“Piazza Navona – meet us by the statue “. We both live in Spain, yet meet for the first time in Rome. This is the strange way that life works. I “met” Jed from bucking the trend blog over a year ago.
His blog was slowly morphing from a financial to travel blog. He was kind enough to feature me on his abc’s of travel. He and his family were moving from the U.S to Granada, Spain for a year or so, and of course l was excited for him.
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We recently spent 10 days in Rome with my husband’s family. I happened to post about the wonderful pizza we had at this neighborhood restaurant, unusual for me as l usually write things done after we return from trips. As luck would have it, him and his family were in Rome for a few days as well. We were able to meet up one afternoon, had lunch and strolled around Piazza Navona and the Pantheon areas.
It is always great when your online friends become real life ones, two worlds collide and it has always worked out for me in the past. This time was no different. Jed, his beautiful wife and their precious nine year old twins met us at Piazza Navona. I actually recognized one of the boys first, and then Jed popped up. They were so easygoing and friendly. We got along quite well, at least l think so 🙂 . Same thing happened when we met Victoria and her lovely family in Berlin, and we hung out several times.
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We had lunch at this place near the Piazza Navona called Insalata Ricca, an amazing little eatery that my husband has eaten at for years. His parents used to be in the fresh pasta making business, and they supplied this restaurant, one of their 12 locations in and around Rome (they were up to 8 by the time my husband had moved from Rome). The restaurant is famous for their salads.
We were not disappointed, they were so, so good, gigantic too. I highly recommend eating here if you happen to be near Piazza Navona. It is just a 2-3 minute walk, right by the Brazilian Embassy. The appetizers, food, and wine were all terrific. Despite the fact that it’s in a touristy area, the prices are reasonable for what you get. Most dishes are about €7-10.
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We worked off lunch by strolling down to the Pantheon from Piazza Navona. The adults, minus me, had espresso at one of the most famous bars in Rome called Sant Eustachio. It’s a tiny little place, but super busy. Henry Kissinger’s first stop whenever he came to Rome. Him, along with many other celebrities. Their pictures can be found on the wall. It is full of locals as well, not just tourists! I stayed outside with the boys and played guessing games, you know..it’s a state, starts with C, ends in -nia, lots of fun actually, and l got stumped once 🙂
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Have you ever been to Rome? Is this one of the highlights of the city that you visited? Would you wait in the usual long lines to try the espresso here?
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I have never been to Rome but it’s definitely on my list. That’s so cool that you met up with another blogger! Maybe I will track you down one of these days! =)
I think you guys would love it, especially if you visit when it’s a bit quieter. It was nice to meet Jed after knowing for over a year. Track us down, we will be here, there and probably everywhere 🙂
As always your food pictures make me drool! I went to Rome in summer 2000 and it wasn’t my favorite place in Italy. The food was great as well as the history, but I found it to be annoyingly loud. Of course I was coming from Seattle so I just wan’t used to it, but I prefer the smaller Italian cities over Rome. Venice was a LOT quieter, but the food wasn’t as good as Rome.
Lol! Thanks.. I know Rome can be a loud, especially in the summer..but there is something about the food that makes you love it, it to mention a live history lesson. I actually thought Venice was loud, but then again, l had gone at summertime the first time. One of the reasons l like off season travel. 🙂
Clearly, I need to take a return trip to Rome. Piazza Navona is beautiful, and that Sicilian salad – my God! It looks so good! So cool that you got to meet up with your online friends. That’s one of the great things about blogging – the connections you make with people on the other side of the world who share similar interests and passions. Hope you have a Happy New Year!!
Dana, seriously, everything was so good! My salad was insanely good. I tried to finish it all, but couldn’t . It looks deceptively normal sized in the picture, but the bowl was wide and deep. She said she totally loved it, so yeah.. A return trip is needed. It was really nice to meet him. I have met at least 10 offline friends who became real life friends, a couple of which l met over 20 years ago in the days of AOL chat rooms, and we are still great friends today on fb, etc..and my hubby and l have dinner with them whenever we are in their neck of the woods.
I was really pleased we were able to meet up, Kemkem. It was a lot of fun, especially so when being able to walk around with a “local”. It’s gotta be nice to know that your husband has a second career as a tour guide if he ever wants it. Not only does he know the town, but we know he’s good with historical dates 🙂
Be sure to reach out when in Granada and we’ll return the favor. Happy 2015!
Hope you guys are having fun! I always told him he could do that totally, as he is a chatterbox as well 🙂 . We had fun too, and will surely contact you when we make it to Pomegranate . Feliz ano Nuevo!!!!
I think it’s always really nice to be able to meet up with people you meet online, especially when they share similar interests. And it’s pretty clear to me that yo have chosen a great meeting spot – that food looks delicious!
I wish you a Happy New Year, Kemi!
Hah hah! Let’s hope you can still say the same thing after we get to meet you, the Mrs, and baby R. 🙂 . Yep, the food was awesome. I hope you guys have a wonderful holiday as well!!!
