Mays Rome addresses

Sometimes very inexplicable things happen. That you have had an online magazine for over five years that is supposed to be the lifestyle filter for women and you find out that you have never (I repeat NEVER, so really NEVER) shared your favorite spots from your favorite city. It's about time. I have, for heaven's sake, lived there for half a year and scoured half the city for the best spots. I will share them, if you promise me: tell only your best friends.

Gusto

Great to have lunch outside (‘fuori’) is Gusto; reserve in the restaurant section (so not the pizzeria) on the terrace outside. A square in Mussolini style, overlooking the tomb of Emperor Augustus and the first much-discussed ‘new’ building in ancient Rome. Delicious food and just around the corner from Via Condotti (= shopping = the P.C. of Rome).

Gusto: Piazza Augosto Imperatore 9

Tel: 06-3226273

By the way, around Via Condotti are the nice shopping streets with all the big brands but also smaller brand stores. The shopping area is the triangle from Piazza del Parlamento to the Spanish Steps to Piazza del Popolo.

Via del Babuino is very much on the rise and very nice. I shop at Maje, Sandro, Tory Burch, and Hervé Léger. Here you find the labels that are just below Prada and Gucci, so a bit more creative and affordable.

An absolute must: go eat ice cream at Giolitti, between the Pantheon and Piazza del Parlamento (the Italian House of Representatives).

Via degli Uffici del Vicario 40

Every comment is superfluous. The best ice cream in the world.

Dal Bolognese

On Piazza del Popolo are two beautiful places with old grandeur, but very touristy.

Rosati: restaurant, bar, but also pastries, pasticceria etc etc.

But for eating, I find ristorante Dal Bolognese better.

Piazza del Popolo 1

tel: 06-3222799

A traditional restaurant but with a fabulous view of the beautiful Piazza del Popolo. The best part is to eat outside. It may cost a bit, but you should think of it that way.

Ristorante Dilla

Once a perfectly hidden gem for an evening with authentic bites in a modern restaurant by Roman standards. Delicious food and close to the Spanish Steps.

Via Mario de Fiori 41, Rome

Trastevere

And an absolute recommendation is ristorante Checco er Carrettiere in the old district of Trastevere. It is an ancient typical Roman restaurant with the (faded) glory of yesteryear. You get excellent Roman food and three scattered waiters at your table. You can also eat outside on the small patio. Dare to order the typical Roman dishes and especially take the pasticceria with your coffee. Nice for the evening and then a little walk through Trastevere as dessert (Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere).

Via Benedetta 10 

tel: 06-5800985

(there is always room inside, if you want to sit in the garden you need to reserve)

A fun throw-in place in Trastevere is Pizzeria Roma Sparita. They open at half past seven and two minutes later the terrace is already packed. The view is indeed fabulous and ‘si mangia bene e si beve bene’, as the Romans say (you eat and drink well). Drink a Falanghina (a wine from south of Naples and the Italian variant of the Spanish Albarino). Simple Roman cuisine, with delicious cacio e pepe.

Piazza di Santa Cecilia, 24 – Trastevere (00153 – Roma)

tel: 06-58363165/06-5800757

Absolutely do: walk (or take a taxi) to the fountain at Giannicolo (on the hill above Trastevere) for the most beautiful and finest view over Rome. This is the setting for the opening scene of La Grande Bellezza, with the reference Roma o morte.

Pizzeria Nerone and pizzeria Da Ivo are famous but simple places to eat pizza in Trastevere. At Ivo, the TV is always on when Roma plays. Know that ‘capitano’ Francesco Totti (former captain and icon of AS Roma) was born and raised in Trastevere.

Navona (centro storico)

Ristorante Maccheroni is a nice and trendy trattoria in the old center. It is a bit more touristy, but unfortunately, in the center, you are never alone with Romans. For that, you really have to go to Testaccio, Prati, Ostiense, or Garbatella.

Piazza delle Copelle 44

tel: 06-68307805

reservations@ristorantemaccheroni.com

Visit the nicest square in Rome: Campo dei Fiori and the quieter Piazza Farnese behind it.

Monti

The nicest and most authentic neighborhood in Rome (we indeed named our dog after this neighborhood), but it has become completely hip. Monti is roughly located between Via Nazionale, Via Giovanni Lanza, Termini station, and the Domus Aurea and the Colosseum. Walk from Via Nazionale through Via dei Serpenti (a nice little street) and drink beer on the steps at the fountain on Piazza della Madonna ai Monti. In the little places on the square, you can buy beer, but you can also sit on a terrace. And then enjoy wandering through the small streets of Monti, with many height differences and lots of little shops.

