Wine tasting in Rome

If you are a frequent visitor to this blog or even know M. and me in person, you probably know we love to drink a good glass of wine once in a while. That is why we also see every trip as an opportunity to widen our wine-tasting horizons and try some local wines.

Since Italy is among the top class wine producers of the world we thought there would be many opportunities for some serious wine tasting when in Rome. In spite of Rome being the capital of the country, it is definitely not its wine capital.

As we learned during our visit, there are a few wine producers based in the nearby hills and the whole Lazio region is home to roughly 30 DOC titles. Three of them really stand out: Castelli Romani, Frascati and Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone. Local wine producers are mostly famous for their dry whites.

Our idea was to join a guided wine tasting where we could bump our amateur wine knowledge up a notch, learn a thing or two about local wines and taste some great wine samples in the process. I expected to find many companies and wine bars offering such tastings but to my amazement I could only find a small variation of suitable offers.
One of them is Vino Roma with a wine studio located just minutes from the Colosseum on Via In Selci 84/G.

We booked their My Italians wine tasting and were not disappointed. It was not so much locally oriented as we would have liked but since this particular tasting is advertised as "an overview of Italian wines", it was pretty much expected.

The tasting was led by a sommelier speaking perfect English (he is actually an American living in Rome) and he took that night's group of 6 wine enthusiasts on a great wine trip around Italy. Everybody else but M. and me were Americans. After speaking with some of them about European wine prices across the Atlantic our guess was that visitors from the US might be quite frequent at such events.

In the tasting we got to sample a variety of six wines from various Italian wine regions. This is our wine list of the evening:

• Zamo Bianco 2011, produced by Le Vigne di Zamo in the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia (Venezia Giulia IGT). Grape varieties: Ribolla Gialla, Friulano, Sauvignon Blanc.
• Trebbiano Spoletino 2011, produced by Antonelli in the region of Umbria (Umbria Bianco IGT). Grape variety: Trebbiano Spoletino.
• Greco di Tufo 2010, produced by Dell'Angelo in the region of Campania (Greco di Tufo DOP - DOCG). Grape variety: Greco.
• Vigna del Forno 2010, produced by Cascina Gilli in the region of Piemonte (Freisa d'Astri DOC). Grape variety: Freisa.
• Malandrino 2010, produced by Cataldi Madonna in the region of Abruzzo (Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC). Grape variety: Montepulciano.
• Caselle Riserva 2006, produced by D'Angelo in the region of Basilicata (Aglianico del Vulture DOC). Grape variety: Aglianico.

Although this wine tasting was not cheap by our standards, we still thought it was very good value. Wines were not all that special but we liked most of them (Greco di Tufo and Caselle Riserva were our favourites).

We felt the real value was in the knowledge passed to us - there were moments when it felt like an excellent wine tasting school. In my opinion the event was just that - an enjoyable wine school evening. Among other things we have also learned how to guess the age of wine and the amount of alcohol in it by just looking at the glass. The sommelier in charge of the tasting was really knowledgeable and could basically answer all of our questions.

The atmosphere was really relaxed and I think it is fair to say everyone was really happy in the end. We definitely enjoyed the two and a half hour event. If you are curious about a particular wine from the above selection, you are welcome to leave a question in the comments section below the post.

Since we liked this wine tasting so much, we decided to also try a little different approach and taste some local wine directly at the source. That is why we also visited one of the famous local producers at the very place, where the (wine) magic happens - their wine cellars in the hills just outside Rome.

You can read more about our visit to the Frascati region in one of our next posts.

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How expensive Rome really is?

During preparations for our recent trip to Rome, I was constantly wondering how expensive this world famous city really is. From various blogs I mostly got the impression I might be going on one of those terribly expensive adventures.

Fortunately, as I have soon discovered, everything was not so bad. From transport expenses, accommodation, entrance fees, food and drinks to everything else, the same story repeated all over again. In the end it all comes down to investing a little time, doing at least some research, following basic rules of travelling and using some common sense. If you are prepared to keep these things in mind, you are on the right way to getting good value for your money. Rome is no different.

Since accommodation can easily prove to be one of the most expensive things on such a trip, I spent quite some time trying to get the most affordable option. Since M. and I usually do not expect many things from places we are staying at, I soon narrowed our options to a few hostels. Accommodation for us is basically a place where we sleep. We usually do not need much more than that and we try to save our budget for things that mean more to us.
However, there are a few things we find essential when it comes to choosing accommodation:

• it has to be in a good location (or at least near some affordable public transport options) so we do not waste valuable time sitting on some public transport,
• it has to be super clean (fresh linen and a spotless bathroom are essential),
• the place has to have free WiFi or at least some kind of internet access.

I was lucky to find an affordable centrally located accommodation that offered all things mentioned. Four Seasons Hostel Rome provided everything listed above for a very reasonable price. Since it had been opened only for about a month it was obviously in a very good condition.
The only two things we have missed were a kitchen, where we could cook something ourselves and a hangout room. There actually is a small lounge area/reception room available, but since hardly anyone hung out there, it obviously lacks something (a bar would probably make all the difference).

