If you are ever craving for battered fish in Rome, there is a popular Roman version of fish (without the chips) called Filetti di Baccala.
Filetti di baccala is made of salted cod, which is rinsed and coated in batter and then deep fried. One of the oldest joint in Rome that serves it, that I know of is Dar Filettaro. It’s been around so long that whenever we are here, Cart would always talk about it fondly, recounting of his school days when he was here with his classmates.
I’ve been here a numberof times and to me is a respite after you’ve explored the area around Campo De’ Fiori. Do take note that they are only open after 5pm and closed on Sundays.
Dar Filettaro is a modest but cozy place. If you’re seated inside, you’ll see plentiful of paintings, peppered with a number of charming Roman sayings like, “A Roma se magna cosi“. You could even be lucky enough to see the cooks hard at work, coating the fish with batter.
The atmosphere here is busy, but friendly and you should be able to get a table even without a reservation if you’re willing to wait a little.
When I had dinner here with Juli, we managed to score a seating outside. It was a lovely experience dining al-fresco, being surrounded by the charisma of the architectures around us. It was so romantic. Coupled by the fact that it happened to be that we were serenaded by a cello player that night.
The food here costs about 5 euro each. Depending on what you eat, normally you’d spend about 15 euro a person for a fillet, a side dish and a drink.
It doesn’t take long for your dishes to arrive. And here were some of the items that we had :
Mixed cheese
White beans
Fried Zucchini
Mushroom in vinegar
Personally, I thought that apart from the cheese, the side dishes were a little bland and needed a touch of salt. Nevertheless, they were acceptable and I particularly liked the freshly made fried zucchini.
But in a way, I suppose that the simpleness of the side dishes pairs well with the filetti di baccala.
It’s a delight to sink the mouth in. It’s freshly fried. The delicious aroma wafts. The batter is crunchy, and the cod is slightly salty but never overwhelming. It’s chewy soft and warm and satisfying.
By the way, when in Rome, it is to be eaten as it is, be it for take away or dining in. It’s so good that you don’t even need additional condiments such as ketchup or chilli sauce 😉
Cart, Juli and I headed to Genzano during the weekend intending to only have lunch there before heading to the lake when I noticed that there was multiple road closures towards the the entry of the of the town.
We had such a challenging time trying to find parking, but when we finally got to the heart of the town and saw all the throngs of people, I finally realised what was going on. There was the yearly infiorata festival there!
I felt very lucky that after 5 years of living in Italy, I finally managed to catch the infiorata at Genzano. It has always been something that I’ve wanted to see, but we seem to always miss it for some reason. This time round it was extra special as we got to share this with my beloved friend. 🙂
An infiorata is a decoration on the floor made of flower petals. It was similar to the one that we saw in San Pietro, but it was vastly larger. You can see the size of the pedestrians as a scale against the infiorata as it stretches all the way out a good 500 metres to the church.
From what I’ve read, each colours of the petals are natural – Like Brooms for yellow, Carnations for orange and Roses for red.
It takes about two days to complete the infiorata. Saturday afternoon, the artists start by sketching on the floor. The petals will be arranged on Sunday morning and the 2000 metre square decoration will be complete by the afternoon.
At least 350 000 flowers are used in creating the infiorata each year. And there are different themes for the infiorata in Genzano each time.
For me, I was struck at the amount of time and dedication that was put in to create this spectacular works of art. I myself take ages just to draw a cartoon so cannot imagine that it would be easy to do!
By the way, the infiorata is an old tradition was started right there in Genzano in 1778 to honour the Patron Saints of Rome. I imagine that it started out as a small one which just got bigger throughout the years.
We had a nice stroll looking at the different pieces and I really enjoyed seeing the infiorata in Genzano. It was so beautiful and I feel blessed to finally be able to see it in person.
That’s another tick off the things I want to see in Italy and there are still so many other things to be seen and experienced. 🙂
By chance I was wearing a flower printed dress too so it was so perfect that I was in the flower theme. Heh heh heh. 😀
Trastevere is a lovely area in Rome to visit. It tends to give me a bit of a bohemian vibe – with the narrow, cobblestone streets as well as the distinctive buildings.
But once you are here and hankering for a pizza, a good place to head to is Pizzeria ai Marmi. Also known as the ‘obitorio’ or mortuary among the locals here due to the use of long marble counters, I’ve been here a number of times since living in Rome and so far, I’ve enjoyed each pizza that I’ve had.
It’s highly advisable to come here early for dinner as this place is extremely popular, judging at how quickly the tables are all filled up and from the long queue forming right after, outside.
Inside, the vibe is bustling and lively. It can be rather chaotic as the staff is always busy and on the move and when you sit down, it’s hard to move around as the place is cramped with tables just a few centimetres apart from each other but I think it adds to the charm.
Ai Marmi serves Roman style pizza which is characterised by its thin crust and cooked in a wood oven. Theoretically it should take just a few minutes to cook, but due to the vast amount of customers here, it’s not uncommon to wait for at least 30 minutes for the food to arrive.
