A quick Roman lunch

In the hasty urban lifestyle, one of the best things that Rome has to offer people in search of a quick and satisfying snack is the takeaway pizza or even known as "Pizza al taglio".

You just find one, get in and choose the amount of pizza you want by size or by price.
There are an almost infinite variety of toppings to suit all tastes; with mushrooms, vegetables, salumi, cheeses and sauces and most places will offer a wide range of other hot foodstuffs such of supplì (balls of risotto with tomato sauce bound together by eggs around a piece of mozzarella, the whole sorrounded by breadcrumbs and then fried) a real delight, then filetti di baccala (salt cod in batter), potato crocchette, fried olives etc..

Rome is packed with takeaway pizza stores that provides office workers, students and tourists, it's a cheap and quick alternative to traditional restaurants or imported fast food outlets.
A piece of pizza from these street food stores is part of the gastronomic heritage of Romans having a lunch out and it's easy to find a nice bakery around the City center.

One of the most famous here in Rome is "Lo Zozzone", tucked away down the Via del Teatro Pace, behind Piazza Navona. Zozzone's pizza is so genuine you can often find members of the Senate from the nearby Palazzo Madama, who have deserted the luxury parliamentary restaurants for a quick and tasty snack.

When you are near san Peter and Vatican Meuseum, another popular place among pizza afficionados is "Pizzarium" in Via della Meloria, Metro A Cipro stop. It's my favourite. This gourmet takeaway outlet is run by celebrated pizza chef Gabriele Bonci, who combines slow rise dought made from special flours with fresh, seasonal toppings like wild asparagus or pesto and aubergine. You'll also find nice suppli and a wild range af quality imported beers to wash down your lunch.

In Via dei Chiavari 34, in Campo de Fiori is one of the oldest pizza bakeries in Rome. The choice of toppings is perhaps not as vast as in other place but the quality of the ingredients is unparalleled and the pizza itself is second to none.

Another quality place that I recommend is "Mondo Arancina" in Via Colonna Marcantonio 38, where taste a very tasty pizza al taglio and the famous arancina: fried riceballs in 15 different flavours. The products are the best that the tradition of Sicilian cuisine has to offer, including home made cakes and ice cream.

To finish, Laboratorio Pasticceria Lambiase, better known as "Il Sorchettaro", is a superb bakery store at Via Cernaia 49 few steps from Termini station, famous for its deadly luscious freshly-baked croissant with whipped cream and melted chocolate. But they also sell a vast array of pizza fresh from the oven.
Open until Late, it's the perfect spot for a tasty treat after a night on the town.

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Roman Ancient Appian Way and Catacombs

Since the fourth century B.C. this has been Rome's gateway to the East.
It was the largest, widest, fastest road ever, the wonder of its day, called the "Queen of Roads".

Its first section was perfectly straight, eventually this most important of Roman roads stretched 700 kilometers to the port of Brindisi, the most important port in the ancient world of Rome, where boats sailed for Greece and Egypt.

A central strip accomodated animal-powered vehicles and elevated sidewalks served pedestrians. It was built with skill and precision of the best modern engineers, viable with every weather and transport up to this days thanks to an excellent pavement of smooth stones.

As it left Rome, the road was lined with tombs and funerary monuments.

Imagine a funeral procession passing under the pines and cypress and past a long line of pyramids, private mini-temples, altars and tombs.

Hollywood created the famous image of the Appian Way lined with Spartacus and his gang of defeated and crucified slave rebels.

The road starts about three kilometers south of the Colosseum at the massive San Sebastian Gate. You can visit the Museum of the Walls, located at the gate, that offers an interesting look at the Roman defence and a chance to scramble along a stretch of the ramparts.

A kilometer down the road are the two most historic and popular catacombs, those of San Callisto and San Sebastian.

Beyond that the road gets pristine and traffic free, popular for biking and evocative hiking. To reach the Appian Way, take the Metro A to Colli Albani stop, then catch the bus 660 to Via Appia Antica.

The stretch between the third and 11th milestones is the most interesting.

The catacombs are burial place for Christians who died in ancient Roman times. By law, no one was allowed to be buried within the walls of Rome, while pagan Romans were into cremation, Chrisians preferred to be buried. The 40 or so known catacombs circle Rome about five kilometers from its center. From the first through the fifth centuries, Christians dug an estimated 600 kilometers of tomb-lined tunnels with networks of galleries as many as five layers deep. The underground tunnels, while empty of bones, are rich in early Christian symbolism wich funcioned as a secret language. The dove sybolized the soul, you'll see it quenching its thirst (worshiping), with an olive branch (at rest), or happily perched (in paradise).

Catacomb tours are essentially the same, which one you visit is not important. A look to this suggestive and mysterious underground tunnels and a walk on the ancient Appian way worth, however.

Dig this: the catacoms have a website

http://www.catacombe.roma.it/

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S.S. Lazio 1900

Que serà serà
forever will be will be
we follow the boys in blues
que serà serà.

It's dedicated to the first club born in the Capital, to my Lazio.

Is 9 January 1900, is the beginning of the century. In a Rome that is moving among the ancient carriages and the first electric trams, nine young friends leaded by Luigi Bigiarelli found a "Tracking Association" on a bench along the Tiber in Piazza della Libertà, Rome. "It can not be named Roma, we should give to it a greatest name, a name which Roma is included: Lazio".
The proposal of Bigiarelli is accepted with enthusiasm from his guys: "Colours will draw inspiration from Greece, land of Olympic Games. White and Blue"...

The Society increased over the years the numbers of sports practised up to become the biggest sports club in Europe.
The symbol of the S.S.Lazio became the Imperial Eagle, emblem of the ancient Roman legions and image of the greatness of Rome in the world. The current symbol of the club is an eagle that supports the white and blue shield with S.S. Lazio writing in it.

The supporters area of the Olympic Stadium of Rome, where to find the hottest and fierced supporters is the "Curva Nord", one of the curved sector behind the goal.The Curva Nord of Lazio can be considered in its own right, one of the most important supporters of soccer club in the world. Solid, powerful, tireless in supporting the team and ready to come out into the streets for the Lazio and the Laziality. Present always, apart from the placings: in Second Division or in Champions League, the support and quality are always of hight level.

Many of us guys lived it, many others gave lustre, over the years many supporters cluster succession; Irriducibili, Vickings, Eagle Supporters, times and names change but the Curva Nord is always there with its sensational power to support the S.S. Lazio for better or for worse.
You love soccer, I styrongly raccomend you to come for a Lazio match, and for any question, ask me.

S.S. Lazio master of Rome.

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