Roma & München

For the last week, Robert and I enjoyed some quality family time with my father and sister, both visiting us from the States (Chicago and Milwaukee, respectively). We spent a few days in Rome, Italy, a couple of days here in Stuttgart, and a final couple of days in Munich.

My dad rented a pretty amazing 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom Airbnb penthouse in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome. I didn’t take nearly enough photos of the interior to do it justice, but here is a view from our bedroom as well as a couple of more decorative (Hepburn & Chaplin) shots from the apartment:

The neighborhood (Trastevere) is the place to be when in Rome. Not only is it really cute and quaint — think narrow cobblestone streets with lots of green ivy, leafy trees, and clothes hanging on outdoor lines — but it’s also the go-to spot for shopping and dining in Rome. Oh, and did I fail to mention the street art?! Lots and lots of that too. Here are some pics:

I can’t talk about a trip to Rome (or Italy, for that matter) without including a few photos and words about the food. While I believe that all of the pasta and pizza, even at mediocre or unknown establishments, is much better than we have in the States or in Germany, two restaurants stood out: Pierluigi and Tavernaccia da Bruno. Pierlugi is known for their seafood, and for very good reason. Highly recommend! It’s also a bit off the beaten path and has a big outdoor patio in the warmer months. I read about Bruno in an article called The Pinnacle of Pasta: The Top 9 Best Pasta Dishes in Rome by bon appétit online. Unfortunately, the night that we visited (Saturday) the famous lasagna was not available — our waiter explained that it’s only available on Sunday – FYI! Instead, I had the carbonara, which was not as satisfying since I had been dreaming about that lasagna for months. I love my eggs and bacon (carbonara) with spaghetti (typical) and instead it was served with a tube-like pasta, tortiglioni perhaps. So, word to the wise: visit Bruno on Sunday and order the famous baked lasagna. As promised, here is some food porn from Rome:

Pierluigi

We also did a lot of walking around and saw a couple of the major sites: The Parthenon and the Trevi Fountain.

After a few nights in Rome, we headed back to Stuttgart for a couple of days. My sister stayed with us and we were so happy to host her! We weren’t here for long, but made enough time to visit the Schlossplatz, do some shopping, eat flammkuchen at La Tonneau, spatzle at Zum Spätzleschwob, and end our time here with a really nice dinner at Speisekammer West.

La Tonneau

Next stop: Munich. We drove, instead of taking the train, which took about 2 hours from Stuttgart (we got lucky – no traffic!) We stayed at the beautiful Le Meridien hotel, which is located just across the street from the main train station. We spent most of our time walking around, shopping, and eating — no big surprise, I’m sure. 🙂 We had coffee at the famous Cafe Tambosi, walked through the Viktualienmarkt outdoor food market, and ate duck and pork shank at Augustiner Klosterwirt. I really love Munich and wish we could have spent more time there as there is so much more to explore. Here are a few photos from our time there: