An immersion into the Eternal City……well maybe more like dipping one’s toe in the water.

As most of you know I’m not big on being where large crowds are. Typically when I arrive in Rome my primary goal is to get the hell out of Rome as quickly as I can. But, this being my fifth time in Rome and the third for my guys I figured I’d be doing them a disservice to not see at least some of the sites. So I bit the bullet. Don’t misunderstand it was great being with my guys but….ugh….the crowds were tedious.

With no formal point to point hiking our schedule was a bit more relaxed but we have still walked roughly 6 miles each day because everything is 15 minutes away on Google Maps lol.

Walking around Rome in the evening was actually quite pleasant and our host, Luigi suggested a very nice trattoria “Osteria Angelino dal 1899” where we had a lovely meal and discovered the best grappa I have ever tasted.

Over my trips to Italy I’ve become an aficionado of the liqueur grappa. Now most folks associate grappa as being a liquid whose flavor is one step above auto parts degreaser and rightfully so. Most grappa sold in the US has earned that reputation fairly, it’s crap. But, thanks to my friend Francesco (see Calabria 2022) we discovered that golden, rather than clear, grappa is truly the way to go. “Diciotto Luna” has been my favorite but even with it one must chill it to ease the blast of alcohol and appreciate the underlying flavors (think honey, floral, licorice). However this particular evening we were served a grappa that needed no refrigeration courtesy of our waiter Valeria.

The question now becomes whether one can buy this in the US as many items such as good olives good beer (such as Peroni Red label) good grappa (such as Diciotto Luna grappa) one has to order and import oneself. It can be done but it takes a minute.

After a lovely dinner, and having a pleasant buzz from the grappa, we strolled the streets of Rome on an early fall evening.

Next post…”A funny thing happened on the way to the forum…not” just me, my guys and thousands of our closest friends “. Stay tuned and thanks for reading. Ciao!