Rome v Lazio - the local Derby

If you live in Rome you already be aware of the prominence of the local Derby between AS Roma and Lazio for what is called calcio in Roma and football around Europe (soccer for Americans).

This year for 2009, 6th November is the day to be in Rome (or not to be if you are not a football fan) and if you can get tickets then this is one of the most competitive games in the Italian Seria A calendar. Other games perhaps of the same level in terms of competitiveness are:

• Inter Milan v AC Milan (in Milano)
• Palermo v Catania (in Sicily)

To try and get tickets for the Roma v Mazio game at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome two avenues to try are 1) The official Roma site and 2) the main tickets site TicketOne.

Best restaurants in Rome, Italy

I have been busy with business and friends visiting me in Rome, Italy lately and for that reason I have been easting out a lot lately. This has resulted in the discovery of some excellent restaurants that I had not got around to trying before.

San Lorenzo - The area of San Lorenzo is one of my favourites because of its vibrancy. 'Il Pommidoro' on Piazza dei Sanniti was excellent and served quality food at affordable prices. Quite a classy place, do not be put off by the pink table cloths!

Piazza Novana - 'Tre Scalini' was the restaurant I tried and took friends to and everyone ended the night quite impressed. The food is not necessarily cheap but this is Italian food at its best and this place is great for a special occasion.

Pantheon area - 'Terra Di Siena' on Piazza Pasquino was another restaurant which offered excellent food. Real Italian cooking, good service and nice venue.

Best Rome Guide Books

There are a number of excellent guide books out there for most major cities these days and Rome Italy is no exception. I have been checking out the various choices and my Top 3 Rome travel guides are as below:

1. Rome Lonely Planet travel guide - in my opinion is about as good as it gets. This guide is compact and thus easily fits in a handbag or small backpack and it is jammed with up-to-date and spot on information. This is my favourite.

2. Rome Top 10 Eyewitness Guide - if you go to any city worldwide then try and get the Eyewitness Top 10 guide. this book literally fits into your trouser pockets (if you wear jeans) and is a quick fire look at the top 10 of everything in a city. This guide pays for itself with the handy tips and information it holds.

3. Time Out Rome - is set out quite a bit differently from the two guides above but is a close alternative if you are not a Lonely Planet or Eyewitness series fan.

New Year in Rome

New Year in Rome or "La Festa di San Silvestro" is a fabulous way to experience this city. Rome offers wide-ranging restaurants to a variety of religious and cultural activities to celebrate the New Year. In the past, the Romans celebrated New Year by eating traditional food like fish and pasta. Over the years this has changed and now Rome has exploded to be an exciting way to see in the New Year including dancing, eating, drinking and party hard with friends and family. Rome is lit up by fireworks with hundreds of people in the streets celebrating with each other.

The main piazza where people head to is Piazza del Popolo where there's fireworks and live music well into the night. On New Year's day, children are entertained in the square by performers and acrobats.

Recently the celebrations are also being held at the piazza in front of the Quirinale off Via Nazionale where you can see concerts playing Classical music followed by fireworks. If you're lucky, you might see the Italian President and other important members of the Italian government attend to this event. The main event the next day is the New Year Parade procession. Thousands of people wait anxiously to receive the Pope's blessings in Rome. The parade passes through the historic Castel Sant' Angelo then down Via della Conciliazione and ends in St. Peter's Square.

Dining in Rome (Part 2)

Ristorante Pierluigi:(Piazza dé Ricci 144 06 68 61 302)
Pierluigi's restaurant is situated in one of the most pleasant squares of Rome amidst beautiful renaissance buildings, including the Ricci palace, famous for its splendid sixteenth century fresco. Fish here is excellent, the crowd is mostly Roman and middle-aged. It's a little bit more expensive but on a sunny day and for a true Roman lunching/dining experience, there is no better spot than this one!

F.I.S.H:
(via dei Serpenti 16 06 47824962)
F.I.S.H is a modern seafood restaurant with fabulous sushi, and fusion cuisine, excellent wine list in a beautiful atmosphere.

La Taverna di Lucifero: (Via dei Cappellari 28 06 68 80 55 36)

Enjoy a fantastic fondue at this lovely small restaurant just off Campo dei Fiori. Their cheese fondue and beef fondue are just to die for and make an excellent experience for a bunch of friends going out together. Try the fried eggs with tartuffo as a primo. The pasta is delicious too. Best to book ahead in the winter and at week-ends.

via Governo Vecchio No. 19.
A real local establishment visible through curtained windows. Courses change daily and each daily, you'll get served fantastic dishes at great prices.

Le Mani in Pasta:

(Via dei Genovesi 38 06.5816017)

Fabulous Trattoria, modern Italian cuisine, waiters speak some English, great service - excellent Fresh pasta, grilled fish and meat, wonderful deserts. Reasonable prices. Open for lunch and dinner.

Dining in Rome (Part 1)

It's not hard to eat well in Rome and in fact it's almost criminal not to. People generally accept that falling into the trap of paying for over priced mediocre restaurants is part of traveling but in Italy, this can't be the experience.

There are also so many guide books around to ensure that you're not sent to the wrong restaurant by some inscrupulous tout but as you're welcomed by the wonderful aromas filling the air, it's pretty easy to let your nose lead you instead.

The fantastic smells that float around between the hours of 12:30 and 3pm and from around 8pm to around 11pm indicate the hours for lunch and dinner in Rome. Rather than walk around hopefully trying to find that true local gem, this small guide will help you achieve the best eating experience of your life, and at very reasonable prices.