Which makes it advisable to get their appetizers while you wait. One of their specialities that I enjoy eating would be their filetti’ di baccala – a deep fried battered cod fillet, which is always deliciously succulent.
There is also the suppli al telefono which is such a cute name. It’s essentially deep fried rice ball with mozzarella cheese in it. When you break it in two and pull them apart, the cheese stretches so much that it could reach your ear and mouth like a telephone.
Personally for me, I’ve always like to sit near the pizza counter as I enjoy watching the pizza makers as they deftly shape and create their pieces of edible masterpieces. It’s fascinating to see.
You might wait a while, but it’s always worth the wait when your pizza arrives as you breathe in the aroma of the freshly made pizza and the warmth wafting to your face.
Here are some of the pizza that I managed to snap during our dine-ins here :
Pizza al funghi (Mozarella and champignon mushrooms)
I don’t remember what this was.
Pizza con tonno (Pizza with tomato sauce and tuna flakes. I got this customized by asking them to add onions for me 🙂
Pizza con rughetta e bresaola (Rocket leaves and cured beef slices)
Pizza con provolone (Pizza with tomato sauce and provolone cheese)
I’ve always enjoyed eating Roman styled pizza and the pizza here is really good. The thing about Roman styled pizza is that the dough is crispy but it should still retains a bit of a soft bite to make it chewy.
Each pizza that I’ve had here was always delicious and the toppings complements and never overwhelms each other.
The cost of the pizza here might be slightly more expensive than a regular pizzeria in Rome but Cart and I don’t usually pay more than 15 euro a person.
Here is a video I made time back :
Pizzeria Ai Marmi
Viale di Trastevere, 53/57,
00153 Rome, Italy
Corri Roma is a yearly 10 km running event that is held in the Summer during the evening. The route goes through Central Rome and I thought that it would be an interesting event for Juli and I to participate in as it passes along different historical sites in Rome – a sort of smaller version of the Maratona di Roma.
I’ve never done a night race before so it will be an experience. So I proceeded to sign up through the website thinking that it would be easier this time round as the steps were pretty much the same as when I registered for the Maratona di Roma.
In Italy, races which are 10 km and above are usually categorized under professional runs and there are several mandatory steps in participating in one.
Theoretically it should be easy. You just pay a registration fee and upload a copy of your sports association membership card and your sports doctor medical declaration.
But in reality, I think that it is quite a daunting and costly experience especially for non Italian residents. Juli found out that her doctor’s medical certificate wasn’t valid as it had to follow a specific template. And so when we went to a private sports doctor here, we were quoted 40 euro – not including the urine test.
And then, calling up the organizers to clarify a doubt that we had revealed that they did not provide the one-day sports association membership any more. I suppose that the regulations have tightened since there was an athlete who died during this year’s Roma Ostia Run. So instead of paying around 7 euro for a daily membership, it would cost around another 30 euro.
15 euro for registration
40 euro for sports doctor certificate
30 euro for a sports association membership
85 euro!
It’s not so bad for me as the certificate and membership lasts for a year and I can use them for participating in other races in Italy since I live here. But for a foreigner who is on a short term visiting, paying a total 85 euro for running a 10 km race is ridiculous.
I’ve always believed that running should be free or at the very least just enough to pay for the organizers to deal with the security, refreshments and whatnots.
Suffice to say that Juli and I are not participating this coming Saturday. We’d really love to, but it’s just too expensive.
After a week of an abnormal heatwave in Rome, yesterday it has been raining so much that many parts of Rome were flooded. So much so that even the GRA highway was closed for safety.
Juli, Cart and I were caught in action while we were going around Porta Portese and Trastevere and couldn’t do too much. Fortunately for us, the flooding wasn’t too bad where we were. According to the meteo, weather would be the same for the next few days.
Check out this video of the flooding at a subway station in Anagnina :
My bestie Juli is in Rome right now and will be staying with us for a couple of weeks. As a host I always try to make my guest’s day fun but I was amazed at how our spontaneity turned out to be such a fruitful day.
7 am
We went jogging for 5 km in the neighbourhood while I tested out my new SJ4000 action camera. I tried to find a chest or head mount in the box but couldn’t so I clipped it on my cap in the end. Not sure if it was a good idea as the video was extremely shaky moreover I was unable to understand on how to switch the stabilizer on. I will have to take it for another test round again.
10 am
We took Sam the scooter and headed to Caffe Antica Roma, a bar that I like going to, to have breakfast. I got for us some cappucino and some pastries which is the standard for breakfast in Rome and to my surprise, Juli decided to get even more mini pastries. And by chance, the staff were starting to bring out lunch in their display case and Juli was fascinated by the array of food and got for herself a plate of cold pasta salad on top of everything. Naturally she couldn’t finish them by herself and forced me to eat too. I was so stuffed afterwards.
12 noon
We headed to a place called Aqua Sapone for some toiletry shopping and then I did a quick detour to a place called Piazza Cina do a little housekeeping in Ingress. I was lucky that it happened to be that it happened to be Thursday so there was the weekly market going on there so Juli wasn’t so bored while I fired some bombs.
