Archive for the 'Day Trips from Rome' category

Strawberry Festival in Nemi, Italy

Jun 08 2013 Published by under Day Trips from Rome, Life in Italy

A sagra is a festival, usually centered around a local delicacy.  You can have sagre for porcini mushrooms, gnocchi, beer, lavender… but the sagra I have been dying to go to every year is the sagra della fragole- the strawberry festival.

With a fearless (and manual-transmission trained) fellow explorer, we navigated the strange world of Italian car rentals and were soon on our way to Nemi, in the Castelli Romani.

Nemi has long been famous for its wild strawberries.  And perched overlooking Nemi lake, formed in an ancient volcanic crater, it’s an idyllic scene to wile away the hours eating strawberries.

The town itself is typical Italian adorable, decked out with flags and strawberry themed streamers.

I wasted no time getting into the spirit, devouring strawberry pizza and a wild strawberry tart in quick succession.

In addition to lots of strawberry deliciousness, there is also a flower show.

We went on the 2nd of June, which also happens to be Festa della Republica (a national holiday), so the Italian flags were out in full force. As were the adorable, I repeat, ADORABLE fiat campers filled with flowers.

Just one more and then I will spare you the 20+ additional pictures I may have taken of the same van.

After lunch, we lugged our crates of strawberries back to the rental car and set off to explore some of the other towns in Castelli Romani.

Lucky for you, the sagra is still happening this weekend. The 80th edition runs until June 9th.  More information is available on the Comune di Nemi website (but good luck navigating the creative web design).  If you can’t make it this weekend, keep an eye out next year in late May, when the festival usually begins.

Even without a sagra, Nemi is an easy day trip from Rome.  It is located about 30 km, or a 45 minute drive, from the center.  The town is small and cute.  It won’t take all day to explore, leaving you time to check out Frascati, Castel Gandolfo of Genzano on the same day.

Just remember to wear your comfortable shoes.

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Day Trip from Rome: Calcata, Italy

Jun 02 2013 Published by under Day Trips from Rome, Italian Food

The spring has been so strange, with thunderstorms and freezing winds marking the first day of June. So you’ll just have to trust me when I say that sometimes when the weather is hot you get a nagging urge to leave Rome for the day.

One such place to skip off to is the ancient volcanic rock town of Calcata.

When Calcata’s cliffs began crumbling in the 1930s, the village was condemned and abandoned. Slowly but surely, in the 1960s and 70s, hippies and artists began to reclaim the hilltop town.  The squatters revitalized the village and the city eventually reversed the condemnation order.

Today, the quiet piazze are the perfect place to lunch outside of the city.

And the best lunch to be had is at La Piazzetta (in other words, aptly named: The Little Piazza).

Lunch at La Piazzetta was the most delicious food I have had in quite some time. We were spoiled by Gianluca, his wife and daughter (caught in the picture above).  At the popular family-run restaurant we feasted on a Roman speciality- cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper).  The dish was made of strangozzi fatto a mano (hade made pasta), a dish made senza uova (without eggs- just flour and water).

As a secondo, we dined on sausages made by the restaurant owners themselves, served grilled to perfection and topped with fennel.

The zero KM restaurant (meaning it serves hyper-local foods), was constantly turning guests away. Best to call ahead for a reservation and request a table outside if the weather is nice.

After lunch, we happily continued exploring the narrow streets of the small town.  In addition to artists, Calcata is famous for it’s cats.

You arrive in Calcata after exiting the autostrada and continuing on for 20 minutes of winding roads through a lush green valley.  It’s about 40 km north of Rome and accessible by car.  Calcata is an easy day trip from Rome, and well worth the short drive to have lunch in this ancient town of artists.

I wouldn’t have discovered Calcata without the lovely Laura who organized a tour Scoprire La Tuscia- a trip designed to discover the ancient land of the Etruscans.  I’ll have more on the trip soon!

