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Rome and Florence
Apr. 23rd, 2019 10:45 pmWe have just spent the Easter Weekend in Italy, swapping the hot weather in England for pretty much identical conditions there. The primary aim was to visit the three Brewdog bars in the country - in Rome, Florence and Bologna - but having been to the first two cities before, this was essentially a trip to see Bologna, racing through the rest of Italy as swiftly as we could. Accordingly, I placed a gamble that the plane would be on time, enabling us to get to the Rome Brewdog bar on the Friday evening, so I booked the train to Florence for 10:45am, getting us into the Tuscan capital just after noon, when the Brewdog there opened. Due to the time constraints, we also booked a taxi to pick us up from the airport and drive us the half hour to Hotel Flavia, where we were staying in the heart of Rome. This was the expensive option and we were a little concerned as our driver in the end was ten minutes late to meet us, but in the end everything went incredibly smoothly.
We checked into the hotel shortly after 10:30pm. It was situated pretty close to the centre in an old Italian townhouse. This was quite an architectural delight, with old Victorian-style elevators with the wire mesh cages. As our room was on the first floor, we didn't bother with the lift, but the place was a delightful warren of repurposed rooms, with us having to go through one door just to get to our room, which turned out to be in a group of three. The place was a little rundown but it served its purpose for the night and the staff were accommodating, with us darting into the Italian capital pretty much as soon as we had checked in. The Rome Brewdog bar is a stone throw from the Colloseum - indeed you can see it as you sit supping your beer - and this was a twenty-five minute yomp across the city. We were in one of the quieter neighbourhoods but even here, as you turned every corner, there was another architectural gem to see, usually exquisite churches or majestic fountains. In the wake of the tragic fire at Notre Dame Cathedral earlier in the week, it did make you think about European heritage and how much we take it for granted.
This was highlighted as we headed down the Via di Serpenti, which had the Colloseum at the end of it. Walking up to this architectural wonder still left me with a sense of awe, even if there were loads of revellers out and about too. As we walked closer towards it, we spied a grey stone fountain to our left, around which a number of people were casually chatting and drinking beer. This sort of thing doesn't happen in the UK, much to our shame (and largely our climate), and we decided we would grab a drink from the small bar that was selling a number of craft beer bottles on the edge of the square on our way back to the hotel from Brewdog. This we did shortly after midnight, although the experience was somewhat tarnished by a hawker of African origin trying to sell a load of tat to us. He came in for the hard sell, forcing a sculpture of a terrapin or turtle into our hands, and I had to give him a euro for him to go away. I know it's all part of the technique with hawkers and I am aware of the migrant crisis and the desperation that these people are driven towards, but the whole incident did cast a heavy cloud over the evening, no matter how sympathetic I am. Indeed, in Italy there were many people from north Africa selling toys and flowers on the street, often coming into bars to tout their wares too. It's a clear problem here and I can understand why the political situation in the country is the way that it is, despite the whole thing depressing me greatly. Anyway, all of this took place after our trip to Brewdog, which we found after skirting around the Colloseum and darting into a back alley. It was quite small, but also quite quiet, but the bar staff were fantastic and were very interested to discover this was our 46th bar. We had a range of beers here, staying out slightly longer than intended before heading to the fountain for the final beer of the night, but it was a very relaxing and enjoyable introduction to Italy.
After our fountain beer, we headed back to the hotel, needing to get up reasonably early in the morning. On the way back, we grabbed a burger from McDonald's as we had had little to eat, and upon spying they also did cheesy fries, we had some of these too. We then got back to the hotel shortly after 1am and popped on the TV, enthralled by the erectile disfunction infomercial on Channel 11 which had the same footage on loop over and over. Our favourite was a guy who pulled open his shorts at the front, looked down then did a fist bump of joy, which became something of a meme for the rest of the trip. The fact it was repeated eight times in the space of ten minutes only added to the genius. I would have been happy to stay up all night watching this but we did need sleep and thus we shut the TV off about half an hour after returning to the room.
