We woke up at a reasonable time, and debated going to either the Spanish Steps or St. Peter’s Bascilica. We lamented not going to St. Peter’s when we were already in the Vatican, and leaned towards the Spanish Steps. Upon checking the news and learning that the Pope had died overnight, that solidified it. We got out around 10:30 and grabbed coffee and pastries from the cafe around the corner. Honestly, it was the best coffee we’d had since arriving here. Katie had a cornetto (basically a croissant) and I got a maritozzo (a whipped cream filled brioche). Maritozzi are excellent, and pretty much exactly what you’d expect. After, we wandered towards the Spanish Steps. They’re pretty! So that was cool. We got lunch at CiPasso (which had only Asian customers for about half the time we were there—wonder if that’s the internet playing tricks on people or just chance).
After lunch, we went back to the hotel before meeting up with Katie’s coworker. Got gelato, then sat out in Palazzo Navona. Back to the hotel, then dinner at Retro Bottega. The whole schtick being that the restaurant is retro and like dining in the early 2000s. Air Jordans were an a case next to Jordan’s Wings poster, music was Zero 7, plating to match. The food though was still really good. We had:
- Artichoke Katsusando: Panko fried artichoke hearts with cheese, garlic, mayo and mint. Sort of like a grilled cheese sandwich and excellent
- Green spaghetti : puréed green garlic and chili for sauce over spaghetti. Nice and spicy from the garlic.
- Fried broccoli rabe: Broccoli rabe tempura with a citrus seaweed sauce. Really tasty.
- Asparagus: asparagus, broad beans, and an olive purée. Also really tasty.
- Chicory and shallots: pretty much what you’d expect
- Bunet Branco: Similar to a panna cotta served covered in thinly sliced strawberries and caramel sauce.
For wine, we had
- La Zerba Sante Il Bandito 2022: a natural white
- Markus Scholtes Mosel Riesling 2023
- Massimo Abbate Musa 2023: Moscato and Sauvignon blanc that worked really well as a drier dessert wine
- Manni Nossing Gruner Veltliner 2023:
Post dinner, we went straight to bed.