EXPERT EXPAT
Maria Pasquale, Rome , Italy
Born and raised in Melbourne to Italian mother and father, meals and travel journalist and creator Maria Pasquale first travelled to Italy as a toddler within the Eighties, then yearly via her 20s. “I’d cry on the way to airport because I never wanted to leave,” she says. Maria bit the bullet and moved to Rome in 2011. Her newest guide, How to be Italian, is out now, heartrome.com
SEE
The Doria Pamphilj Gallery, a privately-owned noble palazzo, is underrated and sometimes missed. It has most likely the biggest personal artwork assortment in Rome and its gorgeous Gallery of Mirrors takes my breath away. Stop off for a cocktail or snack (with a Caravaggio behind you) on the fashionable in-house bistro, Caffe Doria, doriapamphilj.it
DO
Rome is a strolling metropolis and you may stroll between all the most important monuments. From the Colosseum I like the stroll down the Via dei Fori Imperiali to Piazza Venezia then down Via del Corso stopping off at Trevi, Pantheon after which on to Piazza Navona. I like the slim cobblestone streets, which you will generally share with a Vespa or see a classic Fiat 500 parked. But it is the outdated ochre partitions that get me, particularly when they’re bathed with that magical Roman gentle.
EAT
The outside verandah at Osteria der Belli in Trastevere is the place you will typically discover me for the sacred Italian Sunday lunch. I come to this Sicilian restaurant for spaghetti alle vongole, the carpaccio di spigola (sea bass) and the grilled butterflied calamari. This is not fancy eating and might be missed for its place proper by the tourist-centric Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, however belief me and are available for the consolation meals and household hospitality. And inform Leo I despatched you, Piazza di Sant’ Apollonia 11.
DRINK
The Stravinskij bar within the Hotel de Russie is a neighborhood establishment with luxurious, however pleasant service. I all the time have a Hugo, a mixture of Prosecco, St Germain elderflower liqueur and mint. For actual mixology, I head to Drink Kong – at present listed on the planet’s 50 greatest bars – and my rooftop picks embody Terrazza Borromini and Adele Mixology for views and unbelievable cocktails, roccofortehotels.com, drinkkong.com, terrazzaborromini.com, robertonaldicollection.com
AVOID
Don’t ever order a cappuccino with a meal until it is breakfast, and by no means after noon. Italians firmly consider that milky merchandise later within the day adversely influence your digestion. Also, Aperol Spritz is an aperitif, not available along with your meal. Pizza and pasta? Both nice, however Italians by no means eat them collectively and definitely by no means on the identical plate. Go for it if you wish to horrify a Roman.
THRIVE
Breathe. Rome is a gorgeous however advanced and fairly aggressive metropolis. It’s not for the faint of coronary heart. It’s loud, site visitors is unpredictable, forms precarious and organisation questionable. But if this, should you’re not in an excellent rush to get someplace or get one thing executed and also you add a very good dose of persistence, you may thrive within the metropolis.
