My last night in Roma

I am back in Roma and I can tell you all bed and breakfasts are not created equal.  You will want to stay away from Albergo Giada.  It was clean but for the money go somewhere else where the staff are more helpful in getting you around town.  That would be just about anywhere.   The place I stayed the first 5 nights was so much better.   After my tough ride in from Napoli (more on that later) as long as the place had a bed I didn't much care to be choosey.

I'm sitting in La Lagana, a suggestion from my friend Alex.  Alex has a place in Italy so he knows what he's talking about.  This place was hard to find but worth it.  The street was on not my map but once I got to the neighborhood people knew where it was.  To find the restaurant I had to put my Italian direction skills to the test.  I refused to ask in English at the information centers because i wanted to push myself.  Instead I asked people I passed along the way.  Real people never answer the way they do in text books, "turn left, go straight for three blocks then turn right".  No they say things like go all the way to the statue of so-n-so or stop before going through the arches.  You don't have to understand everything but by getting off in the right general direction and asking many people you will make it.

A priest just walked in with his parents and he is obviously a regular patron.  He was greeted with hugs, hand shakes, smiles, and immediate food brought to the table without ordering.  His parents were there for the first time.  As the antipasti came the mother crossed herself, as did the priest did the same but dad dug right into the prosciutto.  He raised a priest so I guess his praying days are over, that's an automatic ticket into heaven.

The owner is very friendly and met people walking down the street greeting some by name.  Through the window he hands me some crispy bread he had just received from a vendor to go with my stracchiatella (egg soup).  Down the street I hear him laughing and telling someone, "ho una luna nera" - I have a black moon is that like saying I have a black cloud over my head?  Sitting near the window its fun to watch people passing by talk to other patrons who are sitting outside.

The decor of this place is interesting.  Like every other place I've been there is an Italian flag.  There is also a painting of a topless woman to greet you at the door along with bits of art of various styles.  Then hanging from the ceiling is a cutout of a greenish yellow chicken with green, yellow, and orange eggs falling out of her.  I've never been to an Olive Garden but I bet it doesn't look anything like this.

Aside from infrequent McDonald's I haven't seen any American chains or fast food restaurants.  That makes happy.  Every meal in Roma has been so delicious.  There would be no reason to go to a chain.

I have now left the restaurant but had to add a little of the conversation I had with a woman from Baltimore.  She has been living in Rome for a few years.  She says people will stick to only a handful of restaurants where they have gotten to know the owner.  This business of food coming to the table as soon as you sit is often based on a long standing relationship.  The food that is brought to you is based on what you have ordered in the past or what is freshest that day.  

Jackie and I had a relationship like this to a bartender at the Lido.  He always had our drinks ready before we sat at the bar.  Too bad the Lido is now gone. He made good drinks too.