Little Places - Pleasant Surprises

Rome is not just a city of big sites like the Coliseum or Saint Peter’s Basilica, it is also many, many interesting little places. I would like to mention two. After our hectic touring in the morning and early afternoon we came back to the hotel. As the bus came down the street by our hotel Beth noticed a shop with clerical vestments in the window. She said to me “Maybe you need to get a new alb in Rome.” (An alb is the white robe worn by pastors when leading worship services, and the one I currently have is over 25 years old, and is starting to show its age, a new alb is something I’ve been talking about for the past little while.) However, based on the prices and type of vestments I saw in a store next door to the Vatican earlier that day I didn’t hold out much hope for finding anything suitable and reasonably priced.

With few expectations we walked down the street and entered this little shop, filled with some adult vestments, and a lot of children’s items (for altar boys, and first communion I suspect) They also had lots of school uniforms, which I found out later was because this store was the official supplier of school uniforms for many of the elementary and high schools connected with the Vatican and area. The first clerk couldn’t speak English so we were turned over to a young gentleman who was very pleasant to deal with. I explained that I was a Lutheran Pastor from Canada and would be interested to see what they had for albs. He went upstairs and came back with an alb as well as and red chasuble & stole set.

With a high level of professionalism, respectful manner, and friendly assurances, this gentleman helped me try on the vestments. The alb he showed me was a very different design from the one I currently have - for one thing it is not designed for use with a cincture (the rope belt), and it had interesting yet simple design work around the sleeves and hem that Beth said reminded her of hardanger (a Norwegian style of embroidery). The chasuble and stole set was lovely, but I’ve only worn a chasuble (a chasuble is full sized covering, like a poncho, it the appropriate liturgical colour) a few times in my life. He also showed me a green chasuble and stole set that was particularly lovely, made with Italian wool, with subtle gold work… gorgeous, but in the end I couldn’t justify spending that much money on something I would probably seldom use. However the alb felt really good on me, and Beth assured me that it looked good as well. Thus In the end I bought the alb and one green stole from the Martinetti Forniture Ecclesiastiche store. Of added bonus the price was very reasonable (probably not much more than I paid for my original alb 25 years ago!) So in this little shop on a side street in the shadow of Saint Peter’s Basilica I picked up a most unusual, and very meaningful souvenir - and had a great experience doing so.

Later that day, when we had finally made our way back from the Catacombs of Domitilla (a story in itself) and took a last minute look through Saint Peter’s Basilica, we were both hungry and tired. We decided to see what was available just around the corner from our hotel (thus just across the street from the Vatican). We bypassed the first place because the pizza looked like it had been sitting there for too long, and then we came across La Pilotta da Mario - with the owner standing in the doorway looking calmly out at the activity on the street. When we asked if he was still open he smiled warmly and said “Of course, of course” and indicated for us to have a seat. Beth ordered Fettuccini Alfredo and I ordered Fettuccini al Limone.

The pasta was excellent, some of the best I’ve ever had, anywhere. My pasta came with a lemon cream sauce that, while an unusual taste, was absolutely delicious. Beth thought her Alfredo was quite simply the best she had ever had. This wonderful pasta combined with a lovely glass of white wine made for a fantastic, yet simple supper, for