Roma Christmas 2016
Jul 16, 2017, 5:00 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 75
Roma Christmas 2016
Last Christmas, we went to Rome. I hadn't been to Rome in a while and the last time I was there left a gross taste in my mouth. It was hot, dusty, FILLED with bad tourists looking for PIZZAH and SPAAHGETTI. Pass.
I found none of that during the Christmas holiday period. It was just Romans, great food, blue skies and the eternal city. I did however find a few extra pounds due to my success at eating cured meat twice a day for a week.
Flight: AC 874/9302 YUL-FRA-FCO
Seats: 2G/2k
No pictures of the flight because I may have been drinking and may have taken something to help me sleep.
That said, the "new" AC J class seat is much nicer than the old pod. The foot space (I have large feet) is a little cramped and the service on the flight, at least for the short time I was awake, was a little off. All in all a nice experience.
Ms. Hutz notes that selection of Spanish white on the flight was actually pretty good. I believe it was an Albarino.
I will also add that the MLL in FRA is a nice touch. The shower room was clean and it was nice to refresh myself before the short jump from FRA to FCO.
Roma:
[img]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4236/35875728796_b915b0ff6d_c.jpg[/img
My report on Rome wouldn't be complete without a few food notes.
For Christmas Eve, we ate at Assunta Madre, a fish restaurant. It was wonderful. Not only was the food good but the atmosphere was perfect. We were a table for 4 and by far the smallest group in the place. Every other table was a table for 8-20. Every table was filled with big Italian families having the fest of the fishes on Christmas eve (we did too- I counted 9 different species). The room was loud, filled with laughter and community spirit. Drinks were shared between tables - for example the nonna next to me was aghast that I didn't have the right grappa so she gave me some of hers. Highly recommended.
For Christmas night, we went to Assaje at the Aldrovandi Villa Borghese. I'll let the pictures of their tasking menu speak:
Whipped goat cheese and buffalo cream dip.
Pork cheeks with beet sauce
Yellowtail crudo
Beef tartare
Squash risotto with pork belly
Lemon zest flecked pasta with sweat cream and red shrimp. (This went too fast to take a picture of)
Red Mullet
Veal glazed with red wine
r
The first round of dessert
The second round of dessert. I don't like sweets so I asked Ms. Hutz for her review. The answer was "Learn to make this, I'll forgive you for not fixing the gutters this winter."
We also took a short day trip to visit the Cassino battlefield. If you aren't familiar, this was one of the bloodiest battles in WWII. The allies ground themselves into a muddy rock pile for months and months suffering immense numbers of casualties in an effort to drive from Naples to Rome. it is a very pretty valley and you can see the problems the terrain created immediately.
I found none of that during the Christmas holiday period. It was just Romans, great food, blue skies and the eternal city. I did however find a few extra pounds due to my success at eating cured meat twice a day for a week.
Flight: AC 874/9302 YUL-FRA-FCO
Seats: 2G/2k
No pictures of the flight because I may have been drinking and may have taken something to help me sleep.
That said, the "new" AC J class seat is much nicer than the old pod. The foot space (I have large feet) is a little cramped and the service on the flight, at least for the short time I was awake, was a little off. All in all a nice experience.
Ms. Hutz notes that selection of Spanish white on the flight was actually pretty good. I believe it was an Albarino.
I will also add that the MLL in FRA is a nice touch. The shower room was clean and it was nice to refresh myself before the short jump from FRA to FCO.
Roma:
[img]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4236/35875728796_b915b0ff6d_c.jpg[/img
My report on Rome wouldn't be complete without a few food notes.
For Christmas Eve, we ate at Assunta Madre, a fish restaurant. It was wonderful. Not only was the food good but the atmosphere was perfect. We were a table for 4 and by far the smallest group in the place. Every other table was a table for 8-20. Every table was filled with big Italian families having the fest of the fishes on Christmas eve (we did too- I counted 9 different species). The room was loud, filled with laughter and community spirit. Drinks were shared between tables - for example the nonna next to me was aghast that I didn't have the right grappa so she gave me some of hers. Highly recommended.
For Christmas night, we went to Assaje at the Aldrovandi Villa Borghese. I'll let the pictures of their tasking menu speak:
Whipped goat cheese and buffalo cream dip.
Pork cheeks with beet sauce
Yellowtail crudo
Beef tartare
Squash risotto with pork belly
Lemon zest flecked pasta with sweat cream and red shrimp. (This went too fast to take a picture of)
Red Mullet
Veal glazed with red wine
rThe first round of dessert
The second round of dessert. I don't like sweets so I asked Ms. Hutz for her review. The answer was "Learn to make this, I'll forgive you for not fixing the gutters this winter."
We also took a short day trip to visit the Cassino battlefield. If you aren't familiar, this was one of the bloodiest battles in WWII. The allies ground themselves into a muddy rock pile for months and months suffering immense numbers of casualties in an effort to drive from Naples to Rome. it is a very pretty valley and you can see the problems the terrain created immediately.
