Rome Food & Shopping

“I think I’ve seen enough ruins for today” – The Mister

and with that we walked past the signs for McDonald’s at the Colosseum and we journeyed back to the Via Condotti so that we could meander the streets.

One of the places that I wanted to try was Antico Caffe Greco, the oldest caffe in Rome. They serve pastries as well as your standard caffeinated beverages and alcohol should you choose to imbibe.

Irish Coffee

Where else can you find your waiter wearing tails??!

After walking around, we saw churches on about every corner but we also got to see interesting mementos of Rome.

It was time for another round of nourishment with more offerings of the alcoholic variety. So we made our way to K & N’s favorite wine bar, L’Enoteca Antica di Via della Croce. Right on the corner is a cute flower stall. Don’t you want more flowers in your life, now??

So after consuming a few plates of cured meats, Iberico ham to be more specific and glasses of sparkling wine and red wine, I decided to venture with N to her favorite purse store (which I’m not sure if I’m allowed to share!!) but I can share that the purveyor (Claudia) is a charming Italian woman who treats her customers with such care. She closed the store for us and we were able to peruse at our leisure.

I bought 2 scarves and a beautiful orange handbag.  Claudia’s father once worked for Gucci as a leather maker and crafted a lot of their bags from exotic skins so her store specializes in offering the same craftsmanship.

The scarves were designed by a Princess, like a real Princess!!! According to Claudia, the Princess’ family (the Vaselli Family) owns a majority of the buildings in Rome, including the building where Claudia has her business. The Princess is also an artist so she painted the designs for the scarves and used the same factory that Hermes uses to produce them.

So after making our purchases, we made our way to Nino’s. It was artichoke season so I got an artichoke, Roman style for a starter and then tried the Nino, a ground beef patty cooked with butter and sage.

We made our way back to the hotel and since it was a lovely evening, we decided to go to the roof for evening drinks. The view there is spectacular! They have a piano bar and even if you don’t stay at the hotel, you can make it to the roof for cocktails and the view.

Since I have a twitter and instagram hashtag of #livinahappylife, I couldn’t resist trying the “Be Happy” cocktail. It’s basically rum and hot chocolate with whipped cream.  It was a great way to end the evening and start the birthday celebration!

Cheers!

MXM