ROME/BERLIN FALL 2017
Back in Rome but this time with a side trip to Berlin.
First Day Routine:
Our first day in Rome is normally the same. We arrive at the airport and take the Leonardo Express into the city. It is then a short ten minute walk to the apartment we rent. We unpack and then walk to the market to get some items for breakfast and snacks. We normally then take a nap since neither of us sleep on the plane and we are tired. This year we have added a new task to the routine - we go downstairs to Pincere - a pizza place on the first floor outside the hotel. There you can get an individual pizza for about 5 euros. It opened about two years ago in a space that used to be a travel agency. It is only take out but has moved to the #19 of the 10,000 restaurants in Rome. The pizza is gorgonzola and mushroom.
First Night Routine:
On the first night we always go around the corner to La Lampada - a restaurant we first went to in 2004. We always start with the veggie and seafood bar. The new cook always seems to make the carmelized onions that I love.
They have a new TV in the restaurant so you can now watch soccer games while you eat. I used to have to go into the kitchen where they had a small black and white TV for the cook. While we were there the cook and a new waitress got into an argument about what game to watch.
We always get the staff gifts and this year we brought an FBI hat for Giacomo - the owner.
The fellow sitting and watching the game is Gino. He eats there every night of the year. We have gotten to know him over the years and when he saw us in the street he yelled 'cara amico' which means dear friend. I think he lives alone and we are the only people who talk to him. He has been coming every night for 30 years.
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