11:00pm here (or at least when I started writing this)! Again, all snuggled into bed after an exhausting day. How is Monday over already? We woke up and had breakfast in the lobby of our hotel. Breakfast was…interesting on my end. I got myself a bowl of cereal and asked if they had almond or soy milk. The girl working directed me in the direction of the espresso machine and showed me the button which read “latte de soia” (soy milk). Excited, I wasted no time at all and filled up my bowl. Only to my dismay, I realized that the soy milk coming out was not cold, not warm…but hot. Duh. If it’s coming out of an espresso machine, it’s going to be hot. Regardless, I ate my hot cereal and kept my mouth shut because it’s free and it was my mistake.
From there, we got ready and had some free time before we had to meet at 11:45am. We decided to walk around a bit and explore the area a little more. Coincidentally, a street art piece that I had done a project on is relatively close to our hotel and we got to see it in person.
Now, I know I mentioned yesterday that we went to the Colosseum (or the Flavian Amphitheatre) today. I’ll definitely get into that tomorrow, as I wanted to talk about the food I’ve eaten so far!
Last night we ate at a restaurant called Ristorante da Massi. They were informed of my dietary preference before arriving, so they knew what to accommodate. The first course to come out (for me) was a rice and artichoke risotto. I somehow managed to chew between shoveling it into my mouth. It was so so good.
(awful picture, I didn’t bring an actual camera with me). I’m a huge fan of artichoke so this dish was perfect. I was almost full after finishing the whole plate, but sucked it up because we had another course coming our way. My second course was a plate of veggies. Sounds boring, right?
Wrong. The asparagus, zucchini and eggplant were all roasted with a bit of oil. Then the sautéed greens were garlicky, salty and perfect with the squeeze of lemon. I finished (almost) all of this plate as well. I was very surprised with the dishes they presented because usually when I ask for vegan options, I’m brought bland, boring food. These dishes were flavorful (but not too much) and so delicious.
This evening, we had the night to eat dinner on our own. We went to a pizza place that was recommended to us by Matteo. He raved about this pizza place, so we had to try it! I got an order of bruschetta con funghi and a side salad. The salad, which was HUGE, was a simple mixture of tomatoes, arugula, romaine and purple cabbage. I dressed it with oil & vinegar, and a touch of salt. I didn’t get a picture of it because I ate it too quickly. Then I moved onto my bruschetta.
I loved it so much that after I was finished, I flagged down the server so I could get another order. I’m a huge fan of mushrooms, so this was calling my name. It was covered sautéed mushrooms, garlic, oil, salt and pepper. There’s not much else to say about it other than I wish I ate 4 more of them. When I put my hand up to ask for the check, the server came over and asked if I was ordering a third one.
And of course, to end our night, we had to get gelato! Luckily the first place we passed was only a block away from where we ate, AND it had vegan options. It’s called La Fonte della Salute. The inside was so cute and the guy working was very nice. I got a cone with half hazelnut, have banana brûlée.
Annnnnd, I’m definitely going back tomorrow to try more flavors. I think chocolate is calling my name next time. This gelato was AMAZING and the perfect thing to end our night on. I was so happy, I was basically skipping back to our hotel.
Tomorrow, we head out early and will be at the Vatican. Tomorrow’s blog post will definitely touch base on the Colosseum and the Vatican, so stay tuned! Ciao!