Saturday Evening in Rome

Having had a quiet afternoon in the cool of the hotel we decide to see where the road from the hotel, the Via Delle Province, led. So at 6.30 we headed out and walked down the road. This lead us on to the Via Tributana. Here there is very large cemetery (Cimitero del Verano), but at this time in the evening it was closed.

We walked on and the road led us to the back of Termini station. From there we waked through the Victory Park, with it's Roman era fountain, on to Maria Maggiore, this is an impressive Church very different from the others we had seen so far.

We walked on from there and came up Via Nazionale to the Piazza della Repubblica, a very special architectural area. The main part of the square is surrounded by a large crescent of shops and offices. The centre of the square has an amazing statue. It represents the Naiads of mythology. Behind that on the other side of the square is the Church of Our Lady of the Angels and St. Martin  which is built into the side of what was Diocletian's great bath house. 

We eat just off the square in a restaurant called La Cucina Nazionale Drew had Bruschetta Pomodoro, Mozzarella e Capperi a bruschetta that was soaked in olive oil and tomotow juice and (as the picture to the left shows) covered with mozzarella, Drew liked it a lot. I on the other hand had Bresaola e Rughetta con Parmigiano, not only was there a lote of bresaola but a great deal of rocket and parmigiano. The meat was well cured and had a salty, picante flavour.

Drew then decided he was going to order easily and go for his favorite Pennette all'Arrabiata, perhaps he plans to write a comparison of the Arrabiata he has had in Italy! I had Fettuccine Al Ragu the first time this holiday I had fettuccine and the first time I had raga. As it is normal for us to have pasta with ragu on a Saturday night at home, it seemed the sensible choice for me. Drew's Arrabiata was very spicy, just as he likes it, I'd have wanted a few more herbs in my ragu, but the fettuccine was cooked to perfection.

Keeping in his repeating mode Drew opted for Pizza Diavola, this one had larger pieces of Salami than on the other two he had tried and this accentuated the flavour. I opted for a Calzone Forcito, Calzone I've had before, but this one was with pomodoro, mozzarella, prosciutto cotto e funghi, the first two ingredients being the basis of any good calzone, but the later two adding a different flavour from any other one I had, very tasty.

We had both had enough not to want a dessert so after a Cafe (espresso of course) we caught the bus from Piazza Repubblica to Termini and back to Bologna for the 7 minutes walk to the hotel. We got in at 10.40 p.m.  Only  a few remaining highlights of Rome to see.