Apart from those two minor things I can only say good things about the place. Staff was always ready to help us out and offer valuable advice. We would easily go back any time.

Since Four Seasons Hostel Rome is located just next to Termini train station we hardly used public transportation. We mostly walked around the city and loved every step of it.

Another thing I was pretty skeptical about were admission costs to many attractions on our list. I knew what to expect at a few major sights (like the Colosseum and Vatican Museums) but was not sure about all the rest. It all turned out better than I expected - most attractions had free admission or a very reasonable one.
Also if you take your time to really take in the couple attractions mentioned above, you will probably run out of time to see anything else. I have got a feeling one could spend years wandering around Vatican Museums and still not see everything - the place is huge and stuffed with numerous priceless artifacts.

When it comes to food and drinks it is usually also worth doing at least some research in advance - for instance Tripadvisor can be a useful tool for avoiding the worst kind of tourist traps.

While in Rome we ate well and usually for a very affordable price. If you look around a bit you can find a good pizza or a hand-made pasta first course for under 5 EUR.
On the other hand, if you are not careful, you might also end up paying 16 EUR for a cone of ice-cream. More about that in one of the following posts.

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Blooming poppy in Roman Forum

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From Venice to Rome

My "Wordless Venice Week" is over and I hope you all liked it! I have not received many comments but there is still time for that. So if you have a favorite photo from this Venice series I would love to hear about it. Also, if you think there is some unexploited potential in those photos, some constructive criticism is always appreciated.

In the meanwhile I did not spend much time at home. As those of you who follow me on Instagram know already, I just came back from a trip to the eternal city of Rome. It was great - M. and I both enjoyed it a lot.

I have a bunch of posts ready for you. They will be packed with useful travel information and great photos. It might take a while for me to actually write them and make a selection of photos that actually deserve to be published but I am sure I will get it done. I hope you enjoy the ride!

Oh, and if you are wondering what those letters on the above shield are all about, let me shed some light on the subject. SPQR is an acronym from a Latin phrase, Senātus Populusque Rōmānus - "The Senate and People of Rome". It is widely used even today on numerous emblems (e.g. Coat of arms of the modern day municipality of Rome).

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Venice in photos - Before and after sunset

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more. Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Venice in photos - Beautiful bridges

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more. Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Venice in photos - Coffee break

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more. Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Venice in photos - San Giorgio Maggiore in the distance

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more. Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Venice in photos: Statues

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more. Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Venice in photos - View from Ponte Accademia

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more.
Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Venice in photos - An expensive activity

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more. Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Venice in photos - Introduction

Since I have recently returned from Venice, Italy with a photo camera full of beautiful memories, I thought it would only be fair if I shared them with you.

I was pretty happy with how some of them turned out. I still believe in what I said some time ago:

It really is hard to take a bad photo in Venice!

Rather than publishing all of them at once, I will publish a series of more or less wordless posts about Venice in the next few days. Those of you who do not posses enough patience to wait that long, are welcome to browse among my previous posts about Venice. If that is still not enough, there are also some recent posts about the nearby town of Chioggia - also known as Little Venice.

After some consideration I decided to post two photos a day for the next week. So let the Venice in photos week officially begin!

I hope you like the first couple with Gondoliers waiting for customers in early morning hours.

If you like these two photos, you are welcome to click on the Venice label to see some more. Photos look better in higher resolution - by clicking on any of them you will let them shine in all their glory.

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Wordless Wednesday: Venetian lion in Chioggia

This Lion of Saint Mark (also known as the winged lion of Venice) - a symbol of the Republic of Venice is guarding one of the entrances into the town of Chioggia. Even today the lion can still be seen all over the Mediterranean.

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Chioggia by night

As I mentioned few posts ago, the cute little Italian port town of Chioggia might seem a bit empty and uneventful at the first glance. There is a very good chance you will also see it like that if you arrive directly from its usually overcrowded neighbor - Venice.

When I was there I started appreciating that relaxed feel to it soon enough. The pedestrian only town center (mainly Corso del Popolo) was quite busy even during early afternoon hours but other parts of town were pretty empty.

Moments after sunset I noticed an obvious change. Cars started queuing at the old city center entrance and everybody seemed to be heading for the streets. All cafes were full in a blink of an eye and everybody was waiting for a glass of obviously very popular Aperol Spritz. If you are not familiar with it Aperol is a bitter, bright orange alcoholic drink, somewhat similar to Campari. They mix it with prosecco (sweet) wine, champagne or sometimes even some soda to get a fresh sparkling effect. It is usually served with a couple of ice cubes and a slice of orange.

I could not figure out if this drink popularity was a seasonal thing or it had something to do with the Veneto region or perhaps it was just another trendy thing.

I can only wonder how late into night this thing lasted, but the crowd looked like it was still warming up when we left the scene. At first this seemed a bit strange since it was Sunday evening but then I remembered Monday in Italy is the day of the week when most of places stay closed or at least have a late start.

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Sunday market in Chioggia

There are a few reasons for visiting the cute little Italian fishing port of Chioggia on a Sunday.
The first one I already mentioned in one of my previous posts and has something to do with museum opening hours - the old clock tower with a clock museum is only opened on Sundays and holidays. The second reason is the flee market taking place on Corso del Popolo.

