Walking It Out

Steven Tyler got it right when he said “Walk This Way.” And what a walk today has been.

Although it’s Saturday, my day started out with schoolwork. Our first assignment in Rome was to visit a restaurant called Enoteca Corsi, which is in the heart of Roma. Equipped with Google maps, we ventured out. Navigating through the cobblestone streets, we stumbled upon the restaurant after looping around a few side streets. Tucked away just a couple of blocks from the Pantheon was our restaurant.

The restaurant was fairly empty when we arrived. Only a few regulars sat the tables. These empty tables would soon be filled with tourists, touting their Rick Steves and Frommers travel books. Apparently, our restaurant was a hot spot for locals and tourists alike. At least our servers speak English. They seated us and brought a basket of bread and some cold pizza for appetizers.

Being the naïve foreigners we are, we ate them. The bread was not very unique, but the pizza was delicious. Little did we know, these dishes cost us four euros each. Apparently, they put appetizers on the table and you are supposed to know that they’re not free. We ate them and we don’t regret it.

For the meal, I order lasagna. In less than two minutes, a steaming hot plate of off-white noodles and sauce appeared before my eyes. Let me tell you, this was not your average lasagna. No red sauce. No red meat. To be honest, I don’t have a clue what I ate. The menu said there were artichokes in it, but I couldn’t see any. It was just seven heavenly layers of cheese sauce and noodles. Mmm…good.

After lunch, we explored the surrounding area(s). We knew the restaurant was near the Parthenon, so we decided to re-visit that miraculous structure. The Trevi Fountain was also nearby, so we walked to that area as well. It was packed with tourists. Hundreds of people (I’m not too good at judging populations, but this one may be accurate) gathered to toss coins into the fountain.

Looking at the map, we saw that the Spanish Steps were close. Naturally, we had to find them. To be honest, I have no idea what the Spanish Steps are. It appeared to be just a tall staircase with a church at the top.

At the bottom of the steps was a fountain. In Italy, some structures have two functions: to be an art piece and to be a water fountain. The locals stepped right up to the spouting water and I just had to join them. My freshly-filled water bottle held crisp, clean Italian water. And this water didn’t cost the 2.50 euros that our “no gas” bottled water did at lunch.

Moving onwards, we walked. And walked and walked and walked. Unlike Aerosmith, we had no real direction in mind. That street is filled with designer shops—let’s go down it. That street name looks familiar---let’s take it. That’s a pretty nifty structure up ahead—let’s see what it is. Our system sounds legit enough to me.

In our travels, we came upon a few ruins, converted museums, homes famous people (the military was guarding the building, so we know they must’ve been important), Castel San Angelo and the Piazza San Pietro. If you look at a map, you’d see that we walked through half of Rome. Ok, I concede that it wasn’t half of Rome, but it’s quite a lot for a person in one day.

I anxiously awaited the tram to take us back to the apartment to rest before our dinner excursion. After an extremely short break, we ventured back into the area in which we ended up earlier in the day. Go figure. Sonia, a teacher at Gustolab, showed us around some aperitivos. These establishments serve drinks that are accompanied by a buffet of appetizers. It is an inexpensive form of eating out in Italy.

With a Coca Cola Light in my hand (they don’t have Diet Coke), I feasted on who knows what. The food was pretty earthy. Couscous, quinoa (I think), rice with vegetables, lentil dip, celery, bean salad, mostaccioli and more were on the menu for tonight. I have no idea why I enjoyed this, but I did.

I’m now back at the apartment, resting my tired dogs for tomorrow’s morning at the market. I can’t wait to see what goods and goodies they have. Ciao for now!