Rome & Florence - Day 3

We got up early today and headed over to the Roman Forum, which is located just west of the Colesseum.  The Roman forum is from the 7-8^th century and was an area that housed many of the government buildings in Rome.  Julius Caesar built his own Basilica here in 179 BC and that became the area where people gathered to pursue personal, commercial, and judicial affairs. 

Around lunch time, we headed over to the Travestere region, which is known for its great cafés and restaurants.  We decided to eat at Pizzarium, which specializes in Roman style pizza.  This place was featured on Anthony Bourdain’s “Layover” last year.  Bourdain raved about how this “hole in the wall” simple pizzeria is the best in Rome.  Gabrielle Bonci is the chef and he prepares the most delicious Roman pizza.  Most restaurants in Rome only serve whole pizzas, so it was nice to be able to order by the slice here and have a bigger variety in choice.  The place was tiny, with no tables or chairs.  The place is barely big enough to fit more than 7 people inside.  We were overwhelmed with the pizza choices:  Margherita, Prosciutto/Ricotta/Rosemary, Potato/Parmesan, Pepper/Ricotta, Copa/Mozzarella, and Sardine/Mozzarella to name just a few.  They also had homemade Arancini – prosciutto, chicken, and fig.  We ordered 4 different slices and 2 arancini’s (prosciutto and fig).  The food was well worth the drive and the lack of sitting – we sat outside on the bench.  The crust was crisp, the veggies were fresh, and the cheese was creamy!  Bourdain did not disappoint!  After stuffing ourselves at Pizzarium, we jumped back on the Metro and headed back to our hotel.

We jumped on the 2:45PM train to Firenze.  The train is fast, just a little over an hour long.  One we arrived in Florence, there was a rather long taxi line, but it also went fast and we were checked into our hotel in no time.  The location of our hotel is really great – less than 3 blocks from the Duomo.  You an actually see its roof from the front of our hotel. 

We spent the afternoon walking through Florence, admiring the Duomo, Baptistry, and Bell Tower.  


We also walked over the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge.  Ponte Vecchio is a medieval bridge that spans the Arno river and connects the Ufizzi Gallery and the Pitti Palace.  People believe that this is from roman times, possibly dating back as far as 59 B.C. when the Romans settled the floodplain that became of colony called “Florentia.”  Engineers supposedly drained the marsh and built the bridge with stone piers to link north and south Italy.  The actual bridge walkway was made of wood, but was eventually destroyed in the flood of 1333.  It was rebuilt by Taddeo Gaddi in 1334 and remains as you see it today – a three arched bridge, built out of stone.  Interestingly, this is the only Italian bridge that survived World War II (access across was obstructed when the Germans destroyed the buildings at both sides of the bridge). 

Ponte Vecchio has always been a place where merchants displayed their goods.  Back before there were actual stores, merchants sold their goods simply on tables lining the bridge.  The merchants mostly made up of butchers.  In 1593 duke Ferdinand I decided to replace them with goldsmiths because he felt that the butchers created too much garbage and caused bad smells!   By the 17^th century, those tables turned into actual shops/homes to house the jewelers and you can still see those today.    

We finished the night with a bite to eat at Il Grande Miti, a place we ate at last time in Florence.  It was a great first day!  Tomorrow we plan on touring the Duomo and Bell Tower before heading off at noon for our wine tour in Tuscany!  We are so excited to visit the vineyards in the Chianti Region.


Till tomorrow!