When in Rome...

Well, after a cab, a train, ANOTHER train, a ride on the airport tram, a plane with a missing screw, an 1 1/2 hour delay, an 8 hour flight, a shuttle bus to the airport, a train to the center of Rome, a 15 minute walk lugging bags and a drop of said bags in our adorable apartment in Rome and we...PHEW...made it!  Yes, after ALL of that, we got our first blissful looks at the Eternal City...

My absolute favorite part of Rome and Sorrento were the hidden alley ways.  Every time you turned around you were met with a little nook in the city that just took your breath away.  (I'm sure I'll be showing you just a FEW more of these views on this blog in the next few daysJ)

OK, OK...strolling be damnedJ  After merely a croissant on the airplane that morning, I knew the FIRST place we just HAD to stop in our journey through Italy: for some GELATO!!!

You literally could throw a stone from ANYWHERE in the city and hit a gelato shop.  They are EVERYWHERE!!!  But San Crispino had been on my radar as being listed as the best gelato in all of Rome.  And once we found the place (in an alley...which turned into a theme of our tripJ) we found a small crowd standing around eating in near reverent silence.  I was giddyJ

And it didn't help to see the list of acclaims on their front door and list of flavors being served up for the day...

I had read that TRUE gelato was always served in steel drums and San Crispino just so happened to be the ONLY gelato place that we stumbled on that served it up in this way, so I knew it was going to be good stuff....

We ordered up our flavors:  Caramel & Crema for her and hazelnut & coffee for him and dug in...

To say the first bite was life changing, is an understatement.  One bite of caramel and my mouth EXPLODED with flavor.  Take everything you've EVER heard about Italian gelato and BELIEVE it.  I could NOT believe it was even BETTER than I had ever had imaged...

Super creamy, every bite was just SOOOO flavor dense and not an OUNCE (NOT AN OUNCE) of "icy" bite...the stuff is pure magic.  It was unlike anything I had EVER tasted this side of the Atlantic.  No, for real.  It was THAT good.  (What ice cream aversion??J)

After floating back down to earth, we headed over a few short blocks and before we ever SAW it, we could hear the swell of rushing water & chatter of the crowd surrounding the TREVI FOUNTAIN!

I was almost dizzy with awe over actually seeing it for the first time with my own eyes.  It was breathtaking...

We threw in our obligatory coins and made some wishes...

And then grabbed a seat to listen to the rushing water and take it all in....

And why did we need a seat to take it all in?  Because the Trevi Fountain was our first experience with what became a VERYYYYYYYY familiar theme in Rome:  CROWDS.

In hindsight, this one was actually pretty tame in comparison to what we had encounter in our following 2 days in Rome, but at the time we couldn't stop gaggeling at the inordinate amount of people just SURROUNDING this attraction...

After elbowing our way through the crowd and watching the city come alive at night....

...we realized that man could not live on gelato alone (although DAMN IT, WE TRIED!) and decided to seek out a place for dinner.  Restaurant in the shadow of the Pantheon, anyone??

This area of town was CRAWLING with "tourist traps" but we just were ready to SIT DOWN and enjoy a meal that WASN'T divided into airport dinner tray compartmentsJ

I had bucatini all'Amatriciana (tomato sauce & bacon), while Scott had a VERY tasty lasagna...

Truth be told, this was probably our LEAST favorite meal of the entire trip.  Don't get me wrong, it was GOOD...but to us spoiled East Coasters who are SURROUNDED by good Italian restaurants, I'd rank this one as pretty standard.  It was my own fault...I should have known better after reading up for MONTHS on tourist trapsJ  Don't worry...it gets MUCH betterJ

The one SUPER outstanding part of this meal??  The olive oil that came with our rosemary foccacia was just DROP DEAD AMAZING!

After this, I QUICKLY became obsessed with olive oil because, like the gelato, it was unlike anything I ever tasted.  Super rich & thick...I literally think I could have drank it with a straw.  It was extraordinary!

And despite being SLIGHTLY bummed about feeling as though I fell into Italy's trap of standard food shuttled out to "not knowing any better" tourists, I DID however soothe myself with the view of where we were actually sitting.  It was right out of a postcard....

And how do you make up for a "subpar" meal in Rome?? 

Do you even need to ask??

While walking to dinner, we just HAPPENED to stumble on the place that I had listed as my SECOND most wanted to try/well reviewed places in Rome: Giolitti.  With a mind blowing array of flavors....

 ...and enough chocolate ones to tame ANY chocolate craving, it was a toughhhhhhh pick to narrow down our selections!!!

I finally settled on Zabaione (egg nog!) and rice (yes, RICEJ) and we got what turned out to be our ABSOLUTE FAVORITE FLAVOR THAT WE HAD FOUND THE WHOLE TRIP:  NUTELLA!!!!

I had tried Nutella at one other shop and it just couldn't even REMOTELY compare to this one.  If you had told me they took a jar of Nutella, froze it and served it up...I would have believed you!  It was THAT flavorful, thick & luscious.  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!!!!!

Scott also indulged in Nutella along with some white chocolate & tiramisu for good measure...they were all DELICIOUS!

We took our cones and strolled back over to the Trevi Fountain to catch it lit up at night...

....and yes, STILL surrounded by the crowdsJ

After that, we headed back to our apartment and promptly collapsed!  Hope you enjoyed my DAY ONE recapJ  Here's a preview for tomorrow...

Have a good Tuesday!