At the first look the flee market seemed like an unattractive pile of junk - many piles of junk to be exact. Since I am usually not interested in those kind of items, it took me a while to actually stop at one of the stands.
After a closer inspection I realized there were actually a few interesting items for sale. A potential buyer could browse among various coins, cheap jewelery, old LP records, African masks, wooden and ceramic decorations and much more.

Some vendors were offering local items but also many things on display were (probably) of eastern origin, like for instance some old Soviet Union army gas masks and helmets. Quite a few things had a cheap, made-in-China feel to them but obviously everything was not junk.
Either that, or people had no idea what they were looking at and buying. I must say people were showing quite some interest in the displayed goods.

It may come as a surprise to you but at the end of the day I walked away empty handed. I guess this was because I just could not decide between a miniature Vespa and a gilded wooden angel statue...
If you are thinking I should have simply bought both of them, you must definitely plan your visit on a Sunday and check out the market yourself.

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Wordless Wednesday: Colorful Chioggia #2

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Chioggia - Vintage Style

If you are a regular visitor of this blog you have probably noticed, I took some nice photos during my day in a charming Italian town of Chioggia (click the link to check out my other posts about it).
Also if you are not a follower yet, you are very welcome to become one - just choose your favorite platform through which you wish to stay in touch and you will be reminded of my new posts.

This time I decided to publish a few more photos of this lovely fishing port and add a little twist to them. Welcome to Chioggia in Vintage Style!
I hope you like the photos. You should click on the photos to enjoy them in larger resolution. I would love to hear your feedback on which one you like best and I also appreciate some constructive criticism.

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Chioggia - A perfect base for exploring Venice

The town of Chioggia or Little Venice, as it is often referred to, is a small fishing port 50 kilometers from Venice. As a more popular neighbor, Venice takes larger share of tourists and obviously at some times also gets way too crowded. Even though Chioggia can hardly compete with Venice, it makes a great base to explore the nearby famous world class attractions and can be a convenient getaway from the crowds.

During our last visit to the area M. and I stayed at a nice and affordable Bed&Breakfast between the two and spent a day exploring each. Venice frankly deserves more attention, but since we have visited it quite a few times before, we were also happy to discover something interesting nearby. Obviously we chose Chioggia.

If you are planning a stay around these parts, are looking for an affordable place to spend a night and are travelling by a car you should check out Alloggi Balabuska‏ (Via Romea, 8 Km 97 SS 309 I 35020 Codevigo). It is located by the main road (look for a blue colored house across from a gas station), so you shouldn't expect much of a view from your bedroom window.

We stayed in a double room for EUR 35.00 per night without a breakfast. We usually do not care much about breakfasts when travelling around Italy since a typical Italian breakfast usually only includes a simple (not too tasty) croissant with a cup of coffee. We prefer to find some local cheese or a piece of pizza by ourselves.

With a couple of canals and colorful Venetian style buildings next to them, Chioggia really looks like a miniature version of Venice. It might look a bit run down and somewhat neglected, but definitely has some charm of its own.

There is not all that much to see in the old town - apart from many cute little piazzas, bridges and random colorful old buildings (click on Chioggia label to see some more color). There is however an interesting clock tower with a clock museum on Corso del Popolo. Supposedly it is the second oldest tower clock in the world. Besides the clock mechanism there is also a great view you can admire from the top for a small fee. You should keep in mind it can only be visited on Sundays and holidays.

There is also the Duomo (cathedral), situated at the opposite end of Corso del Popolo from the port. It became a cathedral in 1110 but was rebuilt in 1623. Today it houses some great 16th century paintings and various 17th century sculptures by Bartolomeo Cavalieri.
If you are an early bird you can observe fisherman bringing in catch in the early morning hours. There is also a large fish market set up every weekday morning worth checking out.

When you check out all of the above, there is always Corso del Popolo, where you can take a relaxed stroll through the historic center, do some shopping or simply enjoy a drink at an outdoor table and watch people walk by.

As it is a fishing port you can find many great options for an excellent seafood meal there. You can get it for a much more affordable price compared to Venice - in fact much of local daily catch ends up on Venetian menus. It is hard to eat bad seafood in Chioggia but as everywhere else, also here some places are better than others. From what I have seen Osteria da Nicola on Fondamenta S. Domenico 874 by the San Domenico Canal offers top quality and is also not too expensive. Main dishes start at around EUR 12.

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Wordless Wednesday: Colorful Chioggia #1

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Mountain hut details from Dolomites

If you are a regular visitor of this blog you have probably noticed I have been raving about these charming mountain huts in Italian Dolomites over the last few posts. Of the things that definitely add up to the charm of these rifugios, various details and decorations are amongst the more obvious.

Obviously these decorations are authentic and usually prepared in just the right style to fit the overall image. There is no place for cheap plastic chairs and tables in an environment like that. Instead products made of local wood can be seen everywhere. It seems traditional wood crafting is still very much alive in the Dolomites area.

I am very glad they are keeping very high standards even when building new such huts in this beautiful environment. I hope they keep it up for ever.

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