4 Days in Rome, Italy | Traditional Roman Dishes, Must-See + Tips!!

It is day one in Rome, Italy, and it's already a wonderful start to the trip. We're staying at the Little Queen Suite, which is a three-star hotel, perfectly located, and our view is everything you could ask for from a Roman hotel. I'm pretty much on my own today until dinnertime, as Bobby is away at a conference. Shortly after checking in, I headed out to treat myself for lunch, and I gotta say, I had a huge smile on my face walking out. I had a smile on my face coming out of the airport, but just walking around the city, taking in all the beautiful views, the architecture. Every corner you look at is beautiful, and you just want to stop every few seconds and stare at the buildings and small alleyways. Lunch was at Mariuccia. I found this randomly popped up on my TikTok feed, and someone had commented, you're going to all the places that I would approve as a local Italian, so I figured this should be good, even though it's in a kind of touristy spot. I got a mortadella pizza that had pistachios on. The pizza had a generous amount of cheese, and the combination of a lot of cheese and mortadella can, in my opinion, get a little too salty, but that was not the case here. Everything was just perfectly seasoned. It was delicate, and it was so creamy, so delicious, and those bits of pistachios and the pistachio cream just go so well together with the mortadella. After the pizza, I was in the mood to do some walking, some people watching, and eat some gelato. I went to a place called Gelato del Teatro. I got the creme caramel and another flavor that had ricotta cheese, almonds, and figs. The creme caramel, the flavor was spot on. It really did taste like creme caramel, and the texture, the consistency was really nice and velvety. The ricotta cheese with the figs, this was a little too sweet, and the fig, it was overpowering. Now, I am back at the hotel, just resting a couple minutes before meeting up with Bobby, and then we're off to dinner. Dinner was at Osteria da Fortunata, and this is one of those places people love to debate. Some locals will tell you it's a tourist trap, a lot of tourists will tell you it's a must, and honestly, I think both things can be true. Osteria da Fortunata has been around for over 100 years, and now has several locations across Rome, which already tells you something. We started with buffalo mozzarella, simple, fresh, then we split a carbonara that was velvety, creamy, and full of those perfect little bites of guanciale. Bobby was still hungry, so he ordered the saltembocca, a classic Roman dish, and what a great introduction to it. Is this where locals go for casual weeknight dinner? Probably not, but if you're a traveler in the historic center, this is a solid, reliable choice that won't leave you disappointed, and it's already better than most Italian restaurants outside of Italy. So we just found out this evening that the view I was talking about from our hotel room is actually the place, the site, where it is believed that Julius Caesar was assassinated. Insane. Okay, so we found a better map. That area, supposedly, where it happened. Oh, thank you. Grazie mille. Grazie. Oh, yum. So good. Even cold, it's good. Oh, you do. Are you from Umbria? Yeah. Oh, great. Okay. Yes. Wow. We should visit Umbria someday. Grazie mille. Grazie. So we're at this porchetteria, and it's porchetta from Umbria, and unfortunately, there is a blackout today, so they don't have electricity, so they can't use the oven to heat them up, but she says that they're equally as good cold, and they eat it cold in Umbria. First bite. That green sauce that she put on there is amazing. That goes really well. Fortunately, they gave us some slices of the pork to try before it was in the sandwich, and that was so delicious on its own, especially if you ask with the crispy pork skin. So good. Very savory. We got extra. We got extra, but in the sandwich, I love it with that green sauce, sun-dried tomatoes. So good. I'm really happy that we came here, porchetteria. And how much were they? Nine. The one sandwich is nine euro, and this is a half. So good. We're at a supli spot, and we have three different suplis. One is carbonara, one is a clasico, and then another one is a amiciciana. Okay, better lighting out here. I don't know which one is which, but we'll have a go. That's mozzarella. Mozzarella. I don't wanna steal a whole. No, no, you take the whole thing. You have some. No, no, you keep going. I wanted to see mozzarella for you, too. Was it good? Very good. Or it's the amiciciana one. Oh, I think that is the amiciciana, because there are