Italy: Get to Know Rome

We’ve partnered with Cooking with Nonna, a web site that brings grandmas' best Italian cooking to you, get the inside scoop on the best cultural and culinary attractions in Rome.

Read on for personal insights and travel tips from Cooking with Nonna’s host, Rossella Rago.

The Eternal City offers more than 3,000 years of history, art, and feats of engineering.

“When I’m in Rome,” Rossella says, “I feel like I’m at the center of the Universe. There’s this great cosmopolitan energy! It’s such a dreamy place to be. Sitting in a Roman café, sipping cappuccino, is like being in a Fellini film. And don’t leave without having some gelato! The best gelato in the world is in Rome.” What else to see and do while you're there...

According to legend—and Rossella—you should never leave Rome with out visiting this sculptural fountain. This ensures that you’ll be back for another visit, and it’s a legend that tourists take to heart. Each day, more than $3,500 in coins is swept from the fountain; the money is donated to charity.

“It’s hard to appreciate the beauty of this statue until you’re right in front of it. You see it in pictures and in movies, but that doesn’t quite prepare you for the experience,” says Rosella.

The Colosseum is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Like Yankee Stadium, it was built to accommodate more than 50,000 spectators; unlike Yankee Stadium, it also was designed so that those spectators all could exit in three minutes flat. It had a sunroof that could be pulled across for shade and was designed to be water tight, so that water battles could be staged. Historians estimate that while it was in use, more than 500,000 gladiators and more than 1,000,000 animals died here.

On the third day of Perillo’s Vesuvius Tour, visitors take a 5-minute drive to another country that is literally around the corner—Vatican City. The world’s smallest country is just 110 acres, smaller than the Mall in Washington, DC. The country has its own post office and its own stamps and coins. And the Vatican Bank is the only one in the world that lets its ATM users conduct their transactions in Latin.

There are more than 1,000 museums and galleries in Vatican City, and they cover nine miles. It’s estimated that if you were to spend just one minute admiring each of the paintings, it would take you four years. We did the math for you; that means there are more than 2 million pieces on display. Raphael, da Vinci, Botticelli and, of course, Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, are just a few of the great masters whose works you’ll enjoy here.

Historical lore suggests that the site of St. Peter’s Basilica was considered sacred even before the namesake apostle was buried there. The emperor Constantin ordered the first basilica built there around 349 AD; then, more than 1,000 years later, in the 15th Century, Pope Nicolas V ordered that it be refurbished and expanded. What resulted was the considered the greatest architectural triumph of that time. The dome in St. Peter’s was designed by Michaelangelo, and is the largest in the world.

Try your hand at one of Rossella’s favorite Roman recipes:
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Spaghetti alla Matriciana
Straccetti alla Romana