu items in Italian - no help there! So we just went for it......
I ended up with Mezze Carbonara (pasta tubes in carbonara sauce) a safe choice!
Fiona ended up with something the waiter said was very traditional, it was Veal shank pieces, mushrooms, and sweetbreads braised together in a gravy.
I suggested we just eat our own dishes - we shared! Fiona was lucky enough to have a nice glass of red to wash it down - I had mineral water.
Gianpaulo later explained that some time back this was a poor part of town and where the slaughter house was located.
When cows are cut up, they are cut up in quarters. The poor workers were allowed to pick up and take the offal.
One restaurant started preparing meals with the offal and it became quite famous. This offal became known as "the fifth quarter".
He then told us most of the dishes at this restaurant contained some form of offal - now he tells us!
We left feeling very full and decided to head back to the Vatican via the metro. When we got there the queue to get in was just as long as in the morning - ah well.
The queue actually moved very quickly and only took about 20 minutes to get us in. When we went into St. Peter's Basillica there were large parts cordoned off that you couldn't go into.
This made it much more crowded than the first time we went. I took my fill of pictures and we decided to climb up the dome. This took longer in the queue than to get in, in the first place.
We ended up walking up the whole way (you could catch a lift up half way) because it ended up being quicker. The views from the top of the dome are superb.
Great vistas of all of Rome and all the way to the mountains. It also gave us a good look at the Papal gardens behind the Vatican.
On the way down you come out onto the roof on the Basilica. The Catholics never let an opportunity for a quick buck go by. There was a large souvenir shop up here as well as a drink shop and (luckily) a toilet as well!
We walked down the last lot of stairs and came out back inside the Basilica. After a long day of much walking we left the Vatican and headed back to the metro.
Now, Fiona and I know we have been going on and on about food and we really are trying to cut back so we decided to skip dinner after the large lunch we had.....so we went straight to dessert and just had jumbo gelatis!!! Mmmmm Gelati!
Tomorrow will see us up very early. We have made a late decision to use the last trip we have on our Eurail Pass and do a day trip to Napoli. We haven't booked seats yet so anything could happen.
Ciao,
Mark and Fiona.
Latest Comments (1)
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Hi (reply)
May 10, 2008 05:08 EST by julienaughtin
Thanks a lot I think I have put on 10kg just reading your emails.
Glad to hear you are enjoying yourselves.
The food sounds so good could you get some recipes!
See you soon
Julie Naughtin
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