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Fantastic Eats and Where to Find Them

(title credits to Smarika Suwal)

Italy is known for having some of the best food in the world- and in Rome you can’t really go wrong with good dishes anywhere. But through some exploration on our own we have found some good places to eat every kind of meal throughout Rome…

Gelato

Giolitti– the oldest Gelato place in Rome and honestly the best. You can get a small cone that is heaped with gelato and the fresh whipped cream (for free! Just ask for “panna”). The flavors are so rich and creamy it is definitely worth making the trek from the Colosseum over for a late afternoon treat. 

Millenium– this might be our favorite place because a). its so cheap b). its right down the street c). it is soooo good. This place has the amazing authentic gelato, and my favorite is the Mousse Profiterole that tastes like Nutella but is so creamy.

Traveling tip: We learned that the real gelato is the kind that doesn’t catch your eye. A lot of places has it puffed up in the tins and with vibrant colors, but this means that they pumped air into it and has artificial flavoring. So go for the real gelato that they whip up by hand.

To go pasta

Pastifico– Right by the Spanish steps, this take out pasta place opens at 1pm and there will be a full line of people waiting for its doors to open to reveal the two pasta types they are serving for that day. It is that good. And for only 4 euro you can get a huge meal of pasta. It is a must if you are in the area.

Crema e cioccolato- Literally one door down from our residence, it was the best place to go when we just wanted some take out pasta to sit up on the rooftop terrace of our apartment. They make it right here while you wait, and it comes out delicious every time. For relatively cheap you get a lot of food and a good meal.

Traveling tip: check the menu of the restaurant before you go in someplace. Often with the smaller restaurants they can only have a few dishes, or even just one for the day, and if you go in you have to eat there even if you are not a fan of that one dish. Trust us by experience.

UpScale Dinner

La Zanzara– This place is right near St. Peter’s Square, so about a 10 minute walk from the residence. We got a lot of recommendations to go there, and they were all right. A little bit pricier but totally worth the cost they had excellent pasta dishes and an extensive menu. Their drinks are also fantastic, so if you are feeling a nice night out with your roommates this is the place to go.

 

Good eats for cheap

Il Bersagliere– Another one of our favorites, it is only two blocks from the Residence (you can tell you don’t have to walk far for good eats). They have a lot of authentic Italian food for relatively a cheap price, and if you are not feeling getting a full meal you can get appitizers that are delicious– I would recommend trying their proscuitto and melon. For under 10 euros you can get wine, bread, and a whole meal.

Alice Pizza– This one we tried for lunch one day right after class as it was on the way to the train station. And we are so glad we did! It has amazing pizza, folded in the Roman style of course and you order it to go so it is perfect to take to the Piazza de Popolo and eat with a view. It has giant slices for under 3 euro, so if you are looking to go someplace cheap and fun with delicious slices that also have the unusual toppings of Rome this is the place to go.

Travel tip: Pizza in rome you pay for by weight so ask for a smaller slice and you will still get a lot to eat but for a better price.

These are our favorite places for a relatively better price so if you are looking to go on Maymester next year please check these out! Ciao!

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Top 5 Favorite Site Visits

There are so many sites that we loved on this trip, but these were our favorites…

The Roman Forum

I had always wanted to go to the Roman Forum, ever since learning about it in middle school. It was the center of ancient Rome where common people, religious leaders, and emperors alike would be bustling about in the area. There are so many ancient ruins built next to each other there, it’s packed with history and is amazing to see the photos from textbooks come to life before us. It was one of my favorite sites, and there is no real comparison to having the lives of ancient Romans displayed right before us in one area. 

Domus Aurea

When we had to put on hard hats to visit this site I was skeptical at first, but it was one of the coolest places we were allowed to go down into as it was an active archaeological site. We followed a long tunnel down into what used to be Nero’s palace (the emperor notorious for spending lavishly) that was buried to try to erase his memory. It was so much larger than we expected and the part that remains takes up a whole hill! We went through dark caves to see the remnants of frescoes from the first century, but the best part was wearing virtual reality goggles to see where we were and what it would have looked like in its prime.

Ostia

Ostia is an ancient roman port city that is abandoned so all the houses and buildings from the old city remain. It was like a huge playground where we could go all over this huge ancient city and climb up old staircases, walk across house foundations, and together we investigated what used to be an ancient restaurant. It was the most fun I have had exploring, and it was easy to get lost among a whole city of ruins. But around each corner was a hidden gem that clued into the lives of the people once lived there.

St. Peter’s Basilica

The largest Basilica in the world and the main center of Catholicism, St. Peter’s is adorned with decorations and paintings and statues all around. It is amazing that every inch is decorated. From an art perspective it is beautiful and from a religious one it is so powerful to be there. Since we are part of a group too we got to go underneath the Basilica to the old roman roads that hold mausoleums preserved underneath that had the body of St. Peter. After visiting the Basilica be sure to spend the time and euros to climb up to the top of the dome. While the passage is tiny and slants sideways, all the steps are totally worth the view of the whole of Rome from the top.

Vatican Museum

This was one of the world’s best scavenger hunts that we had. The museum is so big and houses art from all the ages from ruins pulled form sites we visited up to Renaissance maps painted right on the walls. The galleries themselves are a work of art, and of course the pinnacle of it all is the Sistine chapel. It is impossible to see it all in the short time we have, so our professors gave us a “scavenger hunt” type list of the best and most famous pieces that you could chose to see some of them if you would like. My roommates and I felt adventurous so we saw all of them, and it was totally worth navigating the many halls to see these masterpieces.

Honestly, some of the best trips besides this were the ones we decided to explore on our own. While the program of Maymester covers a lot, thankfully we have a lot of time off. We would take suggestions from the professors and they would direct us to some extra sites. These would always be amazing and feel like it is a bonus trip because we took the initiative to go adventure on our own.

(left to right) Trishala, Minke, Bridget, Me, Smarika, Cassandra