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Report 565: Lazio/Umbria, Sorrento, and Rome: Our 5th trip to Italy

By Roz from USA, Fall 2004

Page 11 of 14: Day 10: Rome - Art and Antipasto

Antipasto at L'Orso 80

Breakfast in the hotel was good, if not original -- yogurt, ham, cheese, and croissants. We scoped out a nice bookstore (Mel's) right around the corner, where we picked up the indispensable Michelin street guide to Rome.

Headed on past the Quirinale Palace to the Galleria Doria Pamphilj -- an elegant and luxurious palace housing one of Rome's most prestigious family art collections. The nephew of Pope Innocent X (from whom we get our word nepotism, from the Italian word for nephew), combined his wealth with that of his Aldobrandini wife to assemble the remarkable group of paintings and sculpture. Centerpiece of the collection is Velasquez' marvelous painting of Pope Innocent X, displayed alongside Bernini's bust of the same subject.

The audioguide for the collection is narrated by the present-day Prince (a fluent English speaker) and is one of the most entertaining I've encountered in any museum. His recollections and stories of the family and his ancestors enliven the commentary and give it a unique personal touch. For example, while standing on a beautiful terra-cotta floor, I loved hearing his story of how the floor was polished by hand with wax from the family beehives, and how he and his sister got in trouble for roller skating over the freshly waxed surface.

We paid a quick visit to the Pantheon, which we had seen on our one prior trip to Rome. The scaffolding now inside isn't all bad; it has the interesting effect of giving more scale to the interior, helping you fathom the impressive height and dimensions of the dome.

We hit the jackpot with lunch at the trattoria L'Orso 80 (on via dell'Orso 33). The fantastic antipasto (see photo) of mixed veggies (grilled and marinated), prosciutto, beans, cheese, and meatballs left us so stuffed we could barely get down the soup and pasta we also ordered -- and both were very good. An exceptionally good value for 40 euro, with a good house wine (Agrospino).

We still found some room for gelato at Giolitti's nearby. San Crispino seems to be the trendy favorite these days, but we preferred the flavor selection at Giolitti's. They had the most intensely flavored blueberry (mirtillo) gelato you can imagine. With coconut (cocco) it was so good that I never wanted to try another combination the whole time we were in Rome, although I did once add a scrumptious tiramisu to the mix. Giolitti's coffee (espresso, not coffee ice cream) was so rich it tasted like chocolate.

At San Luigi dei Francesco we saw the magnificent Caravaggios (St. Matthew). Then by a lucky stroke of timing we managed to catch the changing of the Guard, complete with military band, as we passed the Quirinale.

We stopped in at Mel's bookstore again, where I bought a copy of "Little Women" in Italian ("Piccole Donne"), along with a calendar showing Louisa's apartment (among other views) approximately as it must have looked when she was living there in the 19th century.

Still full from lunch, we skipped dinner and opted for a quiet evening in the hotel, planning tomorrow's adventures.

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