Where to Eat in Rome

I simply adore Rome! 

(You can read about past lovely trips here and here) One of the things you must find when visiting such a nostalgic city is good food. Well good food and of course, a cozy little cafe where you can slip in unnoticed, blend in with the locals, and sip on a glass of house wine or chilled limoncello. Trust me, you want to get away from restaurants that beckon you to come in and offer "tourist menus." Find that little hole in the wall with creaky doors and dusty, exposed brick ceilings. Or, if you happen to know someone who has been living in Rome, follow them around for the weekend! That's what we did, and Ben introduced us to some wonderful restaurants and local bars. 

Here are my food notes from our February trip to Rome:

We had breakfast twice at the Bakery House ROMA. Their food was so fresh and it was reasonably priced! We each paid under 10Euros for coffee and a sizable breakfast. My favorite meal at the Bakery House was their eggs benedict with ham and asparagus. I couldn't leave without trying one of their homemade cupcakes too. I know, I know, breakfast of champions! It was totally worth it! 

"When in Rome"

Perhaps I should rename this post "Ben in Rome" because our fantastic guide, Ben, treated us to two days of non-stop sightseeing, limoncello, coffee and Italian pizzas! After working in Rome for a couple years, Ben sort of owns the city! I have to say that it was refreshing to walk around and actually see the sights as opposed to having my nose buried in a map. Rather than pick a restaurant based on a random recommendation, we confidently followed Ben into his favorite cafes and hole in the wall trattoria's. On this trip, we were followers, and Ben made sure that we saw as much as possible on our short weekend in Rome. 

 I had visited Rome in July with a couple of our friends from Kentucky, but unfortunately Chris' job kept him home. Boo. This time around, I was not about to take the trip without my hardworking Hubby! I knew that all of the books and shows surrounding ancient Roman civilization would spring to life once Chris saw it all in person. It took two short hours to fly from Brussels to Rome and since I was familiar with the route from the airport to Termini Station, we had no problems finding Ben's metro stop. 

Me and the Babas.

English = Grandmother or Grandma (or whatever nickname your family uses)

Russian = Bubushka (or "Baba" for short)

Serbian = Baka (or Baba can also be used)

Dutch = Grootmoeder (or "Oma" for short)

Chris and I are three weeks into our Dutch lessons which means that we can now have very elementary conversations.Now we know very important facts about our classmates:

Where are you from?

Where do you live? 

How do you get to this Dutch class? Auto, bus, by foot, by plane?

Are you married? 

Do you drink beer?

Do you have children?

Please repeat the question. . . . 

I am sorry, I don't understand. (Important to know.)

I am sorry, I only speak a little Dutch. 

What language(s) do you speak?

Amsterdam in the Snow

Lucky for us, Chris and I did quite a lot of pre-trip planning before our wintry weekend in Amsterdam. Last year, I learned my lesson when my dreamy Prague trip turned into more of a frustrating nightmare (for lack of planning on my part). 

Feel free to read about that lesson learned, but now, onto our successful Amsterdam trip. 

After an easy drive from Belgium, we parked our car at the Sloterdijk Park and Ride, and took a five minute train ride into Amsterdam Central Station. Just a little trip-planning note: it is super expensive to park your car in Amsterdam (our hosts said you could expect to pay around 100 Euros a day), so the most economical option is to find one of the several Park and Ride locations on the perimeter of the city. We parked our car for a day and a half and received free train transfer into the city center all for a whopping 10 Euros!