Since our weekends are our true time to explore, most weekdays turn into workdays. However, occasionally there are times we will either get up and do something before work or go out to eat afterward.
All of this to say, moving forward I’ll be skimming through weekdays and just providing highlights. (especially on the weeks we lay low) That way, the focus can be more on the weekends for the travel-filled posts.
Just in case it seems like we’re go-go-go all of the time, I’m here to remind you that there are many days we take it slow. But I’m saving my blog post energy for documenting the extra fun stuff. 😉
This specific post is going to be a week-day highlights post! So here are some favorite highlights from Week 2 in Rome:
Weekday Dinner at Ciacco
On Wednesday of this week, I spent the morning sitting upstairs in the loft and worked a bit on my blog. This was way before The Road Jess Traveled got its facelift just a few short months later! The ideas were brewing even back then. (and honestly, I still kick myself for not writing posts sooner!)
We had work this weekday afternoon but it was a pretty slow day, so we had plenty of energy to go get dinner after!
We decided to go back to Ciacco, our favorite local restaurant that we went to on our very first day in Rome. The weather was lovely so we got an outdoor table and ordered a charcuterie board. There is a gorgeous picture of this board listed on their Google Maps page, which was why Steven picked this restaurant in the first place. However, last time we were so focused on pasta that we didn’t get it. SO tonight we made up for lost time!
This was a great charcuterie board. I have never really had one, which is a crazy thing to say in 2021. But Ciacco absolutely converted me and set the standards high.
They had all of these different types of meats and spreads and fruits and honey! One of the meats was “like a bacon but there is no English word to describe it” – as our waiter said, and it was seriously enhanced bacon. And so memorable. We still talk about it all of the time. Wow wow wow.
The bottle of wine we got that night, too, was a phenomenal choice. Probably one of our favorites of the trip. I believe it was called “San Francesco Ciro 2019” so whenever I get back to Rome someday I gotta track that down again!
Have I mentioned how much I love Italy because it is 100% acceptable to drink on any weekday?
Anyways! We split a risotto with beef tartare. Not my favorite… but at least we tried it! I was drawn to the concept of risotto because I love risotto. But I forgot that tartare is raw meat aka not for me. At least now I know to get pasta next time!
Before we wrapped up, our waiter brought us a “digestivo,” aka a digestive, aka an after-dinner drink! He brought us limoncello! We always are going to get excited about free anything (especially alcohol), but this was particularly exciting because it was Steven’s first experience with limoncello! Such a memorable moment.
Overall, we had a lovely meal, great conversation, and just enjoyed each other’s company. It was a warm, fall, magical little evening. We love you, Ciacco!
Our Gelato Shop Meet-Cute!
After dinner, the only logical move was to get dessert. So we went back to our gelato shop, Gelato San Lorenzo 100 % Naturale, for the third time this week.
Coincidentally enough, there were two guys ordering next to us who were like “we’ve been here 3 times this week” and my big mouth blurted out “US TOO!!” But little did we know that this was our meet-cute with our new amazing travel friends, Brent and Michael!
We started talking about where we were all from and we ended up sitting together for over an hour just chatting and getting to know one another.
The two of them are backpacking around the world together, which is so cool. Brent has been saving to do this for years and Michael works a full-time remote job just like we do. They’ve traveled a lot of South America together and now they’re doing Europe! We had so much to talk about and so much in common, we loved them instantly. They had incredible travel recommendations and we were all so excited to share the discoveries we’ve made along our own adventures. Plus, we all realized we were going to be in Prague at the same time in a few months!!
It was one of those conversations where we hit it off so well that we didn’t even know each other’s names until the end because we were just so present with one another. But it was such a serendipitous meeting and this was not the last time we would see our sweet friends. It was such a joy to meet them – their friendship has been such a highlight of our travels and we were all so excited to hang out again!
Unfortunately, we didn’t take a picture altogether on our first night – but here’s a picture of my gelato anyways! Brent and Mike learned you can request whipped cream for your gelato here, so I got that on top of my dark chocolate gelato. It was a great decision.
Weekday Night, Pizza Night
On Thursday, we slept in and spent our entire morning before work planning our weekend to Venice! We booked train tickets and looked at Air B&B’s, even though we didn’t secure anything yet. It’s so wild to be planning an adventure within the adventure – it’s just a cycle of excitement!
After work today, we went out to work at Formula 1 pizza. This pizza was drastically different than the first time we got Italian pizza.
This night was really simple but there are a few reasons I wanted to share it –
1. This was the most ‘local Italian pizza place’ we had come across yet. It was hustling and bustling and no one spoke English whatsoever! That’s when you know it’s authentic.
2 – The pizza here was very thin crust and crispy! A totally different style than the previous types we’ve tried. I personally prefer a more doughy crust but I have to say, this was satisfying!
3 – This was the first time ever that I was introduced to my new love, Quattro Formaggi pizza. HOLY WOW. It’s a 4 cheese pizza that has a combination of cheeses that create the most divine flavor combination.
If you’re ever in Italy, at any pizza place you go to, please promise me you’ll try this flavor of pizza at least once. Quattro! Formaggi! It’s so dang good.
That’s All, Folks!
What a lovely weekday review and CHEERS to the upcoming weekend. (it’s weird to see myself drink beer instead of wine in Italy! Crazy!)
The following day, Friday, was one of our “do something before work” mornings. So we are going to follow up with our exterior tour and go see the inside of the Colosseum!
So come on back for the next post so you can read all about it. Until next time… 🙂
WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT JESS’ CREATIONS:
Like a cup of coffee, I pour my heart into The Road Jess Traveled so we can all go on these adventures together! ☕️❤️ If you have been loving the posts, photos, or any of my online creations – you now have the opportunity to “buy me a coffee” and show your appreciation.
Click the button below to donate and support the blog!
Thank you times a million. ❤️
SIGN UP FOR EMAILS:
