We just got back from a day in Rome yesterday. I say “day” because we left Bergamo Sunday morning, arrived in Rome for noon and left promptly 24 hours later. To say it was a whirlwind trip doesn't do it justice. I would also love to say that the motive for the trip was food as is most things I do in this life, but unfortunately that wouldn't be true either. We went to check off yet another bureaucratic fun task- the attaining of a nulla osta (yes another one, they love these things) for our wedding. This entails going to the Embassy of Canada in Rome and presenting a book-size folder of documents procured from your prior Canadian home essentially saying you've never been married at any time between the ages of 16 and your current age, then you have to swear it, then you have to show proof of actually being Canadian and of actually having a real-life Italian that wants to marry you. But enough of that, very boring indeed, suffice to say that we are now in possession of this magical nulla osta that gets us one step closer to getting married here in Italy. 

I know what you really want to hear- what did I eat. Well ladies and gents, Massi and I had the opportunity to take one of the tours offered by The Roman Food Tour. We took what was probably one of the most popular, if not the most classic- concentrated around the historical center and featuring stops at The Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. As background information, I should disclose that this was my fourth international food tour, the previous being The Greenwich Village and NoLita tours in New York City, as well as the Milan Food Tour. Hence, I'm getting pretty well-versed in food tours. It's a hard job, but someone's gotta do it right? 

The Roman Food Tour is a 4-hour walking tour that promises you'll eat like the Gods and learn some cocktail party pleasers along the way. Our group had about 15 people in it, I thought the size was good because hey, the more the merrier. Food tours in general are always a good time because everyone is on vacation and typically chatty and wine-happy. This particular tour has five stops.  The meeting point is at Antica Salumeria, a stone's throw away from the mythical Pantheon. Our guide was Raluca, an expat herself to Rome which I always find to be an endearing touch to tours. They often know even more about Italy than the Italians because they've had to learn the ropes themselves and they bring a mix of local/expat insight to the table. Raluca is very kind and approachable and was filled with 'did you knows' about everything from the origin of the handshake (the Romans invented it) to the way to distinguish artisan gelato from 'artisan' gelato. 
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Our first stop consisted of speciality coffee and introductions where I absent-mindedly ordered water, having already prepared my tastebuds for something less coffee-flavored and more alcohol-flavored. I ended up stealing most of Massi's delicious coffee granita:
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Next, we tackled aperitivo time back at Antica Salumeria. There was almost a slight guffaw here when the waiters gave us plastic glasses for our Frascati, a delicate DOC white wine produced in the province of Lazio where Rome is found. This perhaps wouldn’t bother anyone since most of us are just wanting to get the bottles popping and the good times rollin’, but I could see the rare wine enthusiast get a bit squirmy on this topic. The spread of affetati (cold cuts of different cured and cooked meats) and cheeses was extraordinary. You are first presented with pieces of mozzarella di bufala; the creaminess and slight sweetness of the buffalo’s milk is both an olfactory and gustatory experience. It goes down much too easily between sips of Frascati. You then have your choice (dangerous) of a variety of Italian cured meats and cheeses, all hand-picked of course by the tour and cut fresh. Don’t miss out on the coppa di testa. I won’t translate it for you, but it’s marvelous and not an intuitive choice that most tourists would make themselves. 
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The next stop is Hotel Fontana, directly across from the Trevi Fountain and arguably the star of the whole show. You’ll climb up to the top of the hotel where a jaw-dropping view of the fountain awaits. It’s undoubtably a hidden gem that if not priceless, is more than worth the tour cost itself to get a reserved table there. If the view was the star of the show, the wine wins the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. While you pity all the cramped tourists below, you’ll sip on the finest wines Italy has to offer like a queen. Our samples included a 2010 Barolo and an Amarone della Valpolicella. The Barolo is to die for, as is the black truffle spread and 100 year old balsamic vinegar from Modena that you’ll taste to accompany the wines. 

“Dinner” is a tris of pasta just a short walk from Hotel Fontana, again partnered with a yummy wine that I absolutely forgot to note the name of. The atmosphere in the restaurant is rather unique- the walls are covered with drawings and the first floor filled to the brim with tourists. This stop is the weakest link on the tour in my opinion but Rome may be to blame for this one. Being so tourist-centric, you very typically have to be in the know and get out of the historical center to eat a decent dish of pasta. Every terrible plate of pasta I’ve had in my 8 years experience of Italy has been in Rome and unfortunately this one didn’t break the pattern. After Ranluca finished her speech about the joys of pasta and the importance of the al dente concept, we were given three different types of pasta that were probably cooked another 20 minutes past the point of al dente. To be honest, it was similar to something one might get from Olive Garden or any Italian food chain in North America. Was this a one-off? It’s possible. Did the other tourists on the tour (a mix of British and Americans) realize? Not sure. I think if you had travelled anywhere else prior to Rome, the chances are very high that you’d have already experienced a really good plate of pasta. If you hadn’t and Rome was your first stop, well ignorance is bliss in this case. 

Our final stop on the tour was at Pompi, said to be home to one of the city’s best tiramisu. There are now four of them in Rome but this one is conveniently located near the Spanish Steps. You get a choice of different spins on the classic, or you could just go for the original which is what I did…sorry I don’t have a photo of the tiramisu, it was literally in my belly within five minutes. It comes in an adorable little box like takeaway and is a cute idea which enables you to enjoy it wherever you please during your evening in Roma. The Spanish Steps would be ideal however they are currently being renovated so best to have a backup backdrop for devouring your dessert. 


