St Clement Basilica

On a recommendation from a family friend who now lives in Rome we went to see St Clement Basilica. The funny thing is it was about a block from where we were staying and is assuming. Without her recommendation we probably would have just walked by it everyday.

The present day basilica was built in the year 1100. The treasure lies beneath. The basilica was built on top of a 4th century basilica that was converted from the home of a nobleman that goes back to the 1st century. Underneath that are the ruins of a villa and warehouse that was destroyed in the great fire of 64 AD.

Inside the church you can pay to explore the ruins under the church. The further you go down the farther you go back in time.

The address is Via Labicana, 95, 00184 Roma RM, Italy in the Laterano district not far from the Colosseum. If you have the time it is worth a look. 

Ad Hoc Restaurant, Rome

From a recommendation by a friend we went to Ad Hoc in Rome for dinner on a Saturday night.  The restaurant offers a taste of Roman tradition and specializes in truffles. The address is Via di Ripetta, 43 in Rome just northwest of the Spanish Steps. We had reservations which I would recommend as it is hard to get into without.

I ordered a pasta dish which I enjoyed but my son ordered the truffle tasting which was many courses each with truffle. He said the meal was awesome. We sat in a small room to ourselves surrounded by wine that was served in the restaurant. Service is great making it a perfect dining experience. At the end of the meal they brought a bag with a small bottle of olive oil for the women in our group.

If you are going to Rome this is one restaurant I would recommend. Go to their website and get reservations before you go.

Italy 2018 - Rome

We scored again with a great Airbnb in Rome. The location was perfect as we could see the Coliseum from the entrance to the building. From there we could walk to most places.

The first day we arrived in the late afternoon. After getting settled in the apartment we walked to Piazza Navona for dinner. Along the way we saw the Coliseum, Pantheon, The Church of the Gezu and Piazza Navona itself with the Four Rivers fountain by Bernini. After a nice dinner outside we made our way to The Trevi Fountain which is best to see at night.

After a long drive that was enough of the first night and we made our way back to the apartment.

Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

Borghese Gallery

Rape of Proserpina

On our trip to Rome I was able to go to my favorite museum and to see work of my favorite artist Bernini. My recommendation would be to go to the Borghese Gallery on your first day in Rome.
The reason is the gallery features works from Bernini and after, when you are touring Rome, you will see many works by Bernini like fountains around the city and statues at the Vatican, to the alter in St Peters.

My favorite piece of work by Bernini is "The Rape of Proserpina". The work was completed in 1622 when Bernini was only 23 years old and depicts the abduction of Proserpina by the god Pluto who took her to the underworld. What I like about his work is that it shows motion, emotion and the very fine detail like the impression of his hand on her thigh. There are many pieces of his work there as well as works from other artists. Bernini was a favorite artist of his time and was a favorite of popes so you will see a lot of his work in Vatican city. Also, go to Piazza Navona and see his "Fountain of the Four Rivers". My advice would be to read about Bernini's work and see how many you can find in Rome.

The alter in St Peters

Depicting the escape from Troy

Bernini's David

The museum is in the Borghese villa located in a large park not far from the top of the Spanish Steps. The villa itself would be worth the price.

Tickets for the museum are limited to a two hour window and tickets sell out. If you are going, buy your tickets online before you go. They limit the number of guests during the two hour window and at the end of the window every one must leave for the next group. By doing that you don't have to fight crowds and you can walk right up to the sculptures.  I would put this as a must see when you are in Rome.

Airbnb Rome

I wanted to give a shout-out to Airbnb. I already wrote about our amazing stay in Florence in the Ancient Tower. After Florence our next stop was Rome. I booked the Airbnb in Rome the same way I did in Florence by looking at location and reviews. Again we weren't disappointed. 

