Monti: Home away from home

December 15, 2014 / Greg / 2 Comments

I sometimes spend too much time fretting over which neighbourhood to make as a home base when visiting a city. For our trip to Rome, I went back and forth debating where to stay. Not to pat myself on the back too much, but sticking with my gut on staying in Monti is one of the better travel planning decisions I’ve made in a long time.

I completely fell in love with this area of Rome. Monti started to pull on my heart strings immediately, even as I was jet lagged and dragging my suitcase from the subway to our hotel on the way in from the airport. There were cobblestones (I’m a sucker for cobblestones), small shops lining the narrow streets, people spilling out of bars enjoying a drink and not a chain store or restaurant anywhere in sight. The visuals of this place will be what I will always associate with Rome. Below are a few of my favourite photos in what turned out to be far too little time in beautiful, quaint, Monti.

Quiet side street in Monti

Soccer in Piazza della Madonna dei Monti

Looking down on Via del Boschetto

Italian style on Via del Boschetto

Quiet street one afternoon in Monti

Opposite Piazza della Madonna dei Monti

Piazza della Madonna dei Monti

Playing in the piazza

December 6, 2014 / Greg / Leave a comment

Favourite 2014 travel photos. Rome, Italy. October 2014.

Pasta on my mind

December 2, 2014 / Greg / 2 Comments

Without firm dinner plans on our third night in Rome, we looked at a list of interesting restaurants we had compiled that were nearby in the Monti neighbourhood, our home away from home for four nights. With the help of our hotel staff, we booked 8:30pm reservations, unaware of the deliciousness that was ahead. Who knew that the most delicious pasta in the world would be mere steps around the corner from our hotel in Rome?

La Carbonara was definitely a locals place. A few visitors like us had found our way here, but there were a lot of regulars jammed in around us ordering without menus. Everyone was ordering the pasta and as plate after plate went past to other tables there was no doubt I would be indulging in a pasta course on this night. With a “when in Rome” mentality, we ordered a bottle of local Lazio wine (Santa Felicita, Cesanese del Piglio 2011). It was a robust and rustic red… a little rough around the edges until it opened up a bit. It ended up fitting perfectly with both the food and the ambiance of the restaurant.