Best Beer in Town

If you ever read my blog, you probably already knew : I like (good) beer with a passion for Belgian beer.. It might be that I got it from my dad who loves beer aswel (although he drinks pretty much everything apart from Heineken) or it might be that it's just in my blood being born in Beer Country.

When I moved to Rome, I was desperate for products from home. I went around the city like crazy to look for Lotus Speculoos (found  at Auchan), 'Suikerwafels' (found them at Todis) and ofcourse beer.

But what do Belgians like to do most : go for a drink.  So here are the best places in Rome if you are looking for good beer in no particular order.





Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fa / Bir&Fud - Trastevere 

They have great beers on tap, in the heart of Trastevere and  reasonable prices.Too bad there's not 

much space to sit outside. Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fa has lots of international beers, Bir&Fud (same  owners)  has only Italian craft beer but you can eat here as wel.

4:20 - Porta Portese

Great beers at very reasonable prices. Before 8.00pm your beer costs less and they have the possibility
 to take beer home. (bring a bottle!) Great fries to go with that beer!

Open Baladin - Largo Argentina/Campo Dei Fiori

Amazing and lots of beers on tap, international and Italian. Great Food. Love this place.

Mastro Titta - Portuense

 Great beers on tap (often has Tripel Karmeliet on tap), a bit dark though if you want to have a

 conversation with a friend.

Birrifugio - Trastevere
Maybe a bit out of the way as it's not in the heart of the old (touristic) Trastevere, but has a good beer

selection. German beers on tap, lots of Belgian bottled beerse. Love how they left the yeast in the bottle

so I had the choice to poor it immediately or not.

Oasi Della Birra - Testaccio
Most of Rome probably knows this place for it's apertivo, but they have a great beer selection as wel.

Unfortunately they never have all the beers on their menu, but often have a great selection of

Belgian bottled beers.

La Botticella - Piazza Navona area
Well, this place is usually packed with American tourist, in particular Steelers fans.

Even so, I had to mention this place as they have great Belgian bottled beers.

Before 8.00pm they are only €5,00 and how could I leave out a place that has Westmalle Tripel for

€5,00 in Rome? Right I can't.

Senza Fondo- Prati

Pub worth mentioning. This place mainly has beers from 'Brouwerij Verhaeghe' on tap and also the

excellent Duchesse de Bourgogne. 

In Trastever there's also the recently opened Beerland : selling Westvleteren 12 Trappist beer  like that..not cool! It's not allowed, and if the 'frati' find out about this you might be going to hell!

   

Guess who's back...no this is not a rap song

Well, I decided to give blogging another go. I quit blogging because too much was going on, which is kind of contradictory I know.

In the last year a lot has happened.
I got a full time office job all on my own ( so whoever told me it wasn't possible in Italy without help, You were wrong! ha!).
I moved and 'shacked' up with The Italian in our own little home in the eternal chaotic city.
I have gone through several traumas going back and forth to the comune/ASL/INPS/... .
Which - in short - went like this.

My love for Belgian beer has only increased as has my love for the cucina Italiana which hasn't been the best for my hate of the scale.

More updates soon...

Hup Holland Hup

For the past month I have been watching a lot of soccer. After Italia returned to the bel paese, (and Belgium not even participating, but we will be back!) I have started to support The Netherlands (also). Who'd have thunk?*. One thing you cannot accuse the Dutch of is that they don't support their country. For the game between Holland and Japan we went to the Bull Dog Inn. When Holland is playing, this pub fills up with Dutch tifosi dressed up in orange. It was really nice to -although my Italian is decent- actually understand EVERYTHING people say ;).
So here's a little video clip (I picked the one from 2008, cause I just like it more, but there's also a 2010 version), which shows those crazy dutchies in all their glory. (Belgians :can learn something from this!)
For this evening :HUP HOLLAND HUP!!!! GOOOOOOO HOLLAND!!!!


PS : Yes I did start supporting Holland in this World Cup, but this still doesn't mean I like Heineken. ;)


* for those not aware : there's some sort of love-hate thing between Belgium and Holland.

Roseto Comunale

The weather has finally turned around and the sun has come out to play. So last weekend we went to the Rose Garden. For about a month a year you can visit the Rose Garden and when the weather is nice, it's gorgeous out there. An amazing view over Circo Massimo, people lying on the grass enjoying what seems to be an oasis in the chaotic city, surrounded by roses.



When? Open daily from 10.00 to 19.00 including Sundays till June 13th
Where? Via di Valle Murcia (Aventino)
Entrance : free

World Press Photo 2010

Last Saturday was the 2nd Edition of Night of the Museum, which means state-owned museums were open from 20.00 till 02.00 and free!
The Italian and I went to check out the Museo di Roma in Trastevere for the World Press Photo and the Stephen Shore exhibit.
Very moving photographs and definately worth a visit.

You can see the World Press Photo 2010 until the 6ht of June at the Museo di Roma in Trastevere.
The Stephen Shore exhibit will be showing until the 23rd of May.

Oh no they didn't....

Rome did not win the scudetto this year. I wanted to write some posts about it earlier, but didn't want to jinx it. (I have become frightingly Italian in certain things - just kidding). After 45 minutes we were virtually champions. The first half of Siena-Inter ended in 0-0 and Roma was winning by 2 goals.
I was listening to Carlo Zampa* on the radio and was quite moved. To thank the players, the fans started to sing songs including Roma, Roma, Roma. What a beautiful team. I hope next year will be the year of As Roma.
Being around some Laziali has tested my patience and theirs over the last few weeks. But soon we will be rooting for the same team as the World Cup starts : Italy...
Belgium is not playing the World Cup unfortunately.



* famous Roma commentator

There's a first time for everything....

For a couple of weeks my haircut had been driving me crazy. My hair was (yes, was, past tense) just too long, covering my eyes. In four words : it drove me crazy. After hearing horror expat stories of Italian haircutters who just don't know how to do a decent cut, I always went to get my hair cut whenever I was in Belgium. Even though I will soon be escaping Rome chaos for a weekend in Belgium, I decided not to wait (yes, it was driving me THAT crazy) and pick an Italian salon and just get it over with. So, I am no longer an Italian hairsalon virgin. It was quick and painless, and I'm actually really loving my new hair.
And if that wasn't enough excitement for one weekend (I have a boring life), for the first time ever, I drove to the city center. I had driven before in Rome -the GRA, the highway, to the beach - but never in the city center as in : lungotevere, san giovanni, etc... After getting that hair cut, I must have felt very adventurous or something, because I did it. Parking along lungotevere in one of those small parking spaces and while seeing car lights approaching from behind at high speed and everything.
After that I really deserved that Mojito in Trastevere...and that glass of wine.
Luckily I didn't have to drive back...