Dianne and I are headed for Rome--we arrive tomorrow--but today we're in limbo, at the United Red Carpet Club at Dulles Airport, with a six-hour layover. My father-in-law gave us a lifetime membership to the club decades ago, and the people at the desk now react to the 1978 piece of plastic as if were an historical artifact.
The club is nice enough. It has multi-colored carpet of the sort that's guaranteed not to show dirt even if never vacuumed, and there's plenty of free food and drink. We're in hour 3 and I've already had a plum, fresh strawberries dipped in sugar, a pack of short-bread cookies, one cheese bars packed in plastic, and 3 machine-made cappuccinos. I've also read 4 newspapers.
But the time is not exactly flying, and it's tempting to think that we're suspended here in airport netherland, neither home nor in Rome, where we want to be.
But there is another way to think about life in the Red Carpet Club, and it comes by way of Alain de Botton, author of The Art of Travel, which informed our philosophy of travel in Rome the Second Time. For de Botton, one's trip/vacation begins the minute one leaves the house. The taxi to the airport is part of the "experience," part of the "fun," part of what's interesting, and so, I suppose, is airport check-in and watching folks in the security line and, yes, 6 hours at the Red Carpet Club. The Red Carpet Club is not actually in de Botton's book, and now I know why.
Bill
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Search Inside Rome the Second Time...
On amazon.com, you now can preview Rome the Second Time through the search-inside-this-book feature - includes the table of contents, index, parts of the first chapter, and "surprise me" (hey - we were surprised!).
Kindle... Rome the Second Time
Rome the Second Time is now available in a Kindle edition... As they say, you can be reading it in less than 2 minutes... a perfect way to try out Rome - from your armchair or your seat on a plane. And you can sample Rome the Second Time free on your Kindle or Kindle for iPhone. Go for it ("dai... dai...!").
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Restaurants in Rome
Who doesn't enjoy the vicarious thrill of reading about eating in Rome... but $50 per person as frugal? We don't think so!
The New York Times titled its column Sunday on Rome trattorias ("trattorie" is the plural in Italian) - "Let the Debate Begin"... and we'll take the NYT writer, Danielle Pergament, up on that.
We think of frugal as $50 (or less) per couple - yes, with wine and with more than a pasta dish.
Among those in Rome the Second Time are Pigneto's L'Infernotto [via d
el Pigneto 31/33; tel. 06.7030.4040, closed Mondays]- up the street from Quarantuno and absolutely marvelous and less pricey, and in the decidedly non-touristy Appio Latino section outside the city walls, Bill prefers the bustling and family-run La Zingarella (Gypsy Girl), which specializes in seafood pasta and is definitely for the frugal [via G. Capponi, 61/63, just off Piazza Scipione Ammirato; tel. 06.781.0687, closed Mondays].
Dianne says go for the romantic, tiny Mithos - La Taverna delll'Allegria[via Benedetto Varchi, 3 – across the piazza from La Zingarella; tel. 06.784.0034, closed Wednesdays] – more a specialty restaurant than trattoria, but definitely trattoria prices. Mithos has expanded and is on the nearby Piazza Scipione Ammirato at #7. Same telephone. Email - info@mithostaverna.it. We plan a lengthy post on this, our favorite restaurant in Rome, soon.
For what could be the cheapest meal in Rome, and yet still of excellent quality, there's nearby Ada e Mario, where you can still get a pasta alla boscaiola for under $7 [Circonvallazione Appia, 81, closed Sundays].
All 3 of these are in the Appio Latino neighborhood and less than half a mile from stops on the A (Red) Metro line. Open only in the evenings.
Bill is so cheap we have to find these places! Want to join the debate??
The New York Times titled its column Sunday on Rome trattorias ("trattorie" is the plural in Italian) - "Let the Debate Begin"... and we'll take the NYT writer, Danielle Pergament, up on that.
We think of frugal as $50 (or less) per couple - yes, with wine and with more than a pasta dish.
