Articles and Stories

July 11, 2012

by Uta Nelson

Originally from the Italian part of Switzerland, I had a chance to go back to Rome with my American family this summer. I had forgotten how much the Italian culture is a part of me, and how comfortable I feel in it. A quick chat with Renzo, the owner of the ‘bar’ around the corner who tells me “Your Italian is very good, you don’t have an accent, you speak like a native Italian speaker”, yes, I don’t look the part that is a significant part of me.

My family wanted the true Italian experience: delicious coffee with little water and much foam on cappuccinos, authentic pizza with mozzarella di bufala instead of cheese, home-made pasta with ricotta (hard cheese in Italy) rather than Trader Joe’s pasta di semolina dura with jarred creamy tomato sauce, real gelato that melts instantly in Rome’s 100o F weather, old roman churches and majestic 19th century buildings, and last but not least, handsome Italian olive skinned boys, preferably with a well defined muscle structure.

Our first contact was Dino, our very Roman driver with shiny, slicked back hair, constantly on one of his two smart phones, who took us to our Bed & Breakfast in Via degli Scipioni, which was indeed in one of the glorious 19th century buildings. There our second encounter was David, a British lawyer from Jamaica turned Italian-family-man-and-B&B-owner. A very chatty and jovial man, he gave us much valuable advice in proper Queen’s English for visiting Rome.

Isola della Pizza, where we had our first Roman dinner, turned out to have waiters with thick Lazio accents, perfectly crispy pizza margherita, and delicious spaghetti all’amatriciana. To my surprise, there was also an English menu and certainly enough non-Italians among the crowd.

The MAXXI (National Museum on the 21st Century Arts) on day two proved to be a gem created by the Iraqi born architect Zaha Hadid, remnants of an old Italian military barrack updated with interesting concrete  and steel elements. All maps and descriptions inside of the museum are also available in other languages, typically English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese.

The evening brought a gourmet culinary experience at Le Mani in Pasta, definitely a Roman experience, few tourists and a smoking room for those who have not been able to quit yet!

On day three it was time for an afternoon of shopping at Via del Corso (how can any woman go to Rome without doing any shopping at all?). There I was struck with how much of America is also in Rome: Nike Roma, the GAP, Diesel, Foot Locker, Sephora, beside of course the McDonalds spread over town. Their offerings are adjusted to the market, which meant a huge soccer shoes display at the Nike store and pistachio ice cream at McDonalds.

Gelato di San Crispino was certainly required on such hot days, getting it in a ‘coppetta’ vs. a ‘cono’ is highly advisable due to the melting factor. They appear very Italian and have delicious ice cream, but their website is multilingual (Italian, English, French, German and Spanish, it seems that they have not yet caught up with the masses of Japanese tourists) and offers franchising opportunities for anyone with entrepreneurial spirit and a starting capital.

And before I forget, close to Santa Maria Sopra Minerva on Piazza Sant’Eustachio, there is Sant’Eustachio Il Caffè, where delicious coffee is only served without sugar inside upon request. Definitely set up for an international crowd who can afford sitting down for a cup of coffee at about USD 6.75 per cup! (Renzo’s was only USD 1.20 on the day Italy was going to play Spain in the World Cup finals). Sant’Eustachio’s Russian website is under construction, they are aware of the new capital influx.

So we found everything we were looking for in Rome and more, with a true international dimension. Even the good looking olive skinned young men were not all Italian, but Romanian, Spanish, French and who knows what other nationalities.

Ciao bella Roma, one of Italy’s portals to the world – still preserving its authentic Italian and Roman tradition at the same time.