Travel To Rome Italy

Posts Tagged ‘good’

NancyAielloTours.com is proud to provide creative Rome Tours with top notch services introducing guests to the sights and delights of the Eternal City.

When in Rome Nancy Aiello Tours VIP Travel Consultants are glad to advise travelers on Rome Eating Out to Taste Real Roman Slow Food & Wine.

Da Armando al Pantheon
Located just by the Pantheon, this friendly and tasty trattoria serves excellent traditional Roman food.
Best Bet: Pasta alla Gricia
Price Range: Euro 30-35€ Wine not included
Gambero Rosso 2009 Comment: Excellent Value!

Dal Cavalier Gino
A short walk from the Italian Parliament, this old style trattoria is a great place to sample hearty Roman food in a pleasant atmosphere.

Best Bet: Pasta with Salsiccia and Zucchini Flowers
Price Range: Euro 25-30€ Wine not included
Gambero Rosso 2009 Comment: N/A

Felice
Excellent traditional trattoria located near the Pyramid where you can taste the traditional Roman food of a by-gone era. No fancy recipes but simple & tasty dishes including oxtail, tripe and baby lamb.
Best Bet: Rigatoni all’Amatriciana
Price Range: Euro 30-35€ Wine not included
Gambero Rosso 2009 Comment: N/A

Matricianella
Another tasty trattoria located downtown Rome. Here you can try not only Roman favorite dishes but also a wide range of delicacies from around Italy. Good selection of wines.

Best Bet: Puntarelle with anchovies sauce
Price Range: Euro 35€ Wine not included
Gambero Rosso 2009 Comment: Good Value

Nè Arte nè Parte
Great, authentic trattoria in the Testaccio area. Run by two Roman Actors, it’s a great place although lately prices have gone up a bit. Service is friendly but attentive and food always very fresh.
Best Bet: All you can eat appetizer
Price Range: Euro 25-30€ Wine not included
Gambero Rosso 2009 Comment: Good Value

Osteria dell’Angelo
Located not far from the Vatican Museums this trattoria is a local institution in the Vatican area. A former rugby player he has been in business for over 20 years with excellent results. Come for lunch for a quick bite or for dinner to taste the four courses fixed price menu.
Best Bet: Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe
Price Range: Euro 25€ Wine not included
Gambero Rosso 2009 Comment: N/A

Osteria del Velodromo Vecchio
In the Appio area you’ll find this historical Roman trattoria, considered one of the best in Roma. Short but very good wine list and authentic food! The service is caring and attentive. Check the old canvas on the walls!
Best Bet: Anchovies with Indivia Salad
Price Range: Euro 28-32€ Wine not included
Gambero Rosso 2009 Comment: Extremely Good Value

Pommidoro
Located in the San Lorenzo quarter this is another traditional trattoria serving good home-style Roman fares at premium prices. The environment dates back to the ‘60 when most of the customers were famous writers and actors. Roman food is delicious together with Tuscan fares like wild boar and pheasant.
Best Bet: Pappardelle al Cinghiale
Price Range: Euro 35-40€ Wine not included
Gambero Rosso 2009 Comment: Good Value

Trattoria Cadorna
Opened in 1947 by Giovanni Todini & his wife this family run trattoria is located not far from the famous Via Veneto. It serves classic Roman cooking with a great choice of appetizers and very well prepared dishes always served with a smile!
Best Bet: Eggplant Parmigiana
Price Range: Euro 30-35€ Wine not included
Gambero Rosso 2009 Comment: N/A

Trattoria ai Monti
Located near the Basilica of St. Mary Major, this fantastic trattoria is very well managed with a courteous and impeccable service. Mom runs the kitchen while her 2 kids run the show delighting guests with their knowledge & friendly attitude. The food here is Roman with a creative twist. Just outside the restaurant don’t miss the gorgeous Roman Arch left behind by history.
Best Bet: Chicken Potacchio Style
Price Range: Euro 35-40€ Wine not included
Gambero Rosso 2009 Rating: 72 Points

Buon Appetito!

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Autumn Weather in Rome

Without fail, Romans recommend that the best time to travel to Rome is from mid-September to October. Yes, it might rain, but the temperatures turn out to be quite nice, even if it is getting a tiny bit chilly at night. Almost no one recommends November, but I’ve had very good luck the last few years with weather in the first half of November.

Spring Weather in Rome

May has almost the same temperatures as October, and April, while you’re likely to feel chilly at night, is almost as good.

