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...

Snow in Rome!

For over 10 years I have been coming to Rome. Now living here for about a year and I have never, ever seen this.
Snow in Rome! All over Europe it has been snowing more than usual, but who would have thought the snow would even reach Rome!

Belgium, here we come....

The Italian and I will be going to Belgium for the holidays and we both couldn't be happier about it. First of all because we haven't seen my family in a long time and second of all because we both need a break from Italy and Rome.
Belgium is currently covered in snow and we have a pretty big chance of having that White Christmas after all. Apart from one big suitcase filled with clothes, we are also dragging another big suitcase with us filled with cakes, torrone and other Italian holiday goodies. Today when buying the torrone, the Italian candidly pointed out that I always said that there was only 1 kind of chocolate in the world. Well his exact words were more like : " You always made me two ***** like this about how chocolate had to be Belgian." Yes, Belgian chocolate is still the best chocolate in the world, but I'm still also buying the torrone. (You can never have too much chocolate imo)
I will surely return to Italy with an extra five kilos on my body, but I'm not holding back this time. Homemade fries, belgian beer, cream tomato soup and endless christmas markets with glühwein, jenever and other bodywarming drinks.
Now if only the airport won't be closed for the snow....
Happy holidays to all! Have a lovely Christmas!

Bio Testaccio

Last weekend was the weekend of the 'altra economia' in 'la città dell' altra economia' in Testaccio.
In La città dell' altra economia there is a bio-shop for food, one for other items including fair trade products, a Bio Bar and a Bio restaurant. But last weekend there were all stands with bio food, clothing, books,etc. as well. Even the bio-guy from Biolà* was there.
I ate the best pannocchia ever from one of the stands. The shops are ofcourse always there and one Sunday per month the stands will return.

If you are in Rome definately worth checking out.


*Biolà is a biofarm in Fiumicino, but every week they travel to different places in Rome and set up there with their little van to sell milk straight from the cow, meat, mozzarella, ricotta, honey,... You can find the schedule, products and prices on the site.

The highs and the lows

It's been months since I last blogged. The past months were filled with highs and lows and for some reason I didn't feel like blogging about it at the time.
This is what's been going on :

The highs :
* In July the Italian and I went to Belgium. We stayed there a couple of days and then drove my car (full with stuff) back to Italy. We stopped at Lago di Garda and San Benedetto del Tronto and then drove to Rome.
* In August my mom and sister came to visit us in Rome, which was great.
* In September my cousin and her boyfriend came to Rome, we had a blast.

The lows :
* For some reason I'm still not getting used to Rome. I have pretty much always lived in a small village in a small country. I never thought this would be an issue, but the big city chaos is sometimes just too much. I then dream of a house with a big garden in which I grow my own vegetables. I guess there is a farmer inside of me somewhere that I didn't know about.
* The househunting is not going fast enough for me. We have seen it all by now. Houses with water in the walls, bad roofs, houses in the midst of about 20 electrical poles, near the river that floods, agency people who don't give you any information except for : 'this is the kitchen, this is the bathroom...' (why would I pay you thousands of euros for that?!)
* The jobhunting is -to say the least- horrible. Nobody cares apparently that I speak all these languages and have a degree. When I came here I was willing to earn less than what I earned back home, but some of the salaries I have seen here are just ridiculous.
* Making new friends has also proven itself to be harder than it is.

Solution :
* I need to step up my game. Easier said than done, but not impossible. And when I wonder if I want to step up my game, I need to slap myself in the face and realise that the only thing I can change is me. Not this country or its jobmarket or its obvious chaos. I need to stop comparing Belgium to Italy, cause in the end it just makes me unhappier.

Now I know what to do, but how do I do it?

The Weekend

This weekend I realised how out of shape I am. It being 30-something degrees in Rome has forced me to give up conceiling clothes and wear something more revealing. I don't necessarily have a problem with that, until I discovered the belly fat I collected around the waist last winter and the winters before that. Seeing pictures of the Italian and me in London in 2004 (that's only 5 years ago, you know!) didn't make me feel any better. Five years ago I had a flat belly! Well, ok, I never really had a flat belly, but you get the point. Being shocked that one can look very different in just 5 years has given me a brilliant idea to solve my problem : I need to work out. Yes, I know, it's shocking and of course I didn't come up with this just now, but the idea of having to get in a bikini really soon has made this realisation even more painful. If you didn't get this from my blog sooner, I should tell you I might not be the most dedicated person when it comes to exercise. I just love food, I can't help it. And more importantly it loves me.
Anyway, to celebrate my brilliantness, The Italian and I decided to have aperitivo in Trastevere. And yes, I do see the irony in that.

Il Bioparco

The past weekends have been quite full. A couple of weeks ago my family came to visit us. It was their first time in Rome which was kinda exciting, so we saw lots and lots of must-sees. Also the weekends after that were filled with museum visits, sightseeing etc. Blog posts to follow.
Last weekend however, we went to the Zoo. Being a good vegetarian and all*, I do feel for the animals. Caged and locked away, but the other side of me just loves to see the animals and walk through the park. It was a beautiful day yesterday, not too warm, so perfect for the first zoo visit of the year.





* Not that one necessarily has anything to do with the other, but you get the point.

Brilliant

The probably 'stole' this from the T-Mobile commercial, but this just made my day. I couldn't stop smiling watching it. If you are having a crappy day or just want to feel good check this out.