We stayed at the Esplora La Citta in Appartmento, Classico, a Colosseo in the heart of Rome. The address is Via di San Giovanni in Laterano 226, Rome, Lazio 00184, Italy. When we arrived I called our host Marzia and she had her son meet us to let us in. He gave us the keys and showed us around the apartment. He also had a binder that had all the information we needed for our stay. The binder had information on markets, sites, restaurants. Everything we needed.The apartment had two bedrooms and slept four people, five if you used the sofa. 

Now for location. When you walk out the building onto the sidewalk and look to the left the Colosseum is right there. We were able to walk to almost all sites and when we needed to drive we took Uber. Street parking was ample and we left the cars there for our stay at about 10 euro a day by meter. 

If you have ever thought of Airbnb but haven't tried it yet do it. I have never had a bad experience.  

Wine Tasting - Tenuta di Arceno

Through Kate Gatena, who works for Kendall Jackson Wines, we were able to set up a private wine tasting at the Tenuta di Arcento Estate in Tuscany. On our way from Florence to Rome we stopped for a tasting and a walk around their beautiful estate. In 1994 when the Jackson family from California toured the estate they fell in love with the area. The next two decades they replanted the vineyards on the 2500 acre property which now produces Chianti Classico and Super Tuscan wine. We were able to taste three Chianti Classico and three Super Tuscan wines. During the tasting I also learned a lot about these wines. I have a favorite wine from Dillian Wines in Amador County that is a reserve Sangiovese. I found out that to be a Chianti Classico there must be at least 70% Sangiovese in the blend. That's why I like the Dillian wine so much. I also learned that a Super Tuscan is a blend of mostly Cabernet Franc or Merlot.

After the tasting we walked around the estate. The estate has rolling hills, lush green forests, ancient Cypress trees, olive groves, vineyards and medieval stone castles. There are many villas on the estate and some you can rent out. I would like to do that on a future trip. Tuscany is such a beautiful relaxing area and don't forget the wine.

Chris and Kate

Vineyard and rolling hills

Vineyard

Jim and Linda

Winery

Ancient statue of half man half goat

Reminded me of a scene from Gladiator

Kevin and Sarah

Italy 2018 - Florence

View from rooftop terrace

We left Venice and drove to Florence. It's a very beautiful drive through Tuscany and we were in Florence by mid-afternoon. Driving in Italy is easy but driving in some of the cities is not so easy. Some cities like Florence have restricted zones where either you need to have a special pass or you need to be going to somewhere specific like we were  going to a parking garage by our Airbnb. However, getting to the parking garage was a little stressful. The streets are narrow and filled with people walking in the streets. There are a lot of one-way streets so we had to take a round-about way to get there. We did make it to the garage without incident and left the car there for the duration of our trip.

I love it when a plan comes together perfectly. I picked an Airbnb off the site using the pictures and reviews. We picked the Ancient Tower in the heart of Florence. It had to be the best place we stayed at on the trip. The host met us when we arrived and took us up to the home which was the top two floors of the tower. After showing us around he took us to the rooftop terrace with an amazing 360 degree view of Florence and the surrounding area. However, the price you pay for the views is a lot of steps to get to the home but is was well worth it. Airbnb is a great option when traveling and I have never had a bad experience.

For the first day we relaxed on the rooftop, enjoying the view with wine, had a great dinner, my son and I had a typical Florence t-bone steak, and then made it back to the rooftop to watch Florence by night. The next day we went up to the top of the Duomo, again great views, saw the Uffizi with it's great artwork and the Ponte Vecchio with it's many shops. We also stopped to have drinks along the way and to also enjoy gelato which Florence is known for. There is so much to see there with the museums, churches, and places like Galileo's observatory that a week may not be enough time. We saw as much as we could in our time and then had to leave for Rome.

My advice is when you are going to Italy to book your museum tours in advance. You pick a time and there will be no line. If you don't book in advance you could be standing in line for hours or not be able to get in at all.

View from top of Duomo

View from Duomo

I found this wood carvers shop by the Uffizi. It reminded me of Geppetto's shop