bits of meat, which would be guanciale. I mean, it's a good snack. Yeah, that's what it is. Like an arancini. Oh, okay. Which is great. These are big. Oh, yeah. For like three euros each. Cheese again. It's similar, but that one had a bit more of the acidity from tomatoes, which this is a little milder. Wait, I prefer the second one. You do? And I think this one is the carbonara. This is carbonara. These two taste exactly the same thing. Oh, really? I really like this one, because it has more of a tomato stew kind of flavor. From Rome, we walked over to Vatican City, and it was about a 30-minute walk from where we were staying. Walking is honestly one of my favorite ways to experience a city, just letting it unfold step by step. We had pre-purchased tickets with a guided tour, which I highly recommend. There's just so much to see here, and I don't mean just visually. There are layers within layers, details inside of details, things you would never notice, guess, or fully understand without someone giving you the context and the full backstory. It's a lot to take in, and having a guide truly helps you experience it properly, instead of just moving from room to room overwhelmed. The last time I was at the Vatican, I was 14 years old, and I was here with my mom, so coming back now felt like a much-needed refresh. I was able to appreciate it in a completely different way. Some spaces, like the Sistine Chapel, don't allow phones or cameras at all, and I actually love that. You're forced to be fully present, not experiencing it through a screen, but having a personal uninterrupted moment with the art. One of the coolest things Bobby and I learned on this tour was about the calendar we all still use today. In 1582, when the Gregorian calendar was introduced under Pope Gregory XIII, 10 days were essentially removed to fix a misalignment with the solar year. So if you scroll back on your phone calendar right now, you'll notice it jumps straight from October 4th to October 15th, 1582. Those days never existed. Okay, we've walked for how many hours? We walked for two minutes. No, we have walked for... And she is complaining. We've walked for almost five hours at the Vatican, or in the Vatican City. We walked 12 hours in total. And we walked, no. And we walked, besides that, five hours more. So we walked for 10 hours. My feet are killing me. But we're gonna go to a restaurant now and drink a ton of wine. And then here we have carpaccio with mushrooms and Parmesan. And then I have a glass of red from Lazio, which is the region where Rome is in. And then Bobby has a Chianti from Tuscany. Yeah, I want to try the mozzarella because their cheeses here are... Yeah. Do you like it? Mm-hmm. But I prefer the big... Bacalhau, the big ones. With milk runny. Like we had yesterday? Mm-hmm. So what was it? Artichoke. Oh, very knackered. Try the artichoke. Mm, mm, mm. That's so good. Mm, it's so creamy. And it tastes like meat, but it's vegetable. Wow. So this is truffle gnocchi. And then you have lamb, like part of the rib. Is that what you said? Yeah, grilled. I think it's like grilled lamb chops, pretty much. And some part of the meatier part of the ribs. Explosions of flavor. Gnocchi with truffle. Very good. Yeah, I really like the lamb. Try this? No. The greens? Yeah, what is it? It's very peppery. Mm, is it? Mm, oh yeah, very peppery. It is morning two? No, it's morning three. And we're on our way to the Pantheon and the Colosseum and food. Next stop, the Pantheon, one of the best preserved ancient buildings in the world, originally built as a Roman temple and later converted into a church. What makes it so extraordinary is that massive concrete dome and the open oculus at the top, still the largest unreinforced concrete dome ever built. Standing here, you really feel the weight of history. This building has been in continuous use for nearly 2,000 years, and that alone is pretty mind-blowing. Tickets were five euros per person, and when we arrived, we also saw they offered an audio guide for 10 euros. Bobby and I grabbed one to share, and it was absolutely worth it. Having the context, the history, and the little details explained as you walk through makes the experience so much richer. Yeah, we're gonna eat and walk. It's okay. Nice spinach flavor. It would have been good if it had cheese in it. I thought it had cheese and spinach, but just spinach and bread. Okay, so what did we get? We got a mortadella sandwich with... Fresh mozzarella, buffalo mozzarella. And pistachio. Pistach. And then we got a maritozza, and this is something I've been wanting to try, but I can never remember what the name is or how you pronounce