Getting lost on your way to a restaurant that’s a Yelp two minute walk away but ending up in a place with a gnocchi Amatriciana special only available on Thursday and…it’s Thursday!
Then, a bottle of amarone catches your eye. 46 euro? Ok. #lastnightonmyfirsttriptorome #wine #italianwine #amarone #favorite #delso #winenot?
Literally stamp your feet on the stone floor with glee! You’re in Rome! You feel nearly giddy. This is a dream.
Ready for some dolce. Second thought: fresh air.
About as charmed as one can be by a wc without tp.
Not feeling like a big spender, nor as self indulgent. No, it was a splurge and you made it. Joyously.
Savor a glass and leave the rest for the servers. Perfect. It’s not about consuming everything available – it’s about enjoying as much as you want.
I really can’t wait to come back to Italy.
DelSo 
We *were* in Rome at the same time! Too bad we didn’t run into you :). And amarones are fabulous – in Venice we went to a wine bar named All’Amarone which gave us a flight of five, each excellent and very varied, with great cicchetti.
Would love to compare notes. We ate really well – the first night, after a boring train ride, Google led us to a local trattoria; Keiran had the best carbonara by _far_ I have ever tasted. We returned for our last night and all ordered it – that good. Only one dud meal, which was the fanciest: a tasting menu place that refused to take any risks. So we changed plans, didn’t eat at the Michelin-star place we had planned, and every local joint fed us well. [In Venice we did have one tasting menu that shone despite my shellfish allergy limiting their normal range, and the above-mentioned wine bar, plus uber-decadent hot chocolate at the “world’s oldest cafe” – it was a good week!]
The best thing I ate was the cacio e pepe. It’s going to become my new obsession and I’m gearing up to master it at home. For me, the pizza margherita was the low point of my eating. It wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t blown away. Maybe just because I’ve had good pizza in other places? I didn’t get anywhere white table cloth-y or expensive, for that matter. The indulgent meal with the Amarone and two courses was still less than $75 – and the wine was $56. Hope to run into (maybe literally at a race?) you and share stories.