Amazing Destinations Magazine Autumn 2021

DAY THREE:
CITY GUIDE ROME
STAY: LUXURY ART HOTEL
The First Luxury Art Hotel may jar a bit on first look – the entrance features some
loud artwork and a piece or two of eyebrow-raising furniture – but the artfullyconceived
rooms, their tone neutral and calming in contrast to the shouty public
spaces, and great-value prices (for such a central location and such genial service)
make up for it, as does the roof bar, which morphs into one of the city’s top sushi
restaurants in summertime.
EAT: SANT’EUTACHIO
The great contention among Rome aficonadoes: where’s the best coffee? Purists
favor Caffe Sant’Eutachio, which is all-coffee-all-the-time: drink your faultless
macchiato, buy your beans, read about the roasting, even – and admire the façade of
the church of the same name while you sip.
Those of a more social bent, though, can be found at Caffe della Pace, deep in the
rioneof Parione, which by day is a conventional café, but by night doubles as a bar,
lounge, and ground zero for flaneurs of all stripes. (The coffee, for the record, is
excellent.)
PLAY: PALAZZO COLONNA
Until recently, you had to be a VIP to access the private galleries of the Palazzo
Colonna, one of the grandest private homes in the city (Colonnas have lived here for
450 years; they’ve been Roman aristocracy for 800). It’s now open to the public, and
stuffed with an artistic patrimony that anywhere else would earn it its own museum
wing: Caracci, Bronzino, Tintoretto, and Veronese are just a few of the all-stars
whose work graces the ornate spaces. Have your hotel concierge book ahead for a
private tour on Saturday.
You know you want to tool around the Eternal City on a vintage Vespa like Gregory
Peck did in Roman Holiday (you know your teenager does). The folks at Scooteroma
Tours know too. You can simply explore the centro storicowith a guide, or you can
theme a four-hour excursion: taste pastries in Trastevere or cheese in the ghetto, for
instance, or follow the trail of the film *La Grande Bellezza.*They also do Fiat 500,
“ape” (a three-wheeled truck like a tuk-tuk) and bicycle tours.
DRINK: STRAVINSKIJ BAR
Some clichés pack a legitimate punch: on a mild Thursday or Friday evening in
spring or early summer, the Stravinskij Bar at the Hotel de Russie is one of them.
Sure, the drinks are fine, but that’s not what you come for: you come for the lush,
terraced garden and the social networking playing out among the Roman glitterati
(level of difficulty: Olympic, though of course, these being Romans, it looks
effortless).
EAT: MARZAPANE
Venture out to the slightly snoozy, northwest-of-central Pinciano district to have a
long lunch at Marzapane: the tasting menus – one of meat, one of fish – draw the
likes of former mayor Walter Veltroni, who’s a regular, as well as the city’s top food
critics, who all rave about its elevated versions of maialino and carbonara.
The majestic Galleria Colonna houses masterpieces of
absolute excellence painted by leading Italian artists.
Autumn 2021 202 Autumn 2021 203