We awoke shortly after 8am on Saturday and stumbled down to breakfast, a modest continental offering which was most welcome. We then left our stuff in the hotel before walking the fifteen minutes to the jaw-dropping Trevi Fountain. Last time we were in Rome, this impressive sculpture had been shrouded in scaffolding due to renovation work and thus we could not see it, so this very much felt like righting a wrong from back then. It being reasonably early also meant that there weren't that many people around it, allowing us to take in its wonderous beauty and really contemplate the equine scene laid out in front of us. It was a sight that was truly worth waiting for, with the azure water only heightening the brilliance of the white marble, and even though we only had five minutes to drink in the view, the walk there and back was ultimately worth it.
Upon returning to the hotel, we grabbed our things and checked out, heading to the main railway station which was a fifteen minute walk in the opposite direction. Even though it was only 10am, the temperature was climbing rapidly and it was rather pleasant being outside. Upon getting to the station, we had half an hour to kill, which we spent pacing up and down the place and seeing what was offer. We then boarded our italo rabbit train, which was due to whisk us to Florence in an hour and a half at a top speed of 250km/h. I was in constant wonder about the speed of the trains in Italy, it was very much a futuristic world compared to the older models we have here, and although the train prices were as expensive as they are in the UK for walk-on fares (as we were to find out when we purchased our Florence to Bologna tickets for €33 each later that day), booking in advance meant that at least we got the Rome to Florence leg of our trip pretty cheaply. With reserved seats too, it was a rather pleasant journey north, and I enjoyed watching the countryside whizz past en route to one of my favourite cities in the world.
We arrived at 12:15pm, with the Brewdog bar being our primary destination. This was a mere ten minute walk from the station through some of the northern back alleys, and it proved to be an easy place to find. We had visited this bar for my birthday in 2014 and I have fond memories of it, so it was great to be back here again. It was reasonably quiet, on account of it just having opened, not to mention the fact it was a gloriously sunny day, but there were some people inside and the bar staff were incredibly helpful. One in particular, who looked a little like Weird Al Jankovic, told us a great deal about the beers on tap as well as places to eat and drink in Bologna, which turned out to be very useful indeed. I spent a great deal of time talking to him about the craft beer scene in Italy and he even suggested a few beer festivals to try too.
We were having such a good time here that we ended up staying a little longer than anticipated, which had the knock-on effect of delaying our arrival in Bologna, the only city we hadn't visited before. Still, we did manage to drag ourselves away at 1:30pm and headed to the main market for a spot of lunch. For some reason we had missed out on this sight five years ago, which was a huge shame as it was a bustling slice of Italian life, with a range of tantalising local produce on sale. We were headed for Da Nerbone Due, a place suggested to me when I googled the best places to eat in the city. It was tucked away inside the market and proved to be a difficult find, but we did eventually stumble across it, largely on account of the long queue outside of it. They specialise in lampredotto, a fatty sandwich made out of boiled cow's stomach, which is a belly busting speciality of the city. We hadn't tried it during our last visit, so we decided to go for a panini, with the addition of chili adding a delicious piquance to the rich meat. We got lucky as we nabbed the last paninis available that day, with the place shutting about half an hour after our visit, and as we walked around with our greasy sandwiches poking out of cellophane bags, we did reflect on how lucky we were. The city was buzzing with people and before we left, I wanted to check out the main square once again as Florence Cathedral is one of, if not my, favourite buildings in the world. Upon being deposited on the square, it's green and pale striped granduer opened up in front of us, and the heart skipped a beat or two such was its beauty. The green was darker than I remember but this whole area, with the cathedral, seminary school and campanille bell tower is truly perfect. I was glad to experience it again. However, we were in Italy primary to visit Bologna and we couldn't afford any more time, so after a few minutes drinking in the architecture, we pushed our way through the crowds and back to the station, buying our expensive tickets there and grabbing the 3pm Trenitalia service to Bologna, some thirty-five minutes away. Much of the journey was through tunnels as the line crosses the Appenine Mountains, while Bologna station itself is predominantly underground. This gave it a rather morose feel, claustrophobic even, but soon we were back in the spring sunshine and right next to the Mercure hotel, which was literally across the road from the station. We checked in swiftly and relaxed for half an hour, feeling the tiredness of all that travelling, but with Easter Sunday the next day and thus being unsure what was open and when, we felt we must hit some sights on the Saturday so just before 5pm we headed out of the hotel and into the city to see what we could find.
