24 HOURS IN ROME (what it's like in 2021)

Good morning. We have already found one positive change that Covid has had on this travel experience. This bed and breakfast that we booked is nothing super fancy. We didn't pay for room service, but this is how they're doing breakfast now. Stared at the ceiling for about three hours last night. It's 2am I'm wide awake. And this is what's happening outside of our window. The jet lag is real.

We're Karen Nate. After traveling to 100 countries, 2020 brought us back to the US where we bought a converted sprinter van that's been our home for the last year. Last week, we traded our home on wheels for a bed in the sky and flew to Italy, where we got our first passport stamp in 14 months.

Just crying and eating carbonara. This is why I married you. I think today is going to be a very special day. Not only is it our first full day of international travel in over 14 months, but I also think we a very unique opportunity to experience Rome in a way that hopefully it'll never be experienced again. Hear me out.

Italy is welcoming back tourists.

But at least as Americans, it's not exactly easy to get to. For us. We had to fly in on a direct Covid tested flight, and then once we landed, we had to get another negative COVID test. And that was the only way we were able to enter the country without having to quarantine. So that being said, I think we have an opportunity to visit Rome in peak season without the peak crowds.

Medium.

So it is not even lunchtime yet, but we just happen to be staying right down the road. From what we've heard is one of the best gelaterias in Rome. And I think we figured out why. They literally dip the entire cone of the.

I'm not really sure what my strategy is here. I guess I'm just going to bite it.

This flavor.

Can you not feel that?

Stop.

Wow. We were here almost exactly four years ago, and the line to get in the coliseum was three hours long.

That's about a three hour wait.

I'm pretty sure we're in the exact same place and there is, like, no one here. All right, let's see how long this takes.

Are we in three minutes? It's 102. Three minutes compared to three hours.

This is crazy. Last time we were here, I feel like we were pretty much shoulder to shoulder with people the entire time.

Not no bulb.

I mean, it's definitely not empty. But in comparison to last time.

Either this stuff is new or there was so many people that I didn't see it last time we were here. This is pretty fascinating to think about that each one of these arches in the Coliseum would have had a sculpture. I didn't know if we'd be wasting our time redoing a few of the things that we did last time we came to Rome, but this is exactly what I was hoping for. It's a completely different experience. Last time we were here, we were on a tour, and we learned a ton. It was great, but at the same time, we just, like, rushed from one place to the next. So this time, we wanted to do a better job of being present and taking it all in. So we found this spot in the shade with a beautiful breeze, and we've just been listening to the Rick Steves audio tour. Stepping inside, you can almost hear the roar of ancient Rome. If you don't know who Rick Steves is, he's probably the most famous guidebook writer in the world.

It's like listening to your adorable grandfather while he's sitting in his rocking chair, just telling you everything you need to know about wherever you are with some.

Very corny jokes thrown in.

He's like, okay, everybody, are you ready to roam around the Colosseum?

We just can't help but smile when we listen. Done. And it's free.

This feels like old times.

Just in case you don't know what the Coliseum is, it was probably the most iconic building from the Roman Empire, and it's where they would hold the gladiator games, which were insane. They would literally kill people for entertainment.

They would. Are you not entertained? Why are you not entertained?

They would, like, throw prisoners of war in there completely naked and unarmed just to watch them get eaten by a lion. Just crazy stuff. We learned in the audio tour that people were in charge of spraying perfume, so the smell of the blood and the death wasn't as bad for the spectators.

I forgot how much energy it takes to be a tourist.

The real Italians don't sit down to drink their espresso. It's just a quick in and out.

I'm gonna share an unpopular opinion. I don't love the espresso culture in Italy.

Much needed.

I mean, I've tried to like it, and it makes me sad to admit to myself that I don't, but I just prefer a big, light roast cup of coffee.

I totally feel that. Thank you for having us there. Walked right into the Forum. No lime.

Technically, we came to the Roman Forum the first time we were here, also known as the Foro Romano Palatino. But all I remember Is just being hot, tired and over it. By the time we got here, three.

Of the biggest buildings in the city, Hence the name basilica. Big building, right?

So we're gonna find us another shady place to sit. And Rick Steves is going to tell us about this place.

The first Romans mixed and mingled here in the valley between the famous seven hills of Rome. This became the Roman for.

It. Looks like something really cool is about to happen.

Well, that was neat.

That's pretty neat.

The Roman forum is fascinating. This was like the center of ancient Rome. This is where everybody came and hung out. It's where all the shops were. And so much history is here. And it's pretty cool to be able to like literally walk the streets that the ancient Romans were walking on. And I feel like we've kind of run out of time again. We, like literally ran out of time. They're closing.

What a way to end our time at the forum. I have no clue who these people are or what they're warming up for, but we've made our way up to the top. We have a beautiful view overlooking the city and an entire orchestra and a boldly singing Italian man making background music for us.

I feel disgusting.

That's better.

All right, tonight we are going for the full Italian dinner experience. And there's a certain order that this has to be done in. We didn't understand it last time we were here, but thankfully we have two very special people meeting us tonight to help us explain.

There they are.

Hello. If you've never met Bob and Gina before, they are some of our best friends who live on the east coast of Italy. At this point, we've probably spent three months of our lives living at their house. And this is the first time we've seen each other in 18 months.

When we first heard that Italian dinners lasted five hours, that was unfathomable to me. But now that we've been here a few times, I think we've kind of gotten the hang of it. And tonight we're going to show you how it's done.

Dinner will consist of three courses spread throughout the evening. We'll start with aperitivo, Then we'll move on to dinner. And finally we'll end the night with digestivo.

How beautiful is it? Our first stop.

Good. Dear bud.

Such a gentleman. That's my poor attentive sounding Italian.

