Lucci Hotel Rome Blog

 

 

 

One of the many interesting topics in Rome is about food, and ancient Rome had plenty of mouth watering recipes and traditions, which you will still find in some typical rome restaurants.

At the time there already were 3 meals during the day : ientaculum, prandium and cena. The first two meals were fast and simple and people did not even bother to wash their hands or set a proper table. However the cena (which nowadays means dinner) was held after coming back from the baths and usually took place after 2pm and until the sunrise of the morning after. During some periods of time dinner was served in the atrium by the fire heath and later on the meals would take place in the cosier and larger areas such as cenaculum (dinner room). Obviously nowadays wining and dining out is a little  less elaborate….

The picture that probably bumps into your mind is that of a roman eating on a bed : indeed, during the Empire this habit of eating on triclinium started. The triclinium was a large bed usually made of wood with a mattress and pillows on top, leaning towards the table where food was set.

 

 

The dinner was arranged in 3 steps : appetizers (gustatio) followed by a 7 course meal (fercula) and eventually the guests would move to a clean room with another triclinium, where they would toast to some friend’s and drink as many cups (not glasses !) of a mix of wine and water. Obviously this would mean ingesting lots of food and drink and therefore emperor Claudius made it legal to break winds during the cena. And indeed for food and wine lovers a wine tasting tour while in Rome is a must.

The ancient roman cooking was elaborate and they would also take care of the look too to please both eyes and palate.

As an aperitif which would be drank before starting the meal a light wine would be sweetened with noney and served with the libum (ricotta bread) .Nowadays you can still find the Lasagna which originally was known as Lagana, and the Sicilian Cassata is renowned still .

 

 

 

Well Wednesday came again and it was my day off. So on Wednesday morning I was on the metro at 5:30 in the morning off to metro stop Baldo degli Ubaldi. I met Alberto at around 6:30 and then we got on our way. We had both decided the week before that we would go climb at Gran Sasso.

 

The park is about between 2 and 2 and a half hours drive from Rome. The earlier you manage to leave Rome in the morning the easier it is to get out of the city befor there is too much traffic. So we were finally going back to the park. He hadn’t been there in a year and the last time I was there was about 6 months ago with another friend. It was great and the weather was perfect. We arrived at about 9 because we were stuck behind a couple of very slow cars. After we parked the car we decided to have a quick cappucino in the restaurant that is just opposite the ski lifts. 

 

So we got all our climbing stuff ready all our ropes, harnesses and shoes and then we set off for the ski lifts. The ride from the ski lifts takes around 15 minutes and its much better than walking the whole way. The return ticket for the ski lift only costs 10 euros so its not that bad. If you want to go climbing after you get to the ski lift at the top its about 20 to 30 minutes by foot to the nearest route. So you have to be relatively fit if you want to do anything up here because you will be walking up hill and down dale to get anywhere.

 

It can also get very cloudy very quickly and the weather can change at the drop of a hat. Its also a bit cooler so its a good idea to take a wind breaker with you just in case. The climb was great and I felt great afterwards. On the way back down I had a look at the other mountains and it was absolutely breathtaking. It is amazing and you can spend your entire life there climbing to your hearts content. So we hopped on the ski lift again for our trip back to the restaurant. After a beer and a sandwhich it was time to say goodbye and be on our way back to Rome.

Summer in central Italy and more specifically in Rome can be overwhelming for its sometimes excessive heat peaks. For those staying longer or simply for returning visitors it is always a pleasure to discover other places in easy reach to make it a day trip.

120 kms south from Rome along the Pontina Road, lays the lovely small town and sea resort Sperlonga on the Mar Tirreno easy accessible by train from Termini station Rome from your central hotel in My Hotel Rome.
If you come by car follow the Pontina Road until Latina, then go ahead on Strada Mediana until Terracina and from there follow the Litoranea 213 (road along the seaside) until you reach Sperlonga.
Nature lovers will want to enjoy its regional park of the Riviera di Ulisse, which partly belongs to the WWF : You will be able to go for a boat trip or underwater excursions and they also arrange sea watching sessions. Sperlonga has a lovely harbour for small fishing boats and tourist boats and the “borgo” (small town) is a typically colorful mediterranean place to walk about, and you will find many craft shops but also plenty of small stands selling excellent pastries until late at night when people start going out for fresh air.

It is also said to have been the residence of Emperor Tiberius , which you can still admire and built out of a natural grotto on the seaside and is very likely the major summer residence of ancient roman times between I and II century after JC.

Food and wine lovers will be also able to enjoy the Cecubo, a wine already considered in II century BC to be one of the finest wines in Italy. Nowadays it is a red and dry wine. A local speciality is the Erbe Pazze (mad greens) which consists of a vegetable soup , to be served with the very good local olive oil.

Back into Rome you will leisurely enjoy our fine Rome accomodation and be able to relax out on our rooftop terrace.