We checked into the hotel shortly after 10:30pm. It was situated pretty close to the centre in an old Italian townhouse. This was quite an architectural delight, with old Victorian-style elevators with the wire mesh cages. As our room was on the first floor, we didn't bother with the lift, but the place was a delightful warren of repurposed rooms, with us having to go through one door just to get to our room, which turned out to be in a group of three. The place was a little rundown but it served its purpose for the night and the staff were accommodating, with us darting into the Italian capital pretty much as soon as we had checked in. The Rome Brewdog bar is a stone throw from the Colloseum - indeed you can see it as you sit supping your beer - and this was a twenty-five minute yomp across the city. We were in one of the quieter neighbourhoods but even here, as you turned every corner, there was another architectural gem to see, usually exquisite churches or majestic fountains. In the wake of the tragic fire at Notre Dame Cathedral earlier in the week, it did make you think about European heritage and how much we take it for granted.
This was highlighted as we headed down the Via di Serpenti, which had the Colloseum at the end of it. Walking up to this architectural wonder still left me with a sense of awe, even if there were loads of revellers out and about too. As we walked closer towards it, we spied a grey stone fountain to our left, around which a number of people were casually chatting and drinking beer. This sort of thing doesn't happen in the UK, much to our shame (and largely our climate), and we decided we would grab a drink from the small bar that was selling a number of craft beer bottles on the edge of the square on our way back to the hotel from Brewdog. This we did shortly after midnight, although the experience was somewhat tarnished by a hawker of African origin trying to sell a load of tat to us. He came in for the hard sell, forcing a sculpture of a terrapin or turtle into our hands, and I had to give him a euro for him to go away. I know it's all part of the technique with hawkers and I am aware of the migrant crisis and the desperation that these people are driven towards, but the whole incident did cast a heavy cloud over the evening, no matter how sympathetic I am. Indeed, in Italy there were many people from north Africa selling toys and flowers on the street, often coming into bars to tout their wares too. It's a clear problem here and I can understand why the political situation in the country is the way that it is, despite the whole thing depressing me greatly. Anyway, all of this took place after our trip to Brewdog, which we found after skirting around the Colloseum and darting into a back alley. It was quite small, but also quite quiet, but the bar staff were fantastic and were very interested to discover this was our 46th bar. We had a range of beers here, staying out slightly longer than intended before heading to the fountain for the final beer of the night, but it was a very relaxing and enjoyable introduction to Italy.
After our fountain beer, we headed back to the hotel, needing to get up reasonably early in the morning. On the way back, we grabbed a burger from McDonald's as we had had little to eat, and upon spying they also did cheesy fries, we had some of these too. We then got back to the hotel shortly after 1am and popped on the TV, enthralled by the erectile disfunction infomercial on Channel 11 which had the same footage on loop over and over. Our favourite was a guy who pulled open his shorts at the front, looked down then did a fist bump of joy, which became something of a meme for the rest of the trip. The fact it was repeated eight times in the space of ten minutes only added to the genius. I would have been happy to stay up all night watching this but we did need sleep and thus we shut the TV off about half an hour after returning to the room.
We awoke shortly after 8am on Saturday and stumbled down to breakfast, a modest continental offering which was most welcome. We then left our stuff in the hotel before walking the fifteen minutes to the jaw-dropping Trevi Fountain. Last time we were in Rome, this impressive sculpture had been shrouded in scaffolding due to renovation work and thus we could not see it, so this very much felt like righting a wrong from back then. It being reasonably early also meant that there weren't that many people around it, allowing us to take in its wonderous beauty and really contemplate the equine scene laid out in front of us. It was a sight that was truly worth waiting for, with the azure water only heightening the brilliance of the white marble, and even though we only had five minutes to drink in the view, the walk there and back was ultimately worth it.
