The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
Winter Planning Session: Fiumicino
We usually try to spend the night before we fly out at an airport hotel to avoid any sort of frantic race along unfamiliar highways to make a morning flight. So we finished up the trip in Fiumicino, next door to the Rome airport. Our B&B turned out to be another example of commercializing what would otherwise be a couple of residential rooms ... but it was clean, the price was right, and all we had to do was get a few hours sleep and return the rental car in the morning.
Needless to say, the dining choices on Christmas eve in a Catholic country were limited. We were looking for one more Italian pizza for lunch and the folks at the B&B recommended La Lanterna. But we discovered they only have pizza in the evening ... and they were going to be closed tonight. So the choice came down to "take it or leave it" and we took it. In this case, the "it" was a rigatoni pasta.
There was some action on the bar side but the huge restaurant side of the building was totally empty. Next to the Christmas tree was a creche-like scene made entirely of edible materials. We commented on it and the owner introduced us to the guy who made it. Apparently he was hanging out in the bar.
After lunch we drove around town, such as it was. We were reminded that we are on the shore of the Mediterranean here, with a ship channel coming into town, the airport just to the north ... and a constant stream of planes arriving and departing.
Odds and Ends: 1) Our wheels for this trip was a Fiat Panda which sounds like it would be a tinny little econo-box but was, in fact, a smooth ride that handled well and got great gas mileage. 2) Espresso was typically served with something extra to nibble on. At La Porta it was some cantucci and a couple of chocolates. 3) The entrance to the fort in Montepulciano at night looked like a great opening scene from a horror movie. Kinda cool.
But the best part of any trip is that I get to hang around with this good-looking lady!
© 2012 Restaurant Doctor
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