1 pm
After seeing the market, I thought hard on where to head off next and eventually, I decided to take her to see the Rose garden at Circo Massimo since it was open and then we walked up to the Orange garden and the Piazza dei Cavallieri di Malta where you could peek in through a keyhole to see San Pietro.
3 pm
Since we had a bit of time, I thought that I’d bring her to see La bocca della verita as it wasn’t too far away. This is a sculpture where it was used to determine if a person was telling the truth by putting his hand in the mouth of the sculpture. This place is always popular and crowded with tourists regardless of which day of the year it is.
I explained to Juli that the skull of Saint Valentine is inside the church and about how Valentine’s day actually had a gory history.
4 pm
I was supposed to tutor in the evening, and planned to head back home by this time but I got a message and I suddenly found myself free so I suggested for us to continue our path to Campidoglio. Along our way we saw archaeologists digging through a site and we passed by different monuments. There are always fascinating things to see in Central Rome.
When we reached Campidoglio, on the spur, Juli decided to go to the Capitolini museum but I wasn’t feeling it so I decided to just chill out at the steps. However, I heard chanting and at first I thought that it was a group of supporters for the Brazil world cup. Intrigued, I decided to investigate and later on found out that there was a protest going on against the mayor.
I stuck around the metal dividers and slowly saw more and more people trickling in – complete with vans full of security personnel.
I waited there till about 6 and hoping that I could catch a glimpse of Ignazio Marino in the flesh but he never came out and Juli and I had to leave as we already made plans for the evening :\
6.45 pm
We slowly walked back to the Rose garden where I parked the scooter and headed back home. Traffic can be really scary at this time but it isn’t such a big deal when you have a small scooter so we could just squeeze through the empty lanes.
We just passed by the Gazometro when we chanced by a charming looking building where it happened to be some sort of music festival going on. We were curious and really wanted to see it so we stopped for a while to soak in the atmosphere. The rapping was really great. I was feeling it!
Inside, there were a number of artists hard at work drawing their street-art and it was truly fascinating for me to see them live.
7.30 pm
By now I was feeling sticky after being out for the entire day and badly needed a shower and a quick bite. So we got ready and Juli decided to a makeover on me.
I don’t recognize myself with night make up and I’m not used to it, but if my certified make-up artist friend thinks that it’s nice, I’ll leave it to the expert.
8.30 pm
The sky looked as if it was going to rain so I asked Cart as soon as he reached home from work, to drive us to Caffe Palombini where weekly Tango Argentina classes are held. I’ve never danced before, but I was curious about it so I tagged along to see how it was. Unfortunately for me, all the rest of the people there were experienced dancers and I felt awkward being there, so I waved off to Juli who was already happily dancing with her new Ukrainian friend.
I walked to the Square Colosseum nearby to meet up with Cart who was farming for Ingress items. To my surprise, there was an impromptu meeting going on and I managed to meet a lot of interesting people, some from the blue, and even from the green team. It’s always interesting to finally place a face on the username.
I find it romantic how she was sharing the power charger from his bag.
One of the members brought along with him a functioning droid plane and gave all of us a demonstration. I thought that it was a really fascinating-cool thing to see in action.
11 pm
Cart and I were fungry! But it was late and there were nothing open for us to eat. So we played ingress in the neighbourhood. Heh.
12.30 am
Juli was done with her dance class / Milonga and we went back to Palombini to fetch her. It was really nice to see her happy, comfortably chatting with her new friends and having a lovely time. While on our way back home, Cart wanted to squeeze in a little bit more Ingress housekeeping but by this time I was completely stoned and was already passed out in the car waking up only when Cart urged me to up some portals and I was extremely grateful when I finally got into bed.
I was so tired! Nevertheless it was such a fruitful and productive day, back to back full of activities. I love days like these 🙂
Last weekend while I was busy making my weekly cartoon strip, I had a curious message from my friend Sindy. “What happened to your blog?” She asked urgently. And when I checked it out, I realised that my site was hacked.
To see my blog in that state was such a rude shock. Luckily, I managed to reset my password, log in and found that my archives were untouched. However, there were things that I wasn’t savvy enough to fix, like the index page redirect and the curious username change.
The last time that this blog got hacked was back in 2007 but it wasn’t in such a scale like this. So thank goodness for my host being able to help. Within a few hours after I’ve sent the support team an email, they managed to fix the situation and my blog was up and running again. Another reason why I love them so much 🙂
Each year, 50 days after Easter, there is a celebration called the Pentecost where there is a feast to commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus.
Last Sunday at the Pantheon in Rome, after the Pentecost mass there was the spectacular tradition where thousands of rose petals were dropped down the oculus – the top opening of the pantheon.
How it was done was with a group of firemen climbing up to the top of the dome, each carrying bags of rose petals with them – not an easy feat at about 40 meters height. And at the right time, the petals are dropped down.
It’s such a enchanting sight to behold with the red petals fluttering down under the the stream of light from the top of the dome. As the rose petals drops down, it’s a form of a symbolism of the Holy Spirit’s descent to Earth.
Personally for me, I think that there is something romantic and captivating about it all.
