Our last full day in Rome was a relaxing experience. We escaped the hustle, bustle and tourists of Rome and found trees, grass and peace and quiet in Villa Borghese. Villa Borghese is (as we called it) Rome's Central Park. It is massive, has main roads that run through it and is littered with museums and galleries and even a zoo! Given we have had a lifetime's quota of Madonna and Child paintings, we decided to just enjoy the gardens.
The afternoon was spent trawling the souvenir shops trying to find some "just right" gifts for some lucky (or unlucky) family and friends. We either became better shoppers, or lazy with our ideas as the time progressed as we breezed through the last couple of gifts.
Dinner was another recommendation from our hotel/apartment. It was a place called 'Ditirambo' and was described as Nuove Italian (i.e. New Italian). We were given an appetizer which looked a bit too "Nuove" for Mick. Even after Damian ate it, he was not sure what meat he was eating, so Mick was kind enough to let Damian have two appetizers. Again, we over ordered and had massive "first plates" - Damian had a plate full of ham and artisan salamis and a massive ball of mozzarella; while Mick had a plate full of mozzarella, sundried tomatoes and mint (with a hint of crispy pastry). Damian's 'second plate' was rabbit ragu pappardelle which was his best pasta experience of the trip. Mick's almost ordered beef cheeks on pumpkin and licorice for his 'second plate'... but he chickened out and ordered a Sicilian breaded veal (don't know what was so Sicilian about it, but it was a delicious schnitzel). Even though we were stuffed we had to try dolci (dessert). Damian's mandarin sorbet was so 'mandariney' that it was as if he swallowed mandarine pieces and crushed up ice. Mick was disappointed with his hazelnut pudding as it was gelatinous (Nuove puddings must not use flour), and 'squishy textured' dishes is something Mick does not do! Despite this, it was a great day to end our Roman Holiday.
No comments:
Post a Comment