Nights in Rome

There's no doubt Rome is a magical city. Especially at night! Thankfully, I had the chance to explore it all over again during the night in-between Terni and Naples –our following destination.

We had dinner at my new favourite restaurant, called L'Archetto. Truth be told, going through the menu was a little exhausting, since it's got at least 50 dishes, all spaghetti. But I managed to choose the best they have––or maybe they're all as good and I would have loved any other as much as I loved the one I chose? It was called Chanel, and it was spaghetti––naturally––with lobster, cheese, tomato and brandy. Absolutely delicious!

After that, we went out for a walk around the city, and ended up it Trevi Fountain, where we had some fun and took some pictures! I won't exhaust you with words... These images will probably say more than what I could ever write!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

A Weekend in Terni

As part of the conferences I'm taking part of while in Italy, we spent the weekend commuting from Rome to Terni. For those of you who don't know, this is a little town, located around an hour away from Rome, heading to the northeast. It is absolutely magical, although there's not much to do.

We were busy most of the time during the conferences, but we had the chance to walk around this wonderful place. One of the most interesting things is the mix between old buildings and more modern forms of architecture. What I heard is that many old buildings were destroyed during World War II, so that's why there are also a lot of more recent buildings.

On our first day there, we went to a new restaurant called Cucinaà. We had a tagliata di chianina con ratatouille, which was by far the best meat I've had in a long while. It came with cooked vegetables, although they weren't so good.

That afternoon we had tea with tiramisù, and I absolutely loved them––mainly only because I was craving to have some tiramisù!

The next day, we had pasta for lunch at the slowest restaurant I've ever visited. I had strozzapreti alla norcina, a very mushroom-y sauce. It was really good, but I couldn't finish my dish, since my body was rejecting Italian food that day.

The next day we had to eat at the exact same place, since it was Sunday and nothing else was open. I wasn't very excited about the idea, but my choice totally made up for the bad service. I chose to have some gnocchi with beans, meat and tomato sauce. This was the best dish I'd had––until then... You'll have to come back to find my new favourite! We also had chocolate cake with cream filling, which was delicious!

By this time we were ready to grab the train and head back to one more magical night in Rome, before leaving for Naples. But I'll talk about this tomorrow!

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio

Travel Diaries: Rome, Day 1

As you must all know by now, I'm currently in Italy. Rome, to be more precise. Which means there will be a lot of travel-related posts (and food, of course) these days on the blog.

After spending more than 15 hours in between planes and airports, I finally managed to arrive in Rome. I was sleep deprived and hungry, so the first stop for me was obviously lunch. We went to a restaurant that's near my hotel called San Marco, which is probably my friends' favourite place in Rome. I had penne all'arrabbiata, which is definitely my go-to choice for a first meal I'm absolutely sure I will like! Although, to be honest, I expected the sauce to be a little more cooked––since the tomatoes felt a little too raw––I did love the fact that it felt almost like home-made by my mum!

After lunch, I had a quick shower, and then went out for a walk on Via del Corso with my friends. I realised that moment how quickly you forget how magic and wonderful the streets of Rome can be. We started at Piazza del Popolo, which is only a few blocks away from our hotel, and then continued down to the Spanish stairs and the Trevi fountain. By the time we got there, it was almost dark, which meant that we got to see all the monuments at one of the best hours of the day!

After this lovely walk, we went for dinner, at a place called Ricafé. We had some rice balls, fried cheese, and other fried dishes before ordering our main dish. The house's specialty was pizza, but I was too full to eat one. So I chose prosciutto e melone instead. This is other of my all-time Italian favourites! And it was truly delicious.

By midnight we were all ready to have some gelato for dessert, so we went back to the Spanish stairs, where we took pictures and bought our ice creams. Of course, the waiters had to make fun of us and pose for our pictures!

We walked back to the Trevi fountain and made our wishes. It was much better visiting the place so late, because you could actually feel the calm and the magic of it. When there are so many people, you kind of lose the wonderful feeling you get when visiting such an amazing place!

We went back to the hotel and off to sleep. I was so tired that the night went by in just a few seconds, before I had to wake up to continue my roman adventures! But I'll tell you more about that tomorrow...

Love,

Photography: Laura Beltran-Rubio