Walking in Rome. . .

PLEASE NOTE: I’ve switched Comments back to an older setting which I don’t like as much, but which may allow more of you to leave comments. If you would attempt to leave even the briefest of comments — even “testing” would do — that would give me a chance to see if that’s the Fix we’re looking for. I do miss hearing from you. It’s an important reward for this non-monetized blogger 😉

That day in Rome that we put off last week in favour of accepting our granddaughter’s invitation to watch her swimming lesson? We managed to fit it in a day later. . .

 We took the train in with our daughter, who had an appointment with her hair stylist, so we started our stroll through the city from Roma Tuscolana, a somewhat grittier part of the city. and then we worked our way toward a restaurant her friends had recommended on Via Urbana in the much more upscale Monti neighbourhood.

All over Rome, tourists were lining up to see ancient and venerable art and architecture. I’m not aversing to the seeing, but I’m not so keen on the lining up, and luckily, I’ve been in the city a few times and seen a fair bit of the good stuff.

This time ’round, when most of our time near Rome is spent catching up with family, I content myself with a day or two in The Eternal City, and I’m quite happy simply to admire flowers and plastered walls, ochres and terra cottas and apricots, all those rich, warm colours with a patina that testifies to their wear and tear. Life that can’t be held in a museum or a gallery. . .

It was raining by the time we got to the restaurant, shortly after noon, and although it wasn’t scheduled to open until 12:30, we were invited to come inside and sit although the kitchen wasn’t ready for orders yet.

But she served us wine and we sipped contentedly, and eventually ordered and ate . . . We both ordered the roasted squid appetizer (if I’d known he was going to order it, I’d have ordered something else — duplication always seems a waste of possibilities to me. We don’t share this view 😉 I followed that with the orecchiette with codfish ragout. Very good. He chose Linguine with clams — again! Part of a comparison he was making all week between different versions of this simple, basic dish — his own is superlative, in my opinion, but he continues to do research. . .

What is that, perched on that magnificent ivy-clad wall?

Even zooming in a bit, I don’t think I’ve caught it for you to see, so take my word for it being a bird-feeding station with, I think, a birdhouse and possibly a birdcage. Lots of avian activity, at any rate. . .

More greenery, in a covetable planter. . . .

and, to close, a reflective-window selfie of your guides on this walk through Rome.

The walk’s not over yet, though. . . Check back soon for my next post — for which we did do some lining up to get inside. Worth it sometimes, right?

22 Comments

  1. Annie
    16 May 2019 / 8:09 am

    Fabulous photos. It is such a glorious city. All that and the best coffee in the world.

  2. Suz from Vancouver
    16 May 2019 / 12:07 pm

    Testing.
    I’m in Berlin so maybe not a true test of commenting from home. I have been enjoying your posts (unable to comment earlier) so thank you !
    Suz from Vancouver

  3. Madame Là-bas
    16 May 2019 / 1:43 pm

    The colours are lovely! Pots of geraniums and a squid appetizer…Who needs lineups?

  4. Anonymous
    16 May 2019 / 2:12 pm

    Best way for visiting the town! Especially Roma!
    I resonate with Pater's testing different versions of the same dish and make it at home
    Dottoressa

  5. Maria
    16 May 2019 / 2:12 pm

    No idea if my comment will appear but I’m happy to have a go. I love your writing and always read your posts, though I’ve not often been able to comment successfully. Your writing is superb and you have a very fine eye for colour, patina and aesthetic details in urban and natural landscapes, not to mention a lover of art and a taker of fine photographs. Thanks for sharing your day in Rome.

  6. sensitive poet
    16 May 2019 / 4:48 pm

    Wonderful colours – so vibrant, reminds me of our trips to Italy and Greece (without the hassle of air travel!). Very evocative – thank you. Refreshing not to have a monetized blog, I like people's unvarnished opinions, untainted by commercial considerations. Tell it like it is, sister!

  7. Loretta a/k/a Mrs. Pom
    16 May 2019 / 6:52 pm

    Thank you taking us on this companionable walk through Rome. We never tire of it!

  8. Mary
    16 May 2019 / 8:17 pm

    I think that as great as it is to visit a city's highlights or top 10 sites, my favorite travel memories are usually of time spent walking around city streets, checking out neighborhoods, or walking through the countryside and feeling the character/mood of a place. Much more evocative than standing in lines and being bumped around by folks more intent on capturing a moment on their screen instead collecting a memory in their heart.

  9. Anonymous
    17 May 2019 / 12:29 am

    Love your photo tour of Rome – so enticing! I'm also glad I'm not the only one having trouble posting! I tried to leave a comment on your last post but couldn't! While you are exploring Rome and Bordeaux I am enjoying a brief stay in your city of Vancouver.
    Frances in Sidney

  10. materfamilias
    17 May 2019 / 6:35 am

    Annie: It's all that!
    Suz: Berlin! Very cool! I need to spend more time there someday.
    Mme: You got it!
    Dottoressa: I'll tell him that . . .
    Maria: Thank you so much for all the kind words — much appreciated!
    Sensitive Poet: Can you believe I've never been to Greece? You're likely you can get to these places without the hassle of air travel!
    Loretta: You're very welcome!
    Mary: Obviously, some sites are worth the visit, but I'm usually more interested in what you describe, just getting the sense of a place.
    Frances: I'm glad this is working so that I can hear from you — enjoy your visit to Vancouver!