For lunch in Calcata:

La Piazzetta
Via San Giovanni, 47
Calcata (VT)
0761.588078 or 335.6682776
Closed Wednesday and Thursday 

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Day Trip from Rome: Spoleto

Jul 22 2012 Published by under Day Trips from Rome

If you’ve already explored Orvieto, Spoleto is a quieter town, a bit farther off tourist maps.  For 8 euro, you can catch a train from Termini and be in this small town in Perugia in just a little over an hour.

First things first: eat.

We ducked into Osteria dell’Enoteca and ordered the house bruschetta (yum) and strangozzi alla spoletina.  This Spoleto-specialty is made with a delicious garlic tomato sauce. After the first bite, I refused to share any more. I needed to have it all to myself.

The chef’s wife and son were also dining in the restaurant, so we had the chance to thank him in person.  You can try it out yourself at via Aurelio Saffi, 7.  Be prepared to take your time and linger over some house wine from Sardegna.

The town is quite small and a quick stroll will bring you to Santa Maria dell’Assunto.  Which was refreshing spartan compared to some of the churches we seen in Rome.

The rest of the town picture-perfect.

A easy hike will wind through the hills, offer glimpses of the village and bring you to the Albornozian Castle.

With a few poppies along the way.

From the castle you can also see the ponte delle torre, a HUGE aqueduct.  There’s a way to walk across it, but we had a late start the day we went and couldn’t explore further.

On your way back to the train station (which is a bit of walk), stop by the amphitheater that was built in the 2nd century AD.

Over all, a town with a lovely mix of old and new.  Heavy on the old side.  Lots of families, few tourists, and well worth the trip.

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Easy Day Trip from Rome: Orvieto

May 13 2012 Published by under Day Trips from Rome, Italian Food, Italian Wine

A girl can only take so much of Rome’s noise before the urge to spend a Sunday outside of the city begins to take hold.  An old stand by for an easy day trip from Rome is Orvieto.  The Umbrian hilltop town is a short train ride away and offers a completely different feel from the Italian capital.

Catch a train in the morning, walk out of the station in Orvieto and hop on the funicular (1 euro each way).  Exiting and turning left will offer a gorgeous view of the surrounding valleys (even on cloudy days with only a phone to capture the scene).

You can follow the majority of the crowd up the main cobblestone street.  If you’re hungry, look right down via S. Leonardo and you’ll find Trattoria del Moro.

Settle in for the some vino and paparadelle al cinghiale- pasta with wild boar ragu that’s popular in Umbria and Tuscany.

Fully fueled, set off once more towards the center of town for Orvieto’s most famous landmark: the cathedral.

The cathedral took nearly 300 years to finish. Three. Hundred. Years.  It’s worth a looksie- trust me.

After a gander at the ruly impressive church, it’s time to check out Orvieto’s other claim to fame: wine

Orvieto was famous for it’s wine even before it was famous for it’s 14th century cathedral.  Around 1100, a German bishop was making his way to Rome. But priorities are important, and so he sent a scout ahead to identify taverns with good wine to ensure a pleasant journey.  The story goes that the scout would write “Est” (Latin: “This is it”) on the outside of taverns with decent vino.

The scout was so blown away the first time he tried Orvieto’s signature white wine that he wrote “EST! EST! EST!”.  His boss found the tavern and agreed.  The bishop never made it to Rome, and spent the rest of his life enjoying the Umbrian white.

After a bottle of Orvieto Classico, it’s time to explore the streets of the village.

Each of those houses has a cellar underneath, carved into the volcanic rock of the hillside.  The caves have been used for everything from  wells, to olive oil presses, to pigeon coops and bomb shelters, depending on the century.

Most of the cellars and tunnels are private but you can take a tour of a few if you want to see Orvieto from below.

English language tours cost 6 euro, and leave from the same piazza that the cathedral dominates.

But my favorite thing about Orvieto is that you don’t really need an itinerary.  The town is well suited for a day of meandering, eating and drinking.

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Italy for Easter: Pasqua con chi vuoi

Apr 09 2012 Published by under Day Trips from Rome, Life in Italy, Travel

There’s a saying in Italy: Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi!

Which in English basically means: Christmas with your family, Easter with whomever you want!