In Monti, there is also a great trattoria for lovers of Italian country cuisine: trattoria Monti, with farmer's specialties from the Marches (le Marche). Also a top restaurant for the locals: ristorante Da Michele in Via Merulana 236 (definitely a very nice and beautiful street), run by dad and two brothers. They have a nice vegetable buffet and good traditional cuisine. The decor is exactly how Italians want it: lots of light and pleasantly old-fashioned.

Veneto

On the roof of hotel Eden is a somewhat stiff and pricey hotel restaurant with a star, but the view is superb. Right at the top is La Terrazza Ristorante & Bar, for a bite or a drink on the rooftop terrace. Truly an amazing view.

The royal family also stays here.

Moreover, it is nice to walk through Via Veneto. This is the old nightlife street of Rome in the 1960s that you also see in La Dolce Vita. Now it is a somewhat boring, stately street with all the big hotels. But again: the view is top.

Via Ludovisi 49

tel: 06-478121

Testaccio

This is an authentic working-class neighborhood north of the Aventine, on the other side of the Tiber from Trastevere. A bit like De Pijp. You eat well everywhere and are a little bit away from tourism (never completely of course). Behind the fire station is Monte Testaccio, a hill formed from broken pottery shards. Now there are restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. If you want to be among Romans in the evening...

A great restaurant is Consolini, against the Aventine and half in the rock, above the Porsche dealer and with a view of Testaccio. You can walk there from Trastevere.

Via Marmorata, 28, 00153 Roma, Italy

tel: 06-5730 0148

Recommendation (in a taxi with air conditioning and a nice driver): take a taxi ride from Trastevere via Giannicolo to San Pietro to Prati to stadio Olimpico, to Villa Borghese, via Monte Picino, to Piazza dei Popolo, to Piazza Venezia, along Forum Romanum, via Via Cavour, to Santa Maria Maggiore, through Via Merulana, Monte Oppio (Domus Aurea!), to Colosseum, along Palatino, to Terme di Caracalla, along the FAO headquarters (Food and Agriculture Organization), to Piazza Gian Lorenzo Bernini to Aventino, along Circo Massimo, to Bocca della Verita, Lungo Tevere and back to Trastevere. I think this might be the most beautiful and historical taxi ride you can ever take.

In Villa Borghese (city park) you visit the Galleria Borghese, perhaps one of the most beautiful museums in the world.

But the most important tip: follow your feelings. In Italy, you can eat well everywhere as long as you stick to the rules. So start with antipasti, then move on to pasta and then a secondo. You can switch between the appetizer and the pasta/risotto, but you should take a secondo. And always order salad and vegetables with your secondo. Also a tip: ‘in due’. Order one pasta dish or secondo and share it (literally: in two). This way you can enjoy all the courses and all the deliciousness without feeling stuffed.

Italians never drink milk after 12 o'clock, so having a cappuccino or latte macchiato (wrong coffee) after a meal is unthinkable. Just take a caffè, and don't call it espresso. Espresso is the way the coffee is made.

You drink coffee standing at every street corner at the bar. First, order at the cash register and then give your receipt (scontrino) to the barista. If you are a sugar user, take the brown packets: cane sugar. Delicious in a fresh caffè.

Unlike us drinkers, Italians always drink wine with food, but as soon as they stop eating, they also stop drinking. Especially for a nice glass of wine at lunch while you still want to stay fit, this is an excellent tip. Order a bottle together (never more than 20 euros, it can save you), but only with food. So don't finish your glass and refill it when you are done with your secondo. caffè, dolce and hup hup, off you go and the city is yours again.

But the tip of all tips for a visit to the Colosseo/Forum/Palatino: buy your entrance ticket at the Palatine (the hill where the rich senators, aristocrats, and emperors lived). That ticket is also valid for the Forum and the Colosseum, but the lines at the Forum and especially at the Colosseum can take more than an hour of waiting. There is almost never a line at the entrance of Palatino. Moreover, you first climb up and get a beautiful view of the old forum. From the Palatine, you descend to the Forum Romanum, then to the Colosseum, and then you can walk past the line. Oh yes, the entrance ticket is valid for two days, so the next day you can still take a historical walk.

Finally: rent a scooter. It doesn't get more fun in Rome than on a Vespa.

Okay, this piece was bad for my wallet because I am NOW going to book a ticket.