Positives: 
The view of the Trevi Fountain and the wines served at this stop are the stuff dreams are made of. The guide is knowledgable and entertaining and you definitely get your money’s worth of food and friends at the end of it all. (The negatives section below looks way longer than the positives but it's just because I had a bit of explaining to do, list-wise, the positives would far outrun the negatives!). 


Negatives: 
Our tour was slightly rushed at some points and I'm not sure of where the culprit might be, whether we were slow eaters or we got off on the wrong foot while waiting for our colossal meat and cheese boards at Antica Salumeria (they took awhile to arrive). This was not a problem at all for the group, I think everyone was fairly oblivious to this however, as an Italian-speaker, it was quite blatant to me that there was some tension at our stop at the Hotel Fontana. The fellow there gave our poor tour guide a berating for being late, responded to her questions rather rudely and all in all was clearly in a hurry to get us to leave ASAP. I must emphasize, this was not the fault of the tour but it created a feeling of inhospitality for anyone who might happen to understand Italian (or body language really). 


Summary: 
This tour is perfect, in my opinion, for first-timers to Rome because you get a sampling of everything from food to culinary facts to sight-seeing. You will leave wiser and a few pounds heavier!

For more photos that were not included in this post, please check out the blog's official Facebook page:

Find and book  The Roman Food Tour here: http://foodtourrome.com/

I've been a very bad blogger and not written much on this last trip back to Canada. I've been very busy eating so I apologize. People always wonder why I eat like a fiend over in these parts where us North Americans are only known for our terrible cuisine compared to that of the Europeans, however, I come here to eat ethnic foods that I can't get in Italy. So there, curiosity satisfied right? Anyways, the update here is I'm headed back to Italy. The process to get me back legally took a total 4 months or so from when my Working Holiday visa expired last year in December. Essentially I have the most fantastic workplace and it has been them and a team of lawyers that have had to jump all the bureaucratic hurdles required to get approval for an EU Blue Card which allows certain skills and professions to kind of be fast-tracked through EU immigration. It might be comparable to the Skilled Workers Program in Canada and is more or less an EU ploy to lure brains from all over the world. Evidently my brain passes the test! Yipee! I'm not going to write all about how you get this because there's this thing called Google, but I will say that like a lot of visa/work permit processes, the main bulk of the application unfortunately must be done by the company looking to hire you (aka the sponsor in some circumstances) and well, given the choice, most would prefer to avoid giving themselves extra work when they could really just hire their fellow countrymen or someone with an EU passport. And I get that. Immigration is the same story no matter which country you're trying to get into, it will test your patience, your persistence, and even your bank account in some cases. But in the end, people are still moving all around this big planet (just look at House Hunters International!) and they are doing it legally (I hope!), so it is by no means an impossible task given the right circumstances and the right job!

It's hard to identify with all you lucky betches with your EU passports when you come to Italy and haven't set foot in a Questura. Yes, you're supposed to register and still apply for your permesso but it's rarely as big of a deal or as enforced as it is for us coming from across the ocean. Yes, I'm bitter because I'm jealous. I'll admit it freely, no shame. Because I would say that 50% of the headache and strife that comes from moving to Italy is caused by legalities that basically prevent 90% of God-fearing, pasta-loving non-EU citizens from doing it in the first place. Now of the 10% that do, half of those probably succeed through maternal citizenship, the other 5% through marriage to an Italian and the last bit...that's us, the unlucky ones that need to jump through the flaming bureaucratic hoops of immigration to Europe. It's even worse if you're American because that means you don't even have the lovely Working Holiday Visa option which typically buys you a year in Italy to figure out how to spend forever there. Usually the average Jane must resort to the Study Visa, taking courses as a semester or year abroad which works wonderfully until you've completed every possible art history course known to man and are at the point of contemplating a PhD in theology and becoming a nun just to stay in The Eternal City. Ah, you EU Expats don't know this struggle. The constant countdown on your little green and purple visa, stamped in your passport, pretending to be innocently harmless when in fact it's a ticking bomb waiting to explode and destroy your dreams. Oh the angst, the agony! I'm writing this from Canada, waiting on a visa, can you tell?

Photo credit: Tia Taylor (www.tiataylor.com), also because I was too lazy to take a photo of my own visa and my manicure is definitely not as cute!

For Tia's very detailed study visa information, here's the link: http://tiataylor.com/?p=416

For more detailed information on Moving to Italy, check out the link below to The Italy Project 365:
http://italyproject365.com/work-visa-in-italy/

Summer in my hometown is her claim to fame. You might fall over in your seat when I say this but it must be said- in my opinion, summer in Edmonton, Canada and in Italy are on par with each other. I love both equally but because they are so different. Edmonton is festivals and patios, sunlight until 11 at night, a golden-tinged river valley (the largest continuous green space in all of North America), and those blue skies. It's country music casual, cowboy boots and ice cream on tailgates. Summer in Italy is in some ways more pretentious. It's lingering aperitivo hour in a piazza, people watching as the European jet set break out the season's cruise collections, zipping around on motorcycles and Vespas, and finding yourself seaside or vineyard bound on the weekends. It's soundtrack is a mix of Italian and American summer songs set on repeat or remixed endlessly, the catchy choruses echoing from the innards of every outdoor club for miles.

I'm taking the time to enjoy every minute here in the far West. It's such an honor and blessing to be able to call both the New and Old Worlds home. I'm currently sipping a 2013 Toscana Rosso at home with the windows opened to the inky, cool black night. Even if I were blindfolded, I'd know in an instant where I am- I know the difference between Italy's midnight air and Canada's. What a thing to say...eh?!


Photo credit: Russell Mann (Insta: rmann1 and Flickr: Rmann88)