How special that you got to meet up with your blogging buddy! And in such a stunning place. You captured it beautifully in your photos. I went to Rome over Easter (crowded!) about 9 years ago and it rained the whole time but it was still beyond amazing.
It was special Em. It was a happy coincidence to be in the same place at the same time. That sucks that you had rain the whole time you were there 🙁 . We got lucky with the weather this time, it was sunny and l regretted bringing a heavy jacket. It got super, super cold the day we left, so l’d like to think it was me, little miss sunshine.. 🙂
Hey Kemkem, Happy New Year! How nice that you got to meet up with Jed. I have to catch up on his adventures in Spain. I was in Rome for New Years Eve, 1995 to 1996. I’m definitely itching to return. Hmmm, Maybe 2015 will be the year since it’s my 20th anniversary since my last visit there. Though I really want to go to Spain. We’ll see. Anyway, looks wonderful, just like I remember it and I agree with you, going in the off season is best.
Happy New year Raquel! Yes, Jed has become quite the traveler, being so easy to move around Europe. What a tough choice :-), Italy or Spain? lol.. You can’t go wrong with either, but since you’ve already seen Rome, I vote for Spain..and you gotta do off season, fighting the crowd is not fun. We had a chance to exchange places in Paris for Malta this past summer. We declined, l would not attempt Paris in the summer again in the near future…
I love meeting people in person that I have spent time talking to online about travel 😀 Looks like it was a great time meeting Jed and his family. I had a lovely espresso at Sant Eustachio when I visited, but there was no one filming when I went.
I know, it’s really great to connect outside of the “internet bubble”, and we had a very good time. The whole family is just fun, and the kids were so cute. Glad you got to go to Sant Eustachio. We always make a point to go in at least once when we visit. I’m not a big coffee drinker, so l just watch while getting chastised for not having one..lol! Give me gelato!!! 🙂
OMG! We have to come back to Rome!!!!
Really miss the great food and to see great pieces of art in every corner
Cheers!
Yes, you do! Nothing like living history ! The food..we even brought back goodies like fresh pasta and real cheese with us, thank God the airline overlooked our overweight luggage, they did ask my husband about the gigantic piece of Parmesan cheese in his hand luggage at the airport, then they chatted for a bit and waved us through. Thanks for stopping by, and Happy New Year to you guys .
It’s been quite some time since I’ve been to Rome (almost 8 years). To be honest, I didn’t like it that much. I preferred Florence. What I did like was getting an expresso and a pastry every morning we were there before my friends and I started sightseeing. If I was to go back to Italy, I would like to see more of the coastline or the countryside.
I don’t blame you for preferring Florence :-), Rome can be quite unnerving, loud, abrasive etc. It would totally suck if everyone liked the same places. Every night, we went to the cornetti bakery to get for the next day (piping hot, my husband would eat at least one right away). There are some parts of Rome that you would swear you were in Tuscany. Thanks for the comment. What about Italy vs Greece? Which one did you like better? Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
I didn’t spend as much time in Greece as I did in Italy. I never even thought to compare them until you asked. 🙂 Now that I think about it, Rome does seems similar to Athens. I’m guessing there was a lot of influence between the two cities. I’m no history buff, but I guess at one point one city took over the other?? I enjoyed Santorini the most, but I can’t compare to Italy’s beaches since I’ve never been. I’m sure they’re also quite beautiful.
I agree that Athens and Rome are similar, especially as far as being busy, loud etc..I haven’t been to Athens for like 12 years or so, but l’m sure it’s still the same..lol. Yep..the Romans ruled Greece for a while, those guys were everywhere..I have yet to visit any beaches in Italy, I am not a big fan of beaches..:-)
OMG kemkem! All those photos of lovely Italian food. The best. No wonder that you married an Italian. You’re set for life LOL! Yum! Yum! Yum! Thanks so much for the blog shout out kemkem. 🙂 It’s so great meeting bloggers in real life and it was so awesome to meet you and Mario. You’re both so sweet in real life. I’ve been so lucky. Every blogger that I met last year was better in real life, and enormously full of fun LOL! I’m not in the least surprised that Jed and his family were the same! What a beautiful family.
We love Italy and I have been to Rome although we tend to spend a huge amount of time in Tuscany or Milan! We just love the Italian lifestyle, buildings, countryside and food. In fact, my hubby has said that he’d like to retire in Italy. When the time comes, I won’t argue!
I know! There is just something about food isn’t there. That is the universal language :-). Yeah, Jed and his family were just like l pictured them. It’s easy to suss people out from their writing, and of course the daredevil attitude he had to slow down, and move to another country for a year. I keep telling Federico l want to be like Diane lane in “Under the Tuscan sky”, but he’s not going for it yet.. 🙂 He’s like “also..great!, not only do l have to cook, but harvest the grapes, milk the cow etc..”