  11. Linda in Scotland
    17 May 2019 / 8:33 am

    Wow, retro comments format! This takes me back a bit!
    Good for you doing the grittier parts of Rome and avoiding the lining up. I read through the delicious menu and then realised it was all in English. Is that common Rome?
    Now, let's see if this works….

  12. Eleonore
    17 May 2019 / 9:56 am

    Your photos are lovely! And they brought back my wanderings through another Italian town just last week, although there the predominant colours are white, cream, and beige. We had rain, too, and quite a lot of it. People everywhere complained of "the coldest May they had ever had". On the other hand, there were green meadows with yellow, purple, and pink flowers underneath the olive trees. Very beautiful.

  13. ChristineCascadia
    17 May 2019 / 2:59 pm

    So many wonderful choices on that menu board!

  14. materfamilias
    17 May 2019 / 4:28 pm

    Linda: I don't know how common it is, but I've seen it quite a bit. They also had an ardoise in Italian — being able to bring this to the table saves the busy server, obviously, from having to translate every item. As well, while the staff in this restaurant spoke English very well, we often find the English is very limited in Rome, much more than we've found in Paris, for example. So many places have menus printed in English, sometimes alongside the Italian, sometimes separately. I prefer being able to look at the Italian, because the English is often tough to decipher.

    Eleonore: My daughter said that she had begun to feel impatient with the weather, but then reminded herself of the four previous Mays she's lived in Italy, when it's hardly hot and then gets steadily hotter until September. She decided she didn't mind waiting for the sunshine. And yes, we noticed the green as well! Glad you had a good time.

    Christine: So many — hence my slight frustration that Pater ordered the same starter as I did! So many choices we didn't get to try 😉

  15. hostess of the humble bungalow
    18 May 2019 / 12:52 am

    Lovely stroll through Rome…
    something weird is happeneing on the comments on my blog too. Not sure what the issue is but I had a few emails from readers saying that they were unable to leave comments…I enjoy the feedback and comments too so I hope this fix works for you.

  16. Anonymous
    18 May 2019 / 6:29 pm

    'Life that can't be held in a museum or gallery' – I love that! I've really enjoyed reading your recent posts, complete with photos, artistic journal entries, reflections on life and evocative descriptions of your travels. Sorry for not commenting much recently, life has been a bit hectic, but if you can make time to produce a blog, I should make time to comment more often. I will try! By the way, I love the stripy navy dress worn with colourful scarf in your last post. Wilma

  17. Marob
    19 May 2019 / 4:37 pm

    Hi Frances – am commenting by way of testing and also to say hello. Came here looking for your post about your sketching and journalling – so will keep scrolling. Not sure what you changed on your comments setting – but at the end of the post there was no 'leave a comment' box – I had to click on the link of comments, then scroll through them to get to the leave a comment section – maybe that was the way it was before.
    Am following you mostly on IG – but do like to get the long form version – from time to time .
    Enjoy the linguine testing 😉
    Margaret – Edinburgh

  18. materfamilias
    19 May 2019 / 5:17 pm

    Lesley: I did a bit of research and it seems that the "embedded thread" comments are more likely to cause these problems than this older version. I much prefer being able to leave a response "embedded" after each reader's comment, but if this method means more readers can chime in, I'll try it for now.
    Wilma: Never feel you need to apologize for not commenting. I know how busy life can get! But thanks for making the effort today. It's always good to hear from you. And thanks re that dress and scarf 😉
    Margaret: Thanks for the comment. Are you talking about the post I referred to on Instagram today? That's a future post 😉
    And yes, that's the way it was before and I'm stuck with it again, the older version of the Comments. Google/Blogger is unlike to put any more R&D into this free platform, and I'm not keen on paying for help or to move to another blogging platform. So many ways that Instagram suits, but I do like the expanded space of the blog as well.

  19. Anonymous
    20 May 2019 / 6:31 pm

    I've also had difficulty in commenting on your European journey. I also "lost" the link to a couple of other bloggers I follow so am not sure what is happening just now. This method wants me to use a google gmail account which I don't have. Hey ho, when my step daughter visits this weekend no doubt she will show me where I am going wrong. I'm enjoying your posts. They're a good reminder to me to get out more and make the effort to travel.

  20. materfamilias
    20 May 2019 / 6:41 pm

    Anonymous (and please consider using the Anonymous method but adding a name/pseudonym at the end of your comment so that I can respond to you as other than Anonymous): Could you clarify? You don't have a google gmail account but you did manage to comment here? So does that mean the method doesn't actually require such an account? I'd appreciate the feedback as I decide which method works better.

  21. Marsha
    20 May 2019 / 6:53 pm

    Testing – and so appreciating the geraniums (one of my wedding flowers – the others were nasturtiums!).

  22. materfamilias
    20 May 2019 / 8:54 pm

    Marsha: Yay! That worked . . . aren't the geraniums great? Mixed with nasturtiums, they must have made for a joyous and cheerful wedding bouquet.

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