One of the great things about living in the center of the Catholic universe is a four-day Easter weekend.  And with no family obligations, we skipped town and hopped on a train out of Termini:

We left early and got to observe spring in Lazio through the fog and blur of the train window.

And ultimately, stepped off the train in Siena. Up the tower to stare at the houses and churches that looked like toys from so high up.

But then it was back to Rome, which is truly beautiful this time of year:

*My computer is broken :( so apologies for phone-only pictures.

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Day trip from Rome: Naples

Mar 25 2012 Published by under Day Trips from Rome, Italian Food, Life in Italy, Pizza

I love Naples. Sometimes Rome pretends to be a little fancy-pants, when it is in fact a little bit insane.  There is none of that in Naples. Naples is straight-up unapologetic, in-your-face chaos.

I was in Naples this time last year, on Palm Sunday, and it seemed to be a free for all.  The shops were closed but the streets were full of motorinos, carrying entire families or three grown men at a time. No helmets, just lots of wheelies and honking.  I can’t get enough of it and I am constantly trying to convince people to take a Saturday trip with me.

Naples is a bit of tiring day trip from Rome, but it is doable if you don’t have much time to spare.  The slow train (which we take because we still have a poor-student mentality when it comes to travel) only costs 10 euro each way, but takes nearly 4 hours.  Catch it at 7:30 am, and you walk out of the station in Naples just in time for the pizza ovens to be nearly ready.

First, swing by the Porta Nolana fish market.  There is lots of yelling and squid throwing and fried dough selling.  I was too intimidated to pull out my camera, so here is a picture of fruit truck at the end of the mercato.

Then head back towards the main drag (Corso Umberto I), and wander over to Da Michele to get in line.

I honestly wouldn’t bother with the Margarita, even though this is Naple’s most iconic pizza.  Go for the marinara.

Then back to wandering the streets and piazzas in the center of the city.

From there, you might be lucky enough to stumble upon a creepy doll hospital.

Or a stash of, what our friends the Pizza Pilgrims, have taught us in the best damn pizza-makin’ flour around.

And, of course, you will find the presepe.  In addition to pizza, Naples is famous for its presepe, or cribs.  Christmas manger scenes that sometimes take a decidedly modern detour.

i.e. with plenty of figures like Berlusconi, Gaddafi, and Sarkozy, to go alongside baby Jesus.

But if you continue through the city, you can make your way up to this street:

And hop on the funicular.  (Side note: After 26 years of speaking English, I am always surprised to find words I don’t know, like funicular. I am 98% sure I have never heard this word before.  “You mean that tram thing that goes up the steep hill? It’s not a gondola? Are you serious?”)

Anyways, for about 2 euro, you can buy a 90 min ticket for this crazy-named tram, that will take you up to a much quieter Neapolitan neighborhood with an amazing view.

Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, anyone?

You also get a birds eye view of the sprawl.  Suddenly, your day of constantly being lost is small alleys makes much more sense.  There is only one straight street in Naples.  Everywhere else twists and turns and angles to take you in a direction you didn’t exactly intend to go.

Back down the hill you go on the friendly funicular.

Make your way back towards the station and stop in for one more pizza to-go at Da Michele.

You’ll have four hours on the train back to Rome to digest.

A final note, and I am by no means an expert… Naples has a rather unsavory reputation.  I’ve never felt threatened there, but I also don’t wander down unknown streets at night.  Be observant, be alert, and you should be fine.

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Day Trips from Rome: Bracciano

Mar 30 2011 Published by under Day Trips from Rome

In keeping with the Rome-free Sundays, this week we hopped on the train to Bracciano.

Bracciano is a small hilltop town in Lazio that overlooks (you guessed it) Lake Bracciano.

We got off the train and I proudly announced: “Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes got married here at that castle.  There. That’s the extent of my knowledge about Bracciano. What should we do now?”

Uhhh.. walk towards the castle?

I still think it’s pretty crazy that there are just castles sitting around in Italy.  We don’t exactly have those back home.  The picture above was the view from our table at lunch.

I hope I never lose the surreal sense I get when sitting down next to a castle to have taglioni con cacio e cozze.

