The rest of my time in Rome consisted of getting to sites too late in the day to let me in - around 4 or 5 pm, because I stayed up at night to visit La Boticella, a bar near Piazza Navona where some of us from the Ohio State study abroad program in 2008 visited. Gionvanni, the owner, has become somewhat of a celebrity in Pittsburgh and with the Steeler Nation. Being a Steelers and Penn State fan, he caught the attention of the powers that be in the Steelers organization, and he has traveled to Pittsburgh to attend a game and has been treated like fan royalty, with tours of the locker room, and meeting with the owner, players, coaches, and team legends. With this, he has generated a lot of intrest in his bar, which equals great business. It's interesting to see a Steelers fan come in, not knowing what he/she was walking into, and seeing their eyes light up. Anyways, Giovanni is a good guy, and I had fun returning to the scene of the crime there, as I have fond memories of the place.
So basically all I did was walk around the streets at night (meaning around 2-4am), when the heat and tourists couldn't get to me. It's beatufiul to walk around the monuments at night with no car horns, or vendors yelling, or tourists trying to find the local Hard Rock Cafe. After getting up around 11am each day, I would usually make my way into Trastevere to find new places to have lunch and dinner, because afterall, food is one of the biggest attractions in all of Rome and Itlay. I had some extremely good dishes, along with a couple of adequate enough plates to just give me enough energy to burn off for the walk back to the Vatican.
My last night, I decided to head to da Bafetto, a pizzeria near Piazza Navona popular with tourists and locals alike. It has a definite circus atmosphere, as the owner, Mr. Bafetto, is the loud and sometimes incredibly rude ringmaster. You wait at the door for a place to sit, and the line usually stretches out pretty far, with sometimes up to 40 people waiting. Bafetto comes out and asks how many people are waiting to get in (he doesn't speak English). You could be the first person in line, and he could take the person behind you or 10 people behind you before he lets you in. At times he looks like he's going to either have a heart attack or is constipated (I guess it's the same thing?). But people stand in line for a reason, and once you get in and get your pizza, you realize just how worth it all that hassle was. Bafetto sat me down at a table with three other empty chairs, so I was glad I would be getting my own spot, but then he started yelling at groups to sit where I was sitting, and they had a look on their eyes like I was some sort of axe murderer, and they returned to the line outside. Finally, he plunked down a girl to sit across from me, and she didn't fight it. she was by herself, which was akward for me, because as you know, I am not good at making conversation. Lukcily, I heard her speak some Spanish to the waiter, so I at least tried to make a little small talk, but she seemed just as shy me. it really didn't matter to me, because I was there for the pizza, and when I got it and took the first bite, my eyes rolled back into their sockets. So good. I was in another world and couldn't be bothered with anything else. Add to the mix a liter of house wine, and it was pure indulgance.
Both I and the girl had finished when the waiters were creating a huge commotion with a patron making his way in. They sat him down at our table as they spoke to each other in Italian, but I was able to pick up a hint of an American accent on the guy. For about 5 minutes, we all sat there silent. It was at this point that I couldn't take the akwardness any longer, so I asked him if he spoke English, and from there, that's when the night turned into something more than I was expecting. The girl chimed in and said she spoke English as well, and now the akwardness was broken. He introduced himself as Mark, a Bostonian living in Naples and teaching children at the NATO base down there, and he had lived in Italy since the 1970's. She introduced herself as Rita, a Portuguese inventment banker who moved to Brazil with her soon-to-be ex-husband, and on vacation by herself in Rome. We spent a good amount of time talking and laughing about things, and at one point, Mark ordered another pizza and split it up amongst the three of us (YES!). When it was time to pay the check, he picked it up for us (WOW!). Free pizza from da Bafetto's and great conversation with good people? I really lucked out. Mark suggested we got out for some drinks, and I mentioned La Boticella and Giovanni, which he had never heard of in all his years there. He was just as amazed as most people who stumble upon a Steelers bar in Rome, and he hit it off with him real well. We watched the end of the Spain World Cup victory, and I bought the two of them shots of grappa and beer as a token of my appreciation. Since Mark drove down up from Naples, he said we should all hop into his car parked along the Tiber river and make the drive to a couple of his favorite Irish bars near the Colesseum. We hopped in his little car and sped around town, blasting past all of these wonderful ancient monumnts illuminated by the light. We made it to these bars, but they were a let down, as not much was going on, so we swiftly left both of them. Mark dropped me off near my hotel, as I had to get up early and make my way to Naples in the morning. All in all, it was a fun night, and a nice way to end my first of two stays in Rome during this trip.
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