We had another delicious breakfast at the hotel this morning. The servers walk around and offer extra treats to all of the tables. Today it was homemade cannoli and carrot cake. Not necessarily breakfast food, but delectable.
After breakfast we walked to Campo de’ Fiore, which translates to “field of flowers”. We wandered through the open air market browsing the merchandise. Everything from fresh pasta, cheese, truffles, meats, olive oils, balsamic vinegars, fruits (those strawberries I mentioned in the last post), and vegetables to clothing, bags, and flowers is on display. The square is surrounded by restaurants and transforms from a market to a lovely setting to relax for dinner.
I was on the hunt for balsamic vinegar to bring home. Not just any balsamic vinegar, I was on a mission to find Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale with a D.O.P. (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) stamp to guarantee that it was produced in either Modena or Reggio Emilia, Italy. The market had multiple balsamics with an I.G.P. stamp (this confirms the grape used is “similar” to the grapes from Modena). Not good enough! We found it at Salumeria Roscioli, a family business that started as a bakery in the 1800’s. It was pricey but I will relish every precious drop.
After all that hard work finding the vinegar, it was time for a pre-lunch gelato. Specifically, Fatamorgana Gelato. Fatamorgana Gelato is homemade using quality products and seasonal produce. Trey was still full from breakfast, or maybe in mild shock from the vinegar purchase (it wasn’t that bad), but I needed one last gelato. I asked the young man working for his favorite flavor. It was watermelon, but the watermelon pan was empty. Instead he recommended lemon curd and apricot. They were scrumptious. The tart apricot on top full of fruit bits and the creamy lemon curd on the bottom made a perfect duo.
As we continued to wander through our last day, we stopped to rest in the Palazzo Venezia courtyard. Such a pretty garden and fountain.
We decided to have an unconventional (or at least, un-Italian) lunch at an Irish pub. Maybe we were trying to ease ourselves into the fact that we are leaving Italy tomorrow! Trey had a huge burger and I had grilled cheese. Not a grilled cheese sandwich, but a large slice of grilled smoked scamorza cheese on a plate with fries and salad. Scamorza is a mild cow cheese from southern Italy with a firm texture similar to melted string cheese. You know I loved it. We took a picture of our beer…
Following lunch, we made the sad walk back to the hotel to pack and take our last rooftop jacuzzi. I decided to pop open a Prosecco from the mini bar. Everything in there was free and we had not really made a dent!
We took a taxi to Piazza Navona to see the Fountain of the Four Rivers and to walk around before dinner.
The last dinner of our trip was at Virginiae near Piazza Navona. The waiter was friendly and knowledgable and the food was fantastic. We started with an antipasto platter with three types of salami (young to old), four types of cheese (mild to strong), mortadella, guanciale (pork cheek), sundried tomatoes stuffed with tuna spread, a pickled onion jam and honey. The soft blue cheese was flavored with a cherry crusted rind. It was unbelievable.
Then came our final pasta course. It was one of the best. Trey had fettuccine al ragu (with meat sauce) and I had bucatini (my favorite) all’amatriciana. He loved his and mine was downright luscious, filled with pieces of guanciale.
We could have stopped with the pasta, and probably should have, but it was our last meal in Italy and we were going to do it right! For main courses it was meatballs for Trey (he had been hoping for meatballs the whole trip) and veal saltimbocca (with prosciutto and sage in a wine sauce) for me. The waiter happily let us digest for 20 minutes or so after the pasta before the mains.
We enjoyed our last bottle of Italian wine.
And finally, a perfect ending, the best tiramisu of the trip.