it, but I will write it on the screen here, and it has pistachio filling. And then Bobby got a... Did you get a cappuccino? Cappuccino. Let's try the sandwich. Cause I'm starving. Mm. Is it good? Mm-hmm. Very good. Perfect snack before the Coliseum. Wanted to try a little bit of this. Oh, it's pretty hard. So what is this? I don't know, actually. Oh, wow. Oh, I see what you mean. It's not quite whipped cream, or is it whipped cream? Mm. It has a lemony flavor. Mm-hmm. And it's pretty nice. Oh, I prefer this one. You prefer that one? Yeah. I like the cream inside, the pistachio cream, and then the flaky, crispy crust. Mm. I gotta have more of these before we leave. After lunch, we continued to the Coliseum. I have been here twice before. Once when I was 14 years old, and then I came back and just saw the outside of it when I was 20 years old, which is about 17 years ago. So it's been a while, and I was definitely due for a refresh. So of course I wanted to experience it again with Bobby. Unfortunately, guided tickets were sold out by the time we booked. So we went ahead with the general admission ticket, which also includes access to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. The Coliseum itself is iconic for a reason. Built nearly 2,000 years ago, it once hosted gladiator fights, public spectacles, and massive gatherings. Standing inside it, you really grasp the scale, the engineering, and the weight of what took place here. The Roman Forum was once the heart of ancient Rome. This is where political life, commerce, and daily activity unfolded. Today, it's ruins, but when you walk through it, you're literally tracing the layout of an entire civilization. And then there's Palatine Hill, which is believed to be where Rome was founded and where emperors later built their palaces. So we got a little snack coming out of Foro Romano, and now we're in Trastevere. So I got a pistachio tiramisu. The restaurant is called Santini. Bobby has a panna cotta, and the restaurant is called? Santini. Oh, it's from 1924. Okay, let's try the panna cotta. Oh, oh, it's so thick. It's so thick. Do you like it? It's so different. I mean, I never had Italian panna cotta. I had American, Swedish. Wow. I'm gonna dig in. This pistachio tiramisu. That's really nice. You get a really nice flavor of that tiramisu, no, pistachio cream. But this part is a little dry. You see? It's like, I don't know if it's supposed to, if it's been sitting for too long. But it tastes really good. This is bruschetta with anchovies and butter. Wow. And white wine. And Bobby has an espresso. Oh, you're already done. Good job. It's really good. So good. The anchovy kind of acts like a cheese and that butter is melting into the bread. Nice little snack after all that walking. And that is butter? Mm-hmm. This is butter? Mm-hmm. That's quite heavy. I think it's nice to, do you want me to, you should have a bite. Yeah, I could take a small bite. Oh, it smells good. Mm. Mm-hmm. Mm. Oh, wow. It's pretty good. Salty. I've never had anything like it, but it's good. I'm gonna eat the rest now. Well, you liked it. I did, actually. It's amazing. Mushroom. Is it good? I knew it. Try it. Okay. This is the best mozzarella we've had, or I've had in growth. Mm. Wow. It's so different from any mozzarella I've ever had in Sweden, the U.S. There's a different texture. Oh, and the flavor is amazing. Let me see. Very milky, yeah. It's milky, and then it's kind of stringy in the middle. How was that salami? Really good. Here, here's another one. So good. Some porchetta. We've got salami. We've got a bunch of different, oh, we have mortadella. Mortadella, cheese. And the other ones, I don't really know what they are, but they look great. Look at this one. Mm. Oh. Try that one. Okay. That's good. That one's very good. Perfect. I think this is the best meal I've had in growth so far. This looks like- This looks like a regular ham. Yep. Regular sliced ham. Let's see. Is it good? Even this one is. Good? Mm. This ham is so good. It almost has like a cinnamon, almost has like a cinnamon flavor to it. Very earthy, great texture. Mm. Cheers. And we are off to another spot for more food. Only 10 minutes later from our charcuterie. And here we are. Dinner at La Campagna, La Campana. We did some shopping. Oh, I'm cringing before we go. So simple, so good. So good. Wow. So what is this? This is cacio e pepe with guanciale. Yeah, it's called gricia. So good. The carbonara looks good too. We already had that, so we had to have something we haven't had yet. Great last meal in Rome. And it was cheap. That's it for this video. 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