Discovering Rome’s hidden beauties…

From Wikipedia: “Piazza Barberini is a large piazza in the city center (Centro Storico) on Quirinal Hill of Rome, Italy. It was created in the 16th century.
The current name was given in 1625 after Palazzo Barberini which is located nearby. Until the 18th century, unknown human corpses were displayed here for public identification. One of the plaza’s feature is the Triton Fountain. Another fountain nearby is the Fontana delle Api (work by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1627-1629) at Via Vittorio Veneto.
Between 1632 and 1822 an antique obelisk stood here but has been transferred to Villa Medici”.

If you’re interested in this place of Rome, you’ll enjoy a hotel close to this square: Hotel Azzurra is a one star hotel that accepts also big groups of people and has rooms perfect for families (holds ‘til 5 people per room).
The hotel is really economic and well kept, completely restored. Every room has its bathroom and frigobar, tv and telephone. And, last but not least, is really close also to Spanish Steps.

Italian version.

Don’t know what to cook for your romantic Valentine’s day dinner?
This is an article I found on cnet:

“There are silicone cake pans for just about anything; their flexibility makes them ideal for all sorts of novelty cake shapes.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, there’s a cake pan with a sweet message. The Love Silicone Cake Pan can spell out your feelings of “Love” in tasty cake form, complete with hearts for the spaces within the “o” and the “e.”

The pan is approximately 15 inches by 5.5 inches by 2.2 inches, providing enough cake if you’re planning a Valentine’s Day party for more than two. It’s entirely dishwasher safe and while the pan is meant for baking, it can double as a mold if you’re planning a different kind of desert.

Make sure that any treat you make in the Love Silicone Cake Pan is something you feel comfortable turning upside down. From above, the word “Love” is mirrored. It’s also large enough that you’ll probably need a cookie sheet or other large tray to flip your finished product onto.”

Have a sweet Valentine!

Florence is near to the sea but is not on the seaside.
When Florentines have free time and want to eat fish they usually go in Leghorn (Livorno) or Viareggio, that are sea towns not so far from Florence.

Livorno was defined as an “ideal town” during the Italian Renaissance. Today, it reveals its history through the structure of its neighbourhoods, crossed by canals and surrounded by fortified town walls, through the tangle of its streets, which embroider the town’s Venice district, and through the Medici Port characteristically overlooked by towers and fortresses leading to the town centre.

The Museo Mascagnano houses memorabilia, documents and operas by the great composer Pietro Mascagni. Every year some of his operas are traditionally played during the lyric music season, which is organised by the Traditional Theatre of Livorno. Also the “Terrazza Mascagni”, a walkway divided from the sea by a handrail, is named in honor to Pietro Mascagni.

Viareggio is a city located in northern Tuscany, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the main centre of the northern Tuscan Riviera known as Versilia, and the second largest city within the Province of Lucca.
It is known as a seaside resort as well as being the home of the famous carnival of Viareggio. The oldest building in Viareggio, known as Torre Matilde, dates back to this time and was built by the Lucchesi in 1541 as a defensive fortification to fight the constant manace of corsair incursions.
Viareggio is also an active industrial and manufacturing centre; its shipbuilding industry has long been renowned around the world and its fishing and floricultural industries are still fundamental sectors to the city’s economy.

Anyway, if you are in Florence you got an alternative: instead of traveling ’till the sea you can let the sea come to you…
There’s a restaurant in Florence specialized in fish dishes: Ristorante Lucamare, in the centre of Florence. Moreover, the chef is Sicilian so well knows how to cook fish delicacies!
Have a safe journey!

Italian version

PS: The descriptions of the cities are taken from wikipedia.

It’s cool and we are friends on Facebook.
Who am I talking about?

The answer is the 4 Colonne Restaurant. Take a look to their website and you’ll understand…
It’ s a really fashionable place, it’s no accident that this restaurant is attended by celebrities!

The Ristorante 4 Colonne is placed in Navona Square, in the centre of Rome, and I think that having dinner there is just like an experience…

Italian version.

There’s a homely trattoria in Rome, a typical restaurant situated in the most homely area of the city.
The Trattoria Moderna is placed in Campo dei Fiori (that means flowers’ field).
Campo de’ Fiori is a particular square: there are no churches, no obelisks, no palaces, but life.

