Most of you already know, A and I are moving to the UK next month! Chichester to be exact, about an hour and an half south of London by train. I've never been, but hear it's a nice area. Yay! for being able to speak just English again and not having to rely on A for his language skills. It seems to be relatively suburban and a nice place to raise Baby Senso. Things have been busy busy with organizing a move whilst being pregnant. One of things on our to do list was to apply for an EEA Family Permit and with the only location to submit paperwork being in Rome, we decided to make a weekend trip out of it.
^^We decided to take the train down to Rome since it is less than 2 hours from Bologna. Not bad considering it would take us 4 hours to drive from Modena plus the hassle of parking, etc. in Rome. The train was very comfortable, clean, and seemed almost brand new.
We arrived in Rome around 11:00am and headed straight to our B&B in the center, called I Tre Moschettieri. I found the "luxury guesthouse hotel" through Tripadvisor since the one we usually like to stay at was fully booked (being Valentine's Day weekend too). We had a simple double bedroom decorated in a very classic style, A described it like a room at Nonno's house. The bathroom was spacious though the shower a little weak. Breakfast was included and for only about 100 euros a night, it is a good deal with very friendly service and central location.
^^I was (obviously) hungry after our journey so we asked the hotel for a restaurant recommendation nearby before my visa appointment. They suggested this
spaghetteria, which turned out to be a great choice! I love the idea of a spaghetteria, why have I never been to one before?!
^^There was too many good choices of spaghetti to choose from, but even better the weather was so nice that we could sit outside and eat! I would say 60's and sunny in February is pretty good.
^^We started with some yummy bruschetta. Classic tomato to the right and artichoke with mozzarella on the left.
^^A's pasta was called the "L'archetto." I can't remember what was in it exactly, but there was tuna involved because he just loves his tuna in pasta.
^^Mine was ricotta, spinach with just a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg. SO good and cooked just right.
^^We took a quick walk past the Pantheon to A's favorite childhood gelateria.
^^Here it is, Giolitti.
^^Always too many flavors to choose from. There are also pastries, but I always opt for ice cream.
^^My choices, chocolate and cinnamon.
Ok this is where the picture snapping is a little bit lagging, oops. We headed to the visa appointment, then back to the center to rest a little at the hotel. In general, I am starting to get pretty tired again especially when I am on my feet for hours. Also, having to go to the bathroom all the time doesn't really help the situation. Pretty much - the rest of the weekend doesn't include many pictures!
^^After resting, guess who was hungry again? (Baby Senso, of course!) We found some cute Valentine's themed pastries and ate them while wandering around the center of the city.
^^Cute heart shaped pastry from a bakery right in the square of Campo de Fiori.
^^Valentine's Day dinner was at a restaurant called Maccheroni recommended by A's cousin. I read Michelle Obama was there a couple years back and heard lots of tourists inside, but also locals too.
^^^I managed a picture of the menu, but then become very lazy. Sorry not food pics! I do recommend getting the maccheroni amatriciana. It was the best! A had the zucchini flower ravioli which was delicious, but he had definite food envy. The second courses were very good, but not as good as the first. Next time, I would opt for an antipasto and primo rather than a secondo. I got the veal with artichokes and A the osso bucco. Both good, but the pastas were much better we agreed.
^^The next day was family day, but we took a quick stroll to the Colosseum in the morning since it was gorgeous out.
Following that morning, we visited A's family. Zia Tina made my favorite meatballs ever. They are seriously the most amazing meatballs I have ever had in my life and no other meatball has ever come close to how good hers are. A thought her pasta with ragu should be in a museum. In addition we had broccoletti, green beans, salad, cotoletta, roast potatoes and cake. Baby Senso and I were very very happy.
^^Some of the Senso cousins.
^^The next day we had a few hours before our train so we decided to take a stroll around Villa Borghese where we did our wedding photoshoot! This was a wall A pointed out during the shoot where he thought it would make a good pic.
^^I do love this picture, but I always make fun of A when I see it because it looks like he doesn't like me since his arm isn't around me ;)
And that's it for the weekend. We headed back to Modena, exhausted. This brings our travels before we move to an end (at least I think so). Only four more weekends to go until the move!
Viccolo Sciarra 61
via dell'Archetto
via Uffici del Vicario 40
Campo de Fiori 22
Piazza delle Coppelle 44
another B&B in Rome I highly recommend, located right near the Trevi Fountain - we would have stayed here if they weren't fully booked!
via dei Crocifieri 41
a fantastic pizzeria we have been to a couple of times, but didn't have time to fit in this trip - the dough here is amazing
Via della Pace 11