L”Orso ‘80 Via dell’Orso: 33(Tel 6864904 Closed Mondays)
This restaurant is worth going to just for the antipasti. Prodciutto con melon, aubergine, roasted peppers topped with tomatoes with parmigiano, delicious meatballs, beans, salads, porcini and much much more. It's located a few minutes from Piazza Navona and it offers a dining wonderful.

Pizzeria “Baffetto”: Via Governo Vecchio 2

(Closed Sundays. NO credit cards)
The queues outside should give you some indication of how good this pizza restaurant is. Seating both inside and out, this is fast food at it's best.

The large pizzas would feed a small village and the wines not too bad either - all this for as little at 7 euros for a meal.

New International film festival in Rome

One example of variety of activities and life a city can have is the launch of a completely new festival that should help it growing in importance, beauty and interest. Today I red about a new film festival in Italy. It aroused my interest as I am planning to go there on holidays. Here some facts for all that are interested in going to Rome this year and would like to enjoy some special events:
The “Cinema Festa Internazionale di Roma” is planned to run this year for the first time. As I could find out it takes place from 13th-21st October. During this week, about 80 films will be shown, which are coming from five different categories. And a prize of €200.000 is giving it a competitive character. A panel of 50 judges will price the best film, best actor and best actress.

The five main sections will be “Première” (Seven glamorous evenings of world premieres, complete with stars and directors.), “Il lavoro dell’attore” (The Actor’s Craft) (An exploration and celebration of acting, through laboratories, films and workshops. It exists the rumor that Robert De Niro will be involved in this event, and if it is true, he will probably will appear here J.), “Competition” (The jury, selected from the general public, under the guiding hand of an as-yet-unnamed figure from the film world, will be judging 14 international films.),

“Extra” (Featuring experimental films, television, documentaries and computer games.) and “Alice nella città” (Alice in the City) (This is a so called 'festival within a festival', aimed at the younger crowd: children and teenagers.)

For all kinds of interest is something there and I will try to see as much as possible.

But not only the content of this festival is worth to visit it, as Rome is one the cities considered as a capital of culture! So there is no need to create any stages or required locations. Rome provides plenty of cultural and historical places where the spectacle can take place, for example “The Auditorium” (“Auditorium Parco della Musica; a huge modern complex designed by Renzo Piano and opened in December 2002.), “Casa del Cinema“, “Casa del Jazz”, “Casa delle Letterature” (supposed to be one of the three Case to announce its plans at the official launch of the festival.).

Michelangelo and Rome

Ah Rome, such great memories I have from that miraculous city. Before coming there I was never much into art, but this city made me appreciate it and start admiring it. For the first time, and now for the rest of my life I have been enriched to enjoy the art that our world as to offer, everywhere I go.

Nearly everyone will probably think of one of world’s greatest creators of art, Michelangelo. What he did in one lifetime seems impossible. With the exceptional combination of being both a sculptor as well as a painter, he has devoted his lifework to the churches and basilicas of Rome.

Many would probably consider The fresco of The Last Judgement his greatest work, and although I loved the painting, I was absolutely blown away when I saw the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The patience, dedication, simply the absolute brilliance of the decoration is amazing. I instantly became a fan of his work. It impossible not to admire what Michelangelo has done. They say that art needs to be understood, you can read in different ways and therefore people do not understand the art or can’t appreciate enough, but this work of art will be admired and loved by everyone.

Millions of visitors come each to the chapel in order to admire his work, and now I fully understand why.His vision was exceptional. He spoke of art when seeing a sculpture, that is was already there and that each stone was different. The final statue was something he could see exactly in detail in his mind already, when just seeing an untouched sculpture. I was just a matter of chipping away the pieces that hidden the true shape of the statue. To me, those are words of a true artistic genius.

Gelaterias de Roma

There’s no real proof that ice cream was actually made in Italy although both Florence and Sicily have been staking claims since the 16th century. Rumours have it that 3000 years ago, the chinese liked to flavour snow with fruit but whereever the truth lies, one fact still remains; ice cream always tastes better in the Eternal City.

Rome’s Gelateria Giolitti (via Uffici del Vicario 40) is one of the best in the city and has long been a haunt for artists and politicians. The chocolate and nougat Coppia Olimpica, shaped like an Olympic torch that’s filled with zabaione (eggs and Marsala fortified wine) and the coffee based Coppa Mondiale (in the colours of the Italian flag) are two of the specialities.

Il Palazzo del Freddo (via Principe Eugenio 65) is the oldest and largest ice-cream parlour in Italy. Their specialities are Caterinetta which is an unusual chilled cream cake named after the French Catherinettes who were independent, unmarried woman of the 1900’s and Sampietrino, a delicious choc-ice textured like the old Roman cobbled roads.

If you really want a treat, head to Il Gelato di San Crispino (via della Panetteria 42) who make the wonderful zabaglione ice cream which is prepared with a 20 year old liqueur or the delicate Armagnac cream, made with a prized 1985 Laberdolive.

Rome, Italy: Enjoying a sporting weekend

If you are anything like me, then you will love going to different sports events around the world. When I went to the United States, I went to a baseball game and American Football game. In Finland I went to a rally driving event and an ice-hockey game.

In Rome the two big sports are football (calcio) and basketball. For football you have a choice of two teams and they are Lazio and AS Roma. If you get the chance it can be worth going to see a game. Football is a true part of Italian culture just the same as cooking, wine and living with one's mama until in ones thirties is :) You can try http://www.ticketone.it/ for tickets to either of those two teams.

Basketball is a big passion also in Rome and across Italy and the Italian league has some good players and a good standard. You can also try and book via the Ticketone website for tickets and for Rome events accommodation, Holiday Velvet in Rome.