Bacon and Peas. They have a special place in my heart.

Whenever I’m in Florence, I make it a point to go to Trattoria da Rocco in Santa Croce for a quick but homely lunch. This little gem of a trattoria is located inside San Ambrogio Market (Address: Piazza Ghiberti | Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio, 50122 Florence, Italy), just a few minutes away from Piazza dei Ciompi flea market (you know I have a thing for thrifting).

Trattoria da Rocca’s Primi Piatti (first courses) are €4.00, Secondi Piatti (seconds) €5.00, Contorni (sides) €3.50 and Frutta e Dolce (desserts) are just €2.50. Travellers to Italy would know you hardly come across these prices anywhere! There was a cover charge of €1.00 per person, very common in Italy. Some places charge €1.50 – €2.00, depending on how touristy or high-end they are. We ordered a lasagna, sausage and beans, and bacon and peas for our lunch that day on a November afternoon. We always gotta have them bacon and peas.

When we first approached the trattoria, we circled the eatery trying to look for an entrance. A door, perhaps? That was when we saw someone waving enthusiastically at us from inside the trattoria, signalling for us to pull open the cubicle doors. That’s how you enter. You sit right next to the doors.

The servers weren’t the least grumpy nor impatient despite me trying (very hard) to get by in my smattering Italian. They listened intently, answered my questions (“carne di maiale o manzo?” –> “pork or beef?”) slowly because it was quite obvious I needed time for thought-processing, and tried to include some English (“porrrk!”) to make my life easier. We were there on a weekday noon, and you can see how packed it was.

And so, after 3 weeks in Italy (which felt like 2 days), we came back to Singapore. Last month, the husband said he was craving the bacon and peas. Me? I was just craving Italy.

I made a minced meat lasagna with bacon and peas for his lunch the other day. Although I wasn’t in Italy (or Rome. Don’t get me started on Rome), my heart was still warm because I had an appreciative husband.

If you’ve never had bacon and peas before, or are just put off by frozen peas (they’re very misunderstood), try this dish. I use S&W’s canned Young Sweet Peas, and they’re the closest you can get to peas-heaven. That didn’t come across quite right. But they’re delicious! My plea to you today is, “Give PEAS a chance!”

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Hello from Rome! (and the first picture you’re looking at is airplane food onboard Air France. Wow.)

We flew Air France and transited in Paris, so it was a good 12-hour flight plus a 2-hour connecting flight. We didn’t want to transit in Dubai because we would much rather sleep through the stretch instead of waking up in 6 hours, then connect on another 6-7 hour journey. It was my first time flying with Air France and may I say, it was a pleasant surprise! We checked in early and got ourselves a 2-seater. I am sooo thankful for that 2-seater!

I chose the Fillet of Perch with mustard cream sauce and linguine. The taste was ok and pasta was actually good, but I wished they didn’t “reuse” the peppers and eggplants for both salad and pasta. I had my bread roll and (unsalted!) butter, so I was still happy. The “almond” cake tasted like banana cake with chocolate, but it was cake, so I was still happy, too.

The breakfast was bread and more bread! The croissant and bread roll were unfortunately cold. The bread and banana pudding was quite good although it didn’t look it. We asked for more butter with the bread. Must build up fats mah right, for the cold weather?

While waiting for our transit flight in Paris CDG airport. (Sorry, dear husband, you got to have a big face so mine can be small.)

We arrived in Rome at 11.30am local time. Despite the times I’ve been in Rome, this was my first time at its airport. We arrived in Terminal 2E. If you are looking to buy a prepaid SIM card, get it when you’re on the way to the baggage claim- you will see Vodafone and TIM. If you exit the arrival area before baggage claim, there are no more telco booths outside and you cannot go back in. The next place to get a SIM card is in Station Termini. In Terminal 3 though, there is one lonesome Exactta booth in the arrival area and I can’t say I’ve heard good things about them.

From Fiumicino airport, most tourists head off to Station Termini which is their main connection “hub” to other parts of Rome. It is like King’s Cross Station and 台北车站 with hotels and B&Bs readily available.  There are a few ways to get out from Rome Fiumicino airport to Station Termini or to the city:

1. Leonardo Express Train (14 euros one-way to Station Termini. More info here.)

2. Buses (4 euros- the cheapest transport option to Station Termini. More info here.)

3. FL1 Regional Train (8 euros one-way. This is their “local” train and connects to various train networks but does not go to the center of Rome nor Station Temini. We took this train to Roma Trastevere to connect to Roma San Pietro near the Vatican.)

To take the FL1 regional train, look out for the yellow “Train” sign and follow it til you see this booth. If taking the Leonardo Express, follow these same directions- they’re at the same place. This was at T3 but don’t worry; if you follow the yellow sign, it will lead you right to where you wanna be:

Ignore the booth and head straight down the escalator to the railway station:

At the top of the escalator, you will see a self service ticket machine. You can use the machine or go to the ticket office located just behind it. The customer service speaks English and are very friendly, so go to them if you need help.

When travelling, I always like to buy my own tickets. Ready for some step-by-step instructions?

1. Select language.

2. Select “Buy Your Ticket”.

3. Select “Buy Your Ticket” again (we don’t have any loyalty discounts).

4. Select your itinerary. By default, departure station will be the place of purchase; in this case, Fiumicino Aeroporto. We were going to Roma Trastevere seven stops away.

5. Input number of travellers. The journey and class (Ordinaria/ 2nd Class) are by default and cannot be changed.

6. Select your method of payment: Cash or Cards.

7. We chose cash. Insert your notes to the right of the machine.

8. Get your change and tickets.

9. Validate your ticket at the green validation machine just before you enter. There should be someone helping you with it. This Italian guy was so funny and talked to me all the way in Italian. He said he was camera shy (I took intensive Italian self-study “classes” and was surprised I could understand it!).

10. You will go straight to the platform. One side will be the Leonardo Express, the other FL1 regional trains. Get on the right one! Please ensure your tickets are validated if not there will be hefty fines. There will be a conductor onboard! We were getting off at “Roma Trast.”.

The journey took about 20 minutes to Trastevere. We changed platforms at got on the FL3 train to Roma San Pietro which is two stops away. From there, we walked 5 minutes to our B&B “San Peter Rome B&B”.

The day is just starting for us (it’s 9am here) and we’re heading off to Campo de Fiori market . Will blog more about the B&B in my next post. Ciao!

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