Spending Valentines day at Castelli Romani

Pretty much like last year’s Valentine’s day, this year was a pretty simple affair. Regardless, Cart and I had a very nice day.

The initial plan was to head out to the Mount Terminillo to see the snow but the weather in Rome has been rather bad, hence we headed to Castelli Romani instead.

It was interesting going through the roads. There were layers of snow everywhere. Since we were outside of Rome, it was colder and more prone to snow.

By the time we reached there, the main roads were closed and I saw a number of traffic police wardens giving fines and towing vehicles away. And then I saw a number of booths being set up. It looked as if there was a market about to start.

I was very curious by this point of time. What was going on?

But there was no time to stop and investigate as we both did not want to be late for lunch. Italians are very iffy about their food times. If you go to a restaurant at 3.30 pm or later for lunch, big chances is that you’ll be turned away.

Anyhow, we headed to Trattoria dei Cacciotori. And much like the last time that we were there, there was an interesting display that we saw, the first thing that we entered the place.

We were lucky that even with the large amount of patrons in the trattoria, we had a table. It was really crowded. The waiters were running around serving the patrons, some looked quite tired.

Here I am posing with my mini-hat that I bought while in Singapore. I’m wearing it now since its the last few days of Carnevale.

Eventually, our food arrived and it was interesting to see how our table was decorated. With the red flower shaped place mat, and the heart shaped napkin holder.

I was admiring the napkin holder and that’s when I saw some words printed behind it. Rubato alla Trattoria dei Cacciotori. And I asked Cartcart what Rubato meant.

And he replied, “Stolen from”

We had a good laugh out of that.

Soonafter our food arrived. I had my beloved Piccantine ai funghi porcini and Cart had his Ravioli.

And then Cart had his artichoke while I had my verdure cotte in the background.

Cart absolutely LOVES artichoke and he’d buy 6 pieces of fresh artichoke at one go in the market. For one week he’d make fried artichoke, artichoke in fritata, pasta with artichoke – basically every dish he could think of using artichokes.

Initially I wanted tiramisu but since they ran out of it, I settled for this Torta Della Nonna. It was good! I loved the lemon cream in my cake.

And Cart had Creme Caramel.

We left the trattoria after having our espresso and thats when I saw what was going on. The booths were fully set up and there were loads of people in costumes walking around. There was a carnevale festival going on!

Its not as festive as the ones in Rio De Janeiro but it was still very cheery and happy anyway. I loved looking at the different colours which was in contrast to the cold chilly afternoon.

Everyone was having fun, smiling and playing with each other. There were heaps of confetti pieces everywhere. On the floor, on people, being strewn in the air.

And there were so many people wearing costumes both young and old. I spotted out this group of costumers wearing a Cleopatra outfit, an ancient Roman soldier, a princess and Pinocchio.

There were also several cute outfits that I spotted out, like a really adorable Hello Kitty baby! Daphne would love that!

This is Po from the Teletubbies. By the way, it’s interesting to note that the Italian version of Teletubbies, speak properly, not in baby language.

Here is a cute little chicken.

And this is a fake looking Minnie and Mickey mouse.

And there were countless of kids throwing confetti and spraying foam from cans.

These kids are having fun spraying it on their friends. Their cheeks a bright pink from all the running around. There was one boy who made a foam beard on himself even. He looked like a young Santa Claus.

I saw a couple of policemen confiscating the foam cans from a couple of kids and pulling out the nozzle so that it doesn’t function any more. The ironic thing is that there was a small booth selling it just next to the policemen. So is it illegal or no?

Anyhow, there were also a few sideshows. Cart and I spotted a small parade band, a South American musical performances and this acrobatic act.

We later drove to Nemi just for a quick look see since it was along the way. Cart feared that it would be like during the Ferragosto period and would have absolutely no space for parking.

Fortunately, it was fine, and we found a spot at the entrance.

I was still fascinated by the stacks of snow everywhere. The different seasons is something interesting to see. The same spot looking different at different times of the year.

Lake Nemi is still as pretty as the last time that we’ve been there. I liked looking down to see the different buildings and farms which is built in a concentric manner around the lake and the cars going by the roads. They were so tiny from down there! Like the size of ants.

Having a bit of time before it was completely dark, we walked up to an area where you could see the lake better.

It was really nice to see the area decorated with valentine’s day decorations. There were balloons and pinks at every turn and corner.

We walked down the bridge and thats when I saw a familliar face. Its the same kitty I saw the last time we were here with Jerrick!

Its impossible to take a clear shot of the cat since she’s always moving and wriggling. And she is still as claw-y as ever. Here she is molesting my chest and clawing my coat

But it was probably because of the cold. I’m tempted to just kidnap her but she looks well fed and taken cared of, so I’m sure that she belongs to someone.

Anyhow, it was getting darker and colder, so we went to seek refuge into a little bar called Locanda lo specchio di Diana.

While this bar has excellent strawberry and strawberry cakes, we were here more for the hot chocolate instead since we were still full from our lunch.

What was interesting about this place is that they had speciality hot chocolates. I had the orange and cinammon flavoured one and I liked it very much.

While Cart had his with chilli.

I tried a bit but I didn’t like it that much. It was a tad bit too hot and a little strange for me.

Anyhow see what the hot chocolate did to Cart.

First it made him, “Woah this is very hot!”

Then he was like, “Urgh! This burning feeling, but I’ll be macho”

And then he’s like, “Oh please, it’s not hot at all!”

And finally he’s all Giles-like, “See, I’m a man!”

We left Nemi pretty much tired from all the walking, but it was such a nice day experiencing and seeing all the sights and sounds together. I really enjoyed Cart’s company 🙂

Oh and before I end this post, check out the hat I bought from the festival.  So cute!

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• Going to Castelli Romani in August
• Going to Castelli Romani in November