Rome Day 2

My parents were going to meet me at the Cavileri Hilton today, so I sprung out of bed in an excellent mood because I would be sleeping in a real actual hotel room and not a dorm that night. I quickly packed up my things, and was immediately confronted with the reality that their plane would be delayed. Mildly depressed, I hung out on the internet upstairs until I could call a cab up the hill to the hotel.


Some scooters near the Steps.

The Hilton is placed up on top of one of Rome's hills - not great for downtown access, but excellent when it comes to the view. I was there far too early to meet my parents, so I planted myself in the plush lobby, accessed the Internet, and spent yet more time nosing around on Encyclopedia Dramatica. I have stayed at this Hilton before and I like it very much: it is luxurious and has a pillow menu and a breakfast featuring at least 15 kinds of jam. 15 goddamn varieties of gelled fruit. It's a modern miracle. Hostels don't feature any jam at all.

They finally arrived from the airport - apparently the Italians temporarily lost their bags in the dark entrails of the handling system, go figure. We checked into our room and hung out for a while, enjoying the view. Since it was getting on to 3:00, we decided to go take the shuttle into downtown and grab some lunch.


An obelisk near some administrative buildings.

The shuttle bus dropped off us at the Plaza Dominini, wherein we walked in the general direction of the Trevi Fountain. I was about to die of pure unadulterated hunger, so we stopped in at the first pizza place we saw. This proved to be a poor idea, as it turned out our waitress was 1. American and 2. had begun roughly a minute before and 3. food was taking a few centuries to actually emerge from the mysterious kitchen. I was unhappy to find my antipasto plate involved cheap salami and ham and some bad mozzarella, though admittedly I have gotten real spoiled about mozzarella. We ate some acceptable pizza and skedaddled. Off to look at the Trevi fountain yet again - the hordes of tourists had not diminished any at all. All the Romans presumably had decamped for less crowded climes.


Statue of a witch with an extremely depressive pair of boobs.


A yellow villa near the Colosseum.

We wandered around downtown for a decent amount of time, checking out the sites and popping in for drinks in a few different locales. We finally made it down to the Colosseum, which we ogled for a decent amount of time until some incredibly black, pissed off looking storm clouds rolled in. Roman summers seem to include a daily thunderstorm, and we jumped inside a bar just before the skies opened up. Trapped inside by the monsoon-level rain, we ordered coffee and beer and watched horrible Italian TV for a while until we could escape. If you are visiting Rome in summer, for christ's sake, bring an umbrella.

My mom decided to pass on dinner as she'd rather go to bed, so my dad and I headed off to find dinner. The concierge had recommended a place near the Pantheon to us, so we headed in that direction. The directions he had given us and the map we had were, however, really craptacular, so we ended up ambling up many a back alley and side street until we found our destination - inadvertently walking by an impressive number of cafes, gelato shops, and other tasty destinations.

Ristorante Clemente
# Piazza della Maddalena 4
Rome, Italy
(06) 683-3633

The restaurant is apparently helmed by a female chef, and has a nice salubrious location on a square right off the Pantheon. The menu isn't terribly long and has a nice focus on fresh seafood - always a plus for me.



We began with a salad of squid, octopus, mixed greens, and grapefruit, which was quite nice. The squid was cooked perfectly and did not turn into vaguely seafood flavored rubber as it is wont to do. I also enjoyed the acidic turn of the grapefruit. Could have been prettier but not looking a gift horse in the mouth, so to speak.



For my entree, I selected the grilled tuna with tomatoes, caper, and vinegar - a very simple dish. This was well executed, though I had been expecting something perhaps a little flashier. It was simple, light, and not over-done.



My dad had a pasta with octopus and tomato. The pasta was nicely al-dente, and the sauce had a good marine flavor, with tender bits of invertebrate included.

We passed on dessert, and walked by the Pantheon at night for a bit - the tourists hadn't cleared out much at this hour, and horse-carts and others congregated around the square. I did, however, spot a promising meat-market type shop, which we walked into. The owner turned out be very friendly and very large, working amidst a panorama of hanging pepper-corn encrusted hams and other meaty things, and we struck up a conversation. He ended up giving us a big chunk of roasted pork complete with crackling for our troubles, while informing us seriously that he intended to move to San Diego. We knew we would return.