Among those in Rome the Second Time are Pigneto's L'Infernotto [via d
el Pigneto 31/33; tel. 06.7030.4040, closed Mondays]- up the street from Quarantuno and absolutely marvelous and less pricey, and in the decidedly non-touristy Appio Latino section outside the city walls, Bill prefers the bustling and family-run La Zingarella (Gypsy Girl), which specializes in seafood pasta and is definitely for the frugal [via G. Capponi, 61/63, just off Piazza Scipione Ammirato; tel. 06.781.0687, closed Mondays].Dianne says go for the romantic, tiny Mithos - La Taverna delll'Allegria
For what could be the cheapest meal in Rome, and yet still of excellent quality, there's nearby Ada e Mario, where you can still get a pasta alla boscaiola for under $7 [Circonvallazione Appia, 81, closed Sundays].
All 3 of these are in the Appio Latino neighborhood and less than half a mile from stops on the A (Red) Metro line. Open only in the evenings.
Bill is so cheap we have to find these places! Want to join the debate??
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Available Now!
Rome the Second Time: 15 Itineraries That Don't Go to the Coliseum
By Dianne Bennett and William Graebner
Designed for the tourist seeking a fresh, authentic, Roman experience, this intimate, stimulating guide explores Rome’s bustling close-in neighborhoods, its splendid modern architecture, and its rivers, magnificent fountains, and aqueducts. Itineraries take the reader to Fascist and occupied Rome of World War II, the nearby Alban Hills, and the Eternal City’s lesser-known green spaces. Innovative chapters feature cultural and artistic Rome, including art galleries, jazz clubs, film locations, and rooftop bars--even places that offer a sumptuous (and free) vernissage of wine and hors d’oeuvres. With Bill and Dianne as guides—their voices part of the experience—the curious traveler will discover a housing project built under Mussolini; ascend a little-known holy Roman road on the city’s outskirts; spend an evening in the out-of-the-way, artsy neighborhood of Pigneto; enjoy a trattoria where only Italians eat; and, among the book’s many informative, creative “sidebars,” find in one the troubling story of Rome's Jewish community, and in another locate sites in Angels & Demons. 16 maps, 70 photos, an index, and detailed directions and instructions make this “new” Rome easily accessible. For the frugally-minded, at times adventurous (at times armchair) traveler.
By Dianne Bennett and William Graebner
Designed for the tourist seeking a fresh, authentic, Roman experience, this intimate, stimulating guide explores Rome’s bustling close-in neighborhoods, its splendid modern architecture, and its rivers, magnificent fountains, and aqueducts. Itineraries take the reader to Fascist and occupied Rome of World War II, the nearby Alban Hills, and the Eternal City’s lesser-known green spaces. Innovative chapters feature cultural and artistic Rome, including art galleries, jazz clubs, film locations, and rooftop bars--even places that offer a sumptuous (and free) vernissage of wine and hors d’oeuvres. With Bill and Dianne as guides—their voices part of the experience—the curious traveler will discover a housing project built under Mussolini; ascend a little-known holy Roman road on the city’s outskirts; spend an evening in the out-of-the-way, artsy neighborhood of Pigneto; enjoy a trattoria where only Italians eat; and, among the book’s many informative, creative “sidebars,” find in one the troubling story of Rome's Jewish community, and in another locate sites in Angels & Demons. 16 maps, 70 photos, an index, and detailed directions and instructions make this “new” Rome easily accessible. For the frugally-minded, at times adventurous (at times armchair) traveler.
Publication date:
ISBN-13 978-0-61527-998-5 ($14.99)
Inquiries, copies for review consideration:
716.353.3288 to 4.1, after 6.23
011 39 333 9368 331 (
info@curioustravelerpress.com
“Surprising, moving and extraordinary….Makes me want to move back to
Patrizio Nissirio (Roman), International Correspondent, Ansa-Italian News Service
“Passionate and intelligent—a rich and wonderful guidebook to unknown and under-discovered sites. Even after living in
Dana Prescott, Executive Director, Civitella Ranieri, Italy, and author of
Foreword by Walter Veltroni, Mayor of
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