Upon returning to the hotel, we grabbed our things and checked out, heading to the main railway station which was a fifteen minute walk in the opposite direction. Even though it was only 10am, the temperature was climbing rapidly and it was rather pleasant being outside. Upon getting to the station, we had half an hour to kill, which we spent pacing up and down the place and seeing what was offer. We then boarded our italo rabbit train, which was due to whisk us to Florence in an hour and a half at a top speed of 250km/h. I was in constant wonder about the speed of the trains in Italy, it was very much a futuristic world compared to the older models we have here, and although the train prices were as expensive as they are in the UK for walk-on fares (as we were to find out when we purchased our Florence to Bologna tickets for €33 each later that day), booking in advance meant that at least we got the Rome to Florence leg of our trip pretty cheaply. With reserved seats too, it was a rather pleasant journey north, and I enjoyed watching the countryside whizz past en route to one of my favourite cities in the world.
We arrived at 12:15pm, with the Brewdog bar being our primary destination. This was a mere ten minute walk from the station through some of the northern back alleys, and it proved to be an easy place to find. We had visited this bar for my birthday in 2014 and I have fond memories of it, so it was great to be back here again. It was reasonably quiet, on account of it just having opened, not to mention the fact it was a gloriously sunny day, but there were some people inside and the bar staff were incredibly helpful. One in particular, who looked a little like Weird Al Jankovic, told us a great deal about the beers on tap as well as places to eat and drink in Bologna, which turned out to be very useful indeed. I spent a great deal of time talking to him about the craft beer scene in Italy and he even suggested a few beer festivals to try too.
We were having such a good time here that we ended up staying a little longer than anticipated, which had the knock-on effect of delaying our arrival in Bologna, the only city we hadn't visited before. Still, we did manage to drag ourselves away at 1:30pm and headed to the main market for a spot of lunch. For some reason we had missed out on this sight five years ago, which was a huge shame as it was a bustling slice of Italian life, with a range of tantalising local produce on sale. We were headed for Da Nerbone Due, a place suggested to me when I googled the best places to eat in the city. It was tucked away inside the market and proved to be a difficult find, but we did eventually stumble across it, largely on account of the long queue outside of it. They specialise in lampredotto, a fatty sandwich made out of boiled cow's stomach, which is a belly busting speciality of the city. We hadn't tried it during our last visit, so we decided to go for a panini, with the addition of chili adding a delicious piquance to the rich meat. We got lucky as we nabbed the last paninis available that day, with the place shutting about half an hour after our visit, and as we walked around with our greasy sandwiches poking out of cellophane bags, we did reflect on how lucky we were. The city was buzzing with people and before we left, I wanted to check out the main square once again as Florence Cathedral is one of, if not my, favourite buildings in the world. Upon being deposited on the square, it's green and pale striped granduer opened up in front of us, and the heart skipped a beat or two such was its beauty. The green was darker than I remember but this whole area, with the cathedral, seminary school and campanille bell tower is truly perfect. I was glad to experience it again. However, we were in Italy primary to visit Bologna and we couldn't afford any more time, so after a few minutes drinking in the architecture, we pushed our way through the crowds and back to the station, buying our expensive tickets there and grabbing the 3pm Trenitalia service to Bologna, some thirty-five minutes away. Much of the journey was through tunnels as the line crosses the Appenine Mountains, while Bologna station itself is predominantly underground. This gave it a rather morose feel, claustrophobic even, but soon we were back in the spring sunshine and right next to the Mercure hotel, which was literally across the road from the station. We checked in swiftly and relaxed for half an hour, feeling the tiredness of all that travelling, but with Easter Sunday the next day and thus being unsure what was open and when, we felt we must hit some sights on the Saturday so just before 5pm we headed out of the hotel and into the city to see what we could find.
