So It Begins...Again

 Jet-Lagged and happy, we are in Rome at the moment, but heading to Umbria in the morning. This is night two in Rome. We normally stay one night before heading to our Beloved Nut, but this time we decided to splurge time and spend an extra night in this city we love.

Our flight here was pretty darn perfect, despite being delayed an hour. It all turned out perfectly, and the weather here in Italy is about ten degrees warmer than in California, so....yay!

A lovely view on our way from Frankfurt to Rome yesterday...

As is our long running tradition, our first night in Italy was spent dining at our favorite Pizzeria Remo...

Happy Johnny!

Happy Janelle!

We sat next to these three young Italian men who were delightful. They enjoyed our silliness, and we enjoyed their youth. It was a great match. One of them was familiar with "Carmel-By-The- Sea", so we  hit it off right away. They talked us into ordering a dish we have never had....

No, these are not pancakes. These are pan fried pieces of scamorza, a mild cheese
that you can grill or fry until crispy. And yes, they were incredibly tasty!

The scamorza was so good, but very rich. Not sure I would order it again, but so glad we tried it at least once!

We moved on to the main event, which is always pizza...and always great.

Johnny had a mushroom pizza and I went for the traditional Margharita.
The best, as always.

Yep. We did that. We always do.

Another unusual move...dessert. We hardly ever order dessert, but we must have been feeling a bit wild, so we had a crostata with blueberries.

A perfect end to a very long day of travel.

We slept well and long, waking up only once at about three in the morning...but fell back to sleep, thank god. 

After showers and coffee, we set off today for a long day wandering about Rome. 

We started by stopping into the local mercato, or market place. This is a spot that has a whole bunch of stalls...everything from used clothing to fruit, veg, meat, cheese and prepared food to eat there or take home...

Wonderful looking hand made pasta...

Colorful veggies...

In season artichokes...and so much more!

Afterwards, we walked and walked, stopping here and there to enjoy this city we adore.

Some moments from today...

I like the "halo" effect on Johnny...

A much needed break!

Inside a church we'd never been into before. It was amazing!

You know you are in Rome when...

Yes, in the foreground you see a roof-top terrace I could only dream about!

 

Later this evening we had dinner at Da Enzo in Trastevere.

This is a place I've read about for years, but we've never been. I knew it would be crowded and very full of Americans, and it was both... But the food was really great, and it may be the best pasta cacio e pepe we've ever had.

The fried artichokes were fine, but we have had better...

The cacio e pepe, a pasta made with nothing but pecorino cheese, spaghetti and black pepper

 was the best yet, and there was almost too much of it.

Plenty of freshly cracked black pepper made this dish.

We also enjoyed some very spicy and garlicy grilled veggies.
They were really wonderful, too.

Now I'm in bed writing this and getting sleepy.

Tomorrow we'll take the train up to Umbria...and so it begins!

Stay tuned, and be sure to check my other blog, which is all about Johnny painting over here in Italy.

Thanks for staying with us!