This square has been surfaced with stone just a few centuries ago, and that could explain why it is called “field”. The reference to the flowers is maybe due to Flora, Pompeo’s lover.

Since 1869 it has been the home to a colorful and typical market, that makes Campo dei Fiori a lively area.
In the square rises the monument to the Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno, that has been burned there in 1600 because of his theories about heliocentrism and the infinity of the universe.

Italian version.

The world is not so big. Especially in an epoch where you can go from Paris to London in half an hour with a plane, travelling is not only a way to discover other cultures or new way of life, but also an essential feature in business world.

That’s why many companies and corporations have chosen business and incentive travels as an added value for internal personnel and its satisfaction.

A reliable way to increase the agreement of the employees, business and incentive travels are born with the pharmaceutical field but now are popular in all the industrial sectors: travel agencies have understood this tendency and have created specific divisions to supply the growing demand.

That’s the path followed by Viaggiare, an italian travel agency born in the Seventies and specialized in business travel.
Viaggiare provides measured solution to its clients, tailored on their needs. A resort in the Caribbean sea or a weekend on the snow, Viaggiare can try to find out the best solution that fits the company characteristics and incomes, to guarantee a full service.
Viaggiare has, moreover, a section dedicated to on line wedding lists: the memory of a beautiful travel is the best gift for a wedding!

Italian version.

“Italians Do It Better - Love Themes for Valentine’s Day” is an Italian romantic compilation to celebrate the lovers’ day.

It collects love themes created by famous Italian composers of film scores, like Ennio Morricone, Piero Umiliani and Piero Piccioni.

Even if you don’t know their names you surely know their pieces (they composed for many movies, as “Once Upon a Time in the West”, “The Mission”, “The Legend of 1900”, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, “Swept Away… by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August”, etc…).

This compilation is sold on line, so you don’t have to come in Italy to buy it!

It’s a good idea for a gift, if you don’t know what to give to your partner, or it should work as a soundtrack to get in the right mood, if you know what I mean…

Valentine’s day is coming… it sounds like a threat!
I found a funny “handbook” to discover if he loves you or not on the Jamaica observer:

“Most guys do a pretty lame job at showing their love for their girls. Sure they may tell her all the time that she is beautiful and sexy and all, but how often does he even say he loves you or better yet, how often does he do something special for you to prove his love?

We know when machismo (male ego) sets in; you have to read deep between the lines just to know how he really feels about you. Often times you are still not sure but here are five easy ways to tell if he loves you or loves you not this Valentine’s Day.

1 If he keeps a track of your habits, your likes and dislikes and actually remembers them at the relevant times, then girl your guy is way over his mind for you.

2 If he wants to go out with you all the time, surprises you like on your birthday or Valentine’s Day and takes you out to your favourite place and indulges in your favourite pastime with you then it could only mean one thing and that’s love.

3 When he calls or messages you just to have chit-chat or to express how he feels about you then, look out girl, there is some genuine love interest on his part.

4 Boast about you to his friends and family and praises you in front of them? That’s only love and pure love too. The guy wants the world to know that this beautiful angel got him hooked!

5 If he ogles you down every time you are around him and then quickly detach his glance when you look at him, he is shy but he is all the way in love with you. That sparkle in his eyes will tell it all.”

So, girls, what’s the verdict?

There is no sincerer love than the love of food.
George Bernard Shaw

Somewhere it becomes real.

If you’d like to taste the original Tuscan flavors and atmospheres, feeling the passion for food and cooking, I got to suggest you a particular place.

Hostaria il Desco is something like an experiment: a fusion between a modern and fashionable restaurant and the Medieval “desco”, the ancient Italian word for “table”, that refers to the typical cooking and the centuries old traditions.

They have a rich menu, with traditional recipes and new entries, included a gluten free menu.

Ah, I didn’t tell you that this restaurant is in the historical centre of Florence…not bad!

Italian version.

It’s always difficult to find a big and beautiful place where to have a dinner with friends, a birthday or a wedding party.
When you live in a metropolis, like Rome, it’s even more difficult.

You don’t have to drop also the quality of the food, so you have a lot of parameters to consider before choosing a restaurant for an important occasion.

My proposal is a historic restaurant in the Roman countryside, made in an ancient farmhouse.
It’s called Ristorante Bel Poggio and, over and above the evocative location, offers typical Roman cuisine and fresh fish dishes.

A good idea for who wants to visit Rome also gastronomically!

Italian version.