The proper aperitivo is generally drier and has lower alcohol content. But the important thing about aperitivo is the break between the workday and the beginning of what is part of the Vibrant Italian life. Life with your friends and your family. Super 8. Wow.

And then plain vanilla.

Let's all talk about how our cocktails describe our personalities.

Mine is missing.

I love mine.

Of all the Prosecco I've ever had, this is the most recent.

That is not what I thought you.

Were going to say.

So we're definitely at a more high end place. We paid a little more for these drinks, but all of this food came for free. With drinks. In Italy, it's pretty rare to see people have a drink without at least some kind of food to go with it. If it's a proper aperitivo, the drinks always come with snacks.

All right, so we chose that place one because it was supposed to have a good aperitivo, but also because Carol loved the purple flowers on the building. And while you enjoyed your food and drinks, you were staring at a temple that was built in 145 AD that's almost 2,000 years old.

All right, we got there at 6pm it is already 7:46pm so I think we're doing pretty good on our Italian five hour evening.

I think we're actually ahead of schedule. I'm pretty sure dinner's supposed to start around nine and we're going at eight. Really? Already Feels super late to me.

This place is off to a great start. They just brought out some fried cheese balls.

Oh, my gosh.

You know what this is? This is carbonara and fried bones.

It's not a cheese ball. It's more than a cheese ball.

Yes. Is there egg inside?

It is. Aha.

I knew it. It tastes like carbonara in a ball. No, I should have said it's getting closer.

Maybe for your feelings.

Okay, correct me when I'm wrong. Okay, so we're in a wrong.

Pretty much every traditional Italian menu that we've experienced is all the same. An appetizer, antipasti section. Then you have your creamy potty.

Creamy potty? Is that what you said? The creamy potty?

Oh, pianti. Okay, these are the pastas. In the US if you're ordering pasta, that's like the main event in Italy. That's your first plate. Then you have your second plate. The second part of your dinner is typically like a meat.

Meat or fish.

No more carbs until you get to the dessert. This partly explains why dinners last so long. Actually, another reason dinners last so long here in Italy is because there's no such thing as table turnover at restaurants in the U.S. you get your bill pretty much halfway through the meal and are expected to leave as soon as you're done, but not here. If you make a dinner reservation, that table is yours for the night. So we have three antipasti. Fun fact. We've all been saying lasagna wrong this whole time. Lasagna is an Italian word, but it is one layer, multiple layers. So what we know as lasagna is lasagn. So lasagna.

Bon appetito.

Bon appetit. I think one of my favorite parts about traveling internationally again, especially in Rome right now, is that there are definitely tourists here. There aren't a ton of English speaking tourists, and I did not realize how much I loved just hearing different languages all around me, having no idea what they're talking about. This may be our favorite dish in all of Rome.

This dish. Right. You mean this thing right here?

Yeah. See, it's like the perfect width and the perfect depth. The dish is called Messi Monica a la Greek. So Messi Monica translates in English to half sleeve. Most paste, not pasta paste. In Italy, like, they translate to kind of what they look like. I think the short sleeves are my favorite because the ingredients all just kind of like, settle inside. So every bite is this perfect combination of all of the things.

Okay. And this place specifically has the most perfectly al dente pasta, which means they pulled it out of the boiling water at the perfect time.

I am so much salivating right now. Gina, did Kara talk it up too much?

I knew it.

I think they served me the wrong food. Tinted truffle makes it super rich.

Yeah.

10:15, and we're still eating. Now we're being real Italian. The Italian do one more thing that's just so cute. You take your bread and you fold it into this shape that they call.

Which translates to little shoe.

Make the little shoe. Hey, far la scarpetta.

That's a pretty big shoe.

Those are so hard. I don't think I can even make a shoe. This is like a wooden shoe.

So the purpose of this little shoe is to use the mediocre table bread as a tool to scoop up the leftover pasta sauce. I think most people do this anyway. The Italians just have a phrase for it. From what we understand, no matter what time the Italians finish their dinner, in this case, it is 10:45. You always end with espresso.

I'm convinced the espresso is a net necessary part of the meal because you need the energy to get up from the table after eating that much food. We've taken a break from the eating to come see the Trevi fountain at night. And I thought we were Going to be the only ones here.

And.

We'Re definitely not.

I actually kind of like it this way because you can see the whole thing unobstructed. Like there are not people all down in the water blocking the view. It's just. It seems bigger and grander this way.

I've never been a big fan of throwing money into things. It's just always seemed very wasteful to me, who's been very cheap. We actually learned that all the money that's thrown into the covey fountain that doesn't go towards the upkeep of the fountain goes to charity. For some reason tonight you can't get down to the fountain, so it'd have to be a very long throw to get it there.

So romantic.

What is this called again? We are at our final stop of the night. It is currently 11:58. We have been doing the full Italian dinner experience since 6pm the final course.

Of the evening is digestivi, which usually includes a bitter liquor to help settle everything down. And we've chosen this place because it has a beautiful view of the Pantheon.

We got an amaro for our digestivo and Bob actually makes his own amaro, so we'll let him explain what it is.

Amaro is a bitter, high alcohol drink that comes at the very end of the meal to help you make the most of whatever it is that you ate.

As you can see, we love the Italian dinner culture. This act of separating the workday from our personal lives with an aperitivo and lengthy dinners with good conversation. It's something we incorporated into our lives ever since we first experienced it here. Tonight was especially enjoyable because we are in one of our favorite cities with some of our favorite people. Plus, it's just great to be traveling again. Make sure you come to Diddy Rambo and when you order your preemie potty, get the free cheese mezzi rigatani. It said it was an edible flower.

Yeah, sure.

Do you eat marigolds?

We do now.

Not bad. Cross between celery and carrots.

Yes, Like a dirty piece of celery.

That'S been left in the gutter.