Rome…L’ultima parte…

Nothing beats good weather, good food and great company. And I had all three. In Rome. Correction: I had all four. After a long and beautiful morning drive, I asked the Js if we could kindly stop for a coffee and cornetto…yet again…to which they agreed. You see, the designated driver and his passenger (to his right) needed a coffee fix there and then. I, on the other hand, did not necessarily need one, but I wanted something sweet anyway. Obviously! When the coffee break was over (alas) we went for a short walk, after which J2 drove us to Monte Tuscolo. I soaked up the view, and something magical happened…my Italian came back…well, a teeny tiny bit of it at least! Some locals who loved the place as much as I did sat next to me and asked me about my sketch. I found myself trying to speak a few words here and there. Nothing special but I was happy. It felt good. (All those hours watching Montalbano certainly paid off. Well that’s not exactly Roman…mah!)

What felt even better was lunch, of course, at Hosteria San Rocco in Frascati. After some antipasti, which were good but somewhat overpriced, we ordered fresh pasta alla gricia and the classic cacio e pepe. These did not disappoint. I braced myself for the saltiness of the guanciale (not pancetta as loads of Italian bloggers rightly cannot stress enough) but it was simple food at it’s best I thought. The boys just wanted their coffee. I had Tiramisù, which is not typically from the region, but it was either that or fruit, so the choice was clear. I can never get over how good the coffee is in Italy. One of the first things my bro-in-law told me was this: “You can never, ever, go wrong with the coffee here.” Right he was. And with such cute coffee cups how can we ever? Guess which one I picked…