PS : Is it normal that this made me a little home sick?

Tragedy in Abruzzo

Last night around 3.30 I woke up shaking. I woke The Italianup saying : "We are moving, we are moving!". He replied : "Don't worry, it's just an earthquake." What? It's JUST an earthquake? I'm Belgian, we don't have earthquakes! (ok, not entirely true, there was a small one a long time ago and I slept through it)

Luckily for us, it seems Rome is fine, but my thoughts go out to those near the epicenter of the quake in Abruzzo. As I keep reading the newspapers they constantly report more and more people who died. 92 already and numerous people homeless.

La Montecarlo

Last weekend we had dinner at La Montecarlo. A friend of The Italian recommended it, so we decided to check it out. It's one of those typical places where there are too many people ( also waiting outside), very fast service, not enough space but good food. And -also important- it's cheap.
There were a couple of mistakes made, but they were quickly corrected. The pizza was good - according to the Italian and the Tonnarelli cacio e pepe were very tasty! Also the fritto misto was excellent. If you want to have a quick and good bite to eat without spending too much, this is the place for you. If you want a quiet romantic dinner, you might want to check out another restaurant.

Romantic economical crisis option : you could have dinner at La Montecarlo and then take a walk on Piazza Navona, which is nearby.

Kim Kong Clijsters is back!

After many rumours, it was finally confirmed a few minutes ago at a press conference : Our Kim is back. She will be playing Cincinatti, Toronto and the US Open. Well, we were kinda planning on going to New York... so this might be the perfect timing. The most important thing is that she is having fun again in playing the game of tennis. She said she doesn't have to win every game anymore and that's fine. It's understandable her family comes first. But after all our leading ladies in sports seemed to be quitting, it's good to have one back. Ever since Justine Henin stopped playing I just didn't watch women's tennis anymore. But for Kim I'll be setting my alarm clock again in the middle of the night to watch her play and I will be dusting off my Belgian flag. Welcome back Kim. Welcome back.

You know you are integrating in Italy when....

Except for feeling like a total foreigner when standing in the metro while towering over everyone including the men, I'm starting to feel more at home here in Italy.

Ten reasons you know you are integrating well in Italy - in no particular order :

1. When crossing the street and a crazy driver shows you the 'areyououtofyourmindwomansign' - you know the one with the hand in front of the face - and instead of yelling something at him, you gesture back saying it all.

2. When you become fussy about your pizza. Nonono I don't want the thick crusted 'Napoli' pizza, only the very thin one and make it ben cotta.

3. When you -while speaking Italian- throw in a lot of 'però's' for no apparent reason.

4. When you walk in the center and whine about the many tourists.

5. When you don't get offended while getting 'Ciao Bella' , ' Amore', ... yelled at you from across the street

6. When you want to cross the street and you are the only one who dares to go out there and raise your hand at the driver so you can actually cross the street and all the flocks of tourists follow you.

7. When you understand there is a lot of traffic, because two drops of rain fell out of the sky.

8. When you are in Panorama and people come to ask you where the salt is or when you are at the metro people ask you if it goes to ''Piramide''. (I must add I absolutely don't look Italian)

9. When you actually defend Italy and put down Belgium in a discussion about politics - I can't believe I actually did this, seems a bit stupid in retrospect.

10. When yesterday you spotted a tourist in a t-shirt and flip flops while you were wearing your winter jacket and thought they were the ones who were crazy.

More than a suitcase full of food...

Last weekend I made a little trip back to Belgium to see my family and to bring over some more stuff. My first weeks in Italy weren't always easy as you could read in my previous posts and I started to create a bit of an unrealistic image of what Belgium respresented. For example I began to worship Belgian food and could not believe my eyes when in Italy you can't even buy brown sugar. Which by the way is needed to make one of my grandfather's famous dishes and therefore Belgium rules over Italy. You know that kinda of thing. I am ashamed to say I got a bit carried away. Because - let's face it- although Belgium's very nice (uhum), Italy isn't so bad. And I realized this when I came back from my little trip back.
When I was in Belgium last weekend, I couldn't sleep from the cold. And although I loved seeing my family again and eat Belgium food again (sorry Italy but making fries is not something you are good at), I also realised that being with The Italian makes me happy. For years we only saw each other a couple of days a month, and now being apart for 4 days, I started to miss him.

I had a lot of fun though. I went to the hairdresser. (I still have to find one in Rome and I'm very picky about my hair and therefore my hairdresser) I went shopping with my sis and my mom, went out for drinks and food, etc.
I left Belgium to return to Italy with a suitcase full of items I cannot find here and more importantly with a more positive attitude. I am sure there will be more moments in which I will find myself whining about not being able to eat Belgian fries or chips or speculoospasta.
But for now I'll take that ride on the positive attitude-train because it does make life brighter after all.

A Beautiful Day

Yesterday Rome was covered in sun. It was about time, the last weeks it has rained more in Rome than it rains in Belgium I think. And it did start to get me. Having no job is harder than I thought.
I quit a job I was good at to find myself now with lots of free time and no pride. Cleaning and washing doesn't really make me feel like I actually contribute to anything at all. As I'm struggling to find my way, the rain didn't make things easier.
So to cheer me up the Italian took me to the center yesterday to have one of the best gelato I have ever had at Giolitti. We took a walk to Piazza di Spagna, the place where almost 10 years ago I met the Italian for the first time. He was having an icecream.