(And yes, that last part was for Paula who observed in my Ostia Antica Day Trip post that all I left out was what I had for lunch).

After delicious food, we wandered through some of the smaller alleyways and peeked over the cliff to get a better view of the lake.

The water was too much to resist so we decided to make the trek down the hill:

To get to the lake pathway, follow the main street downhill (there are signs pointing cars towards the ‘lago’).  Past the park, you’ll see a church on your left and steep stairs to the right.  Just walk down the stairs and continue down the path.  All in all, it’s about a 15-20 walk from the middle of town.

Rock skipping, swan feeding, beach glass hunting and general outdoor enjoying ensued.

We grabbed a drink at the bar on the water to fortify ourselves for the walk back up the hill to the train station.

How to get there:

Take the “Viterbo” line to Bracciano.  Tickets are 2.70 Euro each way and the trains leave from Ostiense and Trastevere.  You can take the Metro B line to Piramide and then switch to the train there. (The train station attached to Piramide is Ostiense). Trains leave every 30 minutes, except on Sundays and holidays when they are less frequent.

The train ride takes just under an hour.  Always remember to validate your ticket before boarding in one of the yellow machines or you could end up with a 50 Euro fine from the Rome metro police like me. Yay!

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Day Trips From Rome: Ostia Antica

Mar 28 2011 Published by under Day Trips from Rome

I am not a city girl.  I find cities overwhelming most of the time.  While I love all of the events to choose from and events to attend, I dislike most of the day-to-day realities of city life.  The packed metros, pushy bus riders, angry postal clients, inexplicably closed administrative offices.

So every week I try to have Rome-free Sundays.

There are so many amazing day trips that are possible when you live right next to a major train hub.  All you have to do is check the timetables and hop on a regional line.

One of my recent favorite Rome-free days was to Ostia Antica:

Ostia Antica is what, in my American head, Italy should look like.  Heartbreakingly adorable.

We stopped for an afternoon snack in town so that I could coo over “omg, how cuteeeee” everything was.

Even though vino in a walled ancient city should be enough of a draw, Ostia Antica is best known for its extensive Roman ruins.

I couldn’t believe that we were allowed to wander at will through the ruins.  Though, be careful to duck. Ancient Romans were relatively short.

There are plenty of beautiful statues in addition to the examples of homes and even a huge amphitheatre:

Disclaimer: I am far too old to still find toilet humor funny, but one look at the rather privacy-lite ancient Roman public bathrooms and I may have gotten a small case of the giggles.

Keep your eyes open for plenty of mosaics in the ruins. (Can I just emphasize that I can’t believe you are allowed to walk all over this? I guess if it made it 2000+ years, it will probably stand up to abuse from a few more tourists).

Mosaics were often used to inform an illiterate public of what kind of services were available inside the business.  A fish could have indicated a bath house.

This was probably a brothel:

Aaaaaand one more case of the inappropriate giggles.

Getting There:

Ostia Antica is ridiculously easy to get to from the city center.  Just take the Lido train to the Ostia Antica station.

You can take Metro B to Piramide and switch the Lido line there. (Trains run about every 15 minutes).  Your metro ticket (1 Euro) is all you need to ride the train.

When you exit the Ostia Antica station, walk straight up the stairs, over the bridge and down the other side. Keep going straight and soon enough you’ll see the ruins in front of you and the walled city up the road to your right.

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Sunday Strolls on Via Appia

Feb 20 2011 Published by under Day Trips from Rome, Life in Italy

Rome is an amazing city, but sometimes you just have to get out.

Via Appia, or the Appian Way, is a short bus ride outside of Rome’s city center but once you get there you’ll feel completely removed from the craziness of Piazza Venezia.

Parts of the ancient road are well preserved and you can walk along the original stones.  Rent some bikes from any of the little shops along the way and you can cruise for miles, passing tombs, aqueducts, ancient village ruins, and some very modern villas.  (Via Appia is best known today as the absolute poshest part of Rome. This is where the super rich deign to make their modern Roman lives).

After all that walking or biking, take a break at the cafe and order some wine.

I’m hooked. If these clouds clear up, this is exactly where I’ll be heading today.

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