Roman Holiday

Hi everyone,

Time for another update! It's been a busy two weeks: finishing my exams and immediately setting out to Rome, spending a wonderful week in Italy, and then coming back to London to celebrate my birthday (not once, but twice) and saying goodbye to some very good friends and flatmates.

I and two friends stayed with an Italian friend in her family home just south of Rome. We were so lucky on many counts: getting to know a warm and generous Italian family, spending a week in sunshine (instead of the London gloom), seeing all the famous Roman sights and eating non-stop amazing food [as an aside, I was far from the only glutton/foodie on the trip - my friend claims she can have five meals a day!!]. Yep, my idea of a perfect vacation!

 There were so many amazing things to do in Rome that it's hard to pick some highlights. However I'd say my top favourites experiences were:
- FOOD! I ate some oxtail at a place called Osteria Zi'Umberto-  oxtail or Coda de Vecchiata is a Roman specialty. "Me piacere", "My pleasure" as my friend's dad said. I also enjoyed the mouth-watering little cherry tomatoes, so tasty compared to the bland tomatoes we buy from Tesco in London.

an Italian market

Foro romano - the Forum, Rome "symbol of civic pride" and repository of ruins of the Curia, where 300 Senators deliberated and ruled over Rome from the third century AD. 

SIGHTS:

• Top sights were definitely the Forum and the Colosseum, symbols of the Roman Empire. The ruins of the Forum are very impressive and it's not hard to imagine a time when this was the centre of Roman politics. Going on a tip from a friend, we skipped the long queue at the Colosseum and got our tickets at the Forum (the ticket is good for both sites).  Highly recommended. 
• I also enjoyed the lovely little churches- Santa Maria de Trastavere for its gold mosaïcs, San Clemente for its cool crypt, and Santa Maria Maggiore. 
• The piazzas were enjoyable, I was quite impressed by Piazza Navona with its huge fountain representing the four rivers (don't ask me which ones - I only know the Tiber). 
• I mostly stayed away from indoor museums- but got to visit the lovely Galleria Nazionale D'Arte Moderna as well as the Jewish Museum and unusual Synagogue. 
• And finally, we were lucky to be staying with "locals". We ate at some charming little places outside Rome (Da Bobbo restaurant near Albano), went to a seaside beach and visited the Pope's summer residence atop a mountain. 

piazza Navona. Here they serve a special dessert called the "tartuffo" - dark chocolate truffles with whipped cream. I haven`t tasted this yet- as my friend A says, you should always leave something to do for when you return. 

Trevi Fountain. 

Near Albano, south of Rome. 

Thanks everyone for the kind birthday wishes. I had a lovely dinner at an English-pub-turned-Korean-BBQ-and-karaoke place near my residence, and today we had a fun picnic and frisbee afternoon in Regents' Park.  I have splendid friends and family and wish I could have been everywhere at once to celebrate.

Love

Miss Engagée