Travel Around The Clock

WARNING! This is quite a long post.  My list of movies to watch before visiting Rome should have been a Top 5, but then I kept adding and adding, and finally I could not make a choice! So here it is my personal selection of... 10 MOVIES TO WATCH BEFORE VISITING ROME ROMAN HOLIDAY 1953 This is one of my favourite movies of all times. Maybe because I love Audrey Hepburn, or just because this movie, filmed in 1953, is a sequence of splendid images of Rome as it was almost 70 years ago: beautiful, elegant and much less chaotic than it is now! But also because this is a great classic romance and the legendary tour in Vespa in central Rome is epic! Here the city offers its most wonderful locations: Piazza di Spagna, Piazza Venezia, the Lungotevere, the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Imperial Forums and, again, Via delle Quattro Fontane, Largo Argentina and the Vittoriano.  UN AMERICANO A ROMA 1954 Can a Roman be so fascinated by American culture that he wants to give up his own...

Rome is an amazing city, one of the most beautiful in the world, and in addition to the cultural and artistic heritage, it has ancient food and wine traditions.  But while the quality of its gastronomic culture is renowned around the world, most people don't know much about the local wines. This is probably due to the fact that, despite its long viticultural history and good potential, the regional wine production has always been more directed towards quantity rather than quality. Nonetheless, things have changed lately, and the local producers have started to focus on indigenous varieties and the use of modern technologies, so that it is now possible to find very good local wines. Most of the local wines come from the Castelli Romani , an area of ​​great traditions in the field of viticulture. Since the time of the ancient Romans, the hilly area of ​​the hinterland produced wines for the capital. The beautiful exposures and the moderate climate, still affected by the breezes of ...

If Italy is the world heart of street food, its capital, Rome, makes no exception. Campo de' Fiori, Rome Street food is available anywhere at any time, vegetarian or not, gourmet or rustic. And it is not a new trend, since the 'porchettaro' (the ' porchetta ' sandwich vendor) certainly did not arrive in town yesterday, the  suppli recipe was created in 1800 and most of these foods come from the traditional local cuisine . But the irrepressible explosion of Ape Car dressed up in bistros, gourmet kiosks and people strolling with greasy scraps in their hands, certainly pushes to shout at the phenomenon. And now the capital can rely on a large number of famous addresses, both traditional and more recent, where you can taste typical Roman cuisine in take-away format, to be enjoyed while walking around the city.  Here is my personal list of the most traditional street food, basically the "seven kings" of Roman street gastronomy!  Panino with porchetta Traditio...

Rome, Tevere river and St Peter dome So you have finally decided to visit Rome ...that's good. Needless to say that the Eternal City is one of the most beautiful city in the world (top 1 in my personal opinion...but I was born there....) and can offer a full immersion into history and art. And while you are there, walking around ancient ruins, museums and baroque churches, you may get hungry. This post is here to help you, not in finding the best places to eat (as I am sure there are plenty of other websites that can help you in that) but more precisely in giving you some hints on the traditional local gastronomy, and guide you in tasting the city as a local would do. The traditional Roman cuisine is based on rural derived ingredients where nothing gets wasted, and food is prepared according to recipes often handed down from generation to generation in the family. Since this has always been a very fertile and productive agricultural land, Roman recipes are ideally associ...

Most people arrive in Lazio only in order to see Rome , but besides the Italian capital and its amazing ancient ruins and art, there is much more to see and explore in this region. This is still a part of Italy off the beaten path but it has indeed a lot to offer in terms of art, history, unspoiled nature and culinary traditions. And, it is due to the love I have for my region that I felt the urge to share with you some of the hidden gems of this area. Here is my top 10 of things to do in Lazio …(and, trust me, this is only the tip of the iceberg): 1. Visit the ancient papal city of Viterbo Viterbo is a relatively small city, located in the north of the Lazio region approximately 1 hour and half drive from Rome , in the area known as Tuscia, once inhabited by the Etruscans . I love it especially for the elegant and extraordinarily preserved buildings dating back to the XI-XII centuries, such as the Palazzo dei Papi , the Cathedral of San Lorenzo or the Palazzo dei Priori, bu...