The effects upon tourism and the tourist industry could be numerous, though I will only mention a couple. Many people complain about hotel and apartment rates increasing, not only during the summer months, but throughout the whole year. And quite right I say, when there are 300 rooms with air-conditioning systems set to -5 degrees Celsius all day, (whilst the guests themselves are stripping off beside the pool trying to soak up every last heat ray that the sun exudes). Add to that, the fact that the hotter countries, including Italy, often experience troubles such as water shortages during the summer months. One cannot travel more than 20-30 kilometers outside of the center of Rome, without spotting a water tower; ready and waiting for such emergencies.

Then again, as a frequent traveller myself, I have to admit that I am amongst those who whinge about the cost of holidays and the annoying chamber maid that turned off my air-con again. I also complain after 3 days of staying in an air-conditioned room that my asthma is playing up and find myself, throughout the remainder of my holiday, popping anti-histamine tablets and taking my inhalers to counter the side-effects of my “cutting-my-nose-off-to-spite-my-own-face” overindulgence. (But that’s part of being on holiday is it not?) I am of course trying my best to play devils advocate. But, again in favour of hotels, the hotter the weather, the more washing of sheets and towels the hotels are required to do as people sweat and consequentially shower/bathe more, (affecting the volume of water).

As far as the industry its self is concerned, yes; people do flock in their thousands, from the colder parts of the world to the heat, as soon as the summer months arrive, BUT, when you feel like the core of your body has turned into volcanic lava, are you really going to want a 10oz Sirloin Steak and all the trimmings for your dinner; or (to use Italy as an example) a 4-5 course dinner of starter, pasta dish, meat dish, dessert and coffee/spirit? I know that I personally lose 90% of my appetite for large and hot meals in the heat. Then again I do drink more, so do the restaurants and bars rely on this to make their money?

For residents, the temperatures can cause several problems. People taking time of work due to problems such as heat/sun stroke, problems with dehydration or people generally taking days off to go to the beach. Add to that, everything in Italy slows down. The Italians are well-known for being “laid-back” and “easy with time”, but the truth is that in the summer months, it’s hard to get anything done. I know that I personally find it difficult to move some days without finding myself “glowing”. Older people in Italy are told to visit supermarkets and shopping centers to help them cool down. Last year I found myself looking forward to going to a well-known Italian meat supermarket, simply because the entire store is a freezer. The only problem was, I’d feel sick as soon as I stepped outdoors, as it was like jumping from Scotland to Italy. The heat, after the extreme cool, was thick and choking. Driving your car can be a nightmare, anywhere from not being able to plug in your seat belt or touch the steering wheel because they have been heated to melting point; to getting stuck in hot, sticky, airless traffic jams. Weeds and bushes on the sides of the road have been known to set on fire, by a combination of the sun drying them out and the heat from the tarred roads setting them alight. Occasionally there are problems with power-outages in homes and shops, because the generators, wires or transition boxes have overheated. Or how do you feel about brushing your teeth in hot water? The pros of course… if like me you are to tight-pursed that you refuse to fork out for air-conditioning, your power bill in the summer months can decrease to almost nothing in Italy. Unlike the old cold summers I used to endure when I lived in Scotland, there’s no need to have your water heater on all day to take a shower or wash the dishes. No need for heating or lights on all day thanks to the light and heat of the sun. And finally, my personal favourites, you can put away your winter duvet at nights and enjoy the reduced quantity of laundry, thanks to the fact you wear less clothes and used less bed linen.

Now in 2007. This year, June was HOT. Very hot. By far, warmer than last year, but it followed a very wet April and May. July has been up and down. I am lucky to live north of Italy in the mountains where we get some breeze; but on a trip to the south of Rome (where I used to live also), to visit friends a few weeks ago, I realised just how lucky I really am. The change in temperature from the north to the south was uncanny. There was literally a 5-10 degree drop that day between my home in the north and my friends in the south. More shocking to me, was the change in air. Being situated in the countryside here in the north, higher up and surrounded by fields and trees etc. our air is fresh and soft on the nose and throat (terrible for any one with Hay-fever, but none the less a good clean air. In the south however; my friends live in a reasonably built up area, even the countryside full of houses and small repair garages and abandoned buildings. The air is thick, smoggy and hot. My father, on a trip to visit, once described it as holding a hair dryer in front of your face and I cannot think of a better explanation.

I cannot determine whether the increase in the temperature within Italy, or the effects; are caused by Global warming, or if we are quite simply receiving a freak weather change; but as an expat in Rome, I can say that the weather change is certainly noticeable. As for the effects, well I could be right I could be wrong, I cannot know, but I would like to hope that tourism and peoples desires to visit hotter countries such as Italy will not be affected too much, as Italy is a truly beautiful country to visit and with so much to enjoy and such easy access to low cost flights and airports and with the ease of self-booking thanks to teletext and the Internet; it would be a shame for the weather to spoil it all.