Rome Day One

There is nothing I love more than leaving home in the evening and starting the day over in the morning in another country.

Going to Italy, I had a list of all the “must try” spots, but outside of that I wanted to wander around aimlessly and see where the day took us.

We arrived at our Airbnb around 10am, and were able to drop our bags. We couldn’t come back to unpack until 3pm. That being, I quickly googled how far away Osteria Da Fortunata, and to my surprise it was only a 15 minute walk.

This place was on everyone’s list and all over my feed. Everyone said to go early to beat the line. I don’t think I’ve ever moved so quickly to get to a restaurant. We arrived around 11:15am with no line, and were the first ones in.

They had fresh pasta being rolled right in the window, good wine and a simple setup. I like to try

everything and ended up ordering:

• Mozzarella di Bufala

• Strozzapreti alla Carbonara

• Gnocchi con sugo “Alla Vaccinara”

• Ravioli Burro e Salvia (Brown butter & sage)

• Millefoglie di melanzane

• Insalata mista

Plus red wine, limoncello, & cheesecake.

To be completely honest, we returned for dinner and ordered the Carbonara once more, along with Fettuccine al ragù, and ended the evening with tiramisu.

We thoroughly enjoyed this restaurant. While social media hype can sometimes lead to mixed experiences, this place delivered with excellent service, good wine, and perfectly cooked pasta. While Aaron made his entire personality about carbonara, the Gnocchi con sugo “Alla vaccinara” was my favorite.

Having grown up eating neck bones, I believe that's why I enjoyed this dish immensely. Sugo alla vaccinara is a Roman style dish prepared with oxtail. It's a ragu that's slowly braised with tomatoes, celery, onions, carrots, and red wine. The dish is incredibly flavorful, and they kept the bone, which in my opinion is the best part.

Aaron, however, traveled to Italy with a single objective: to discover the best carbonara. He will argue that the carbonara and cheesecake were his favorite.

Following lunch, we spent some time strolling around, and once we were finally able to check into our Airbnb, we joined my brothers at a nearby bar. Our drinks there led us to Wisdomless, a tattoo speakeasy shop, where we ordered martinis and my one brother decided to get small tattoo.

By that time, everyone was exhausted, but Aaron and I chose to continue walking and savor the solitude of the late night streets. We unexpectedly found ourselves on the St. Angelo Bridge, which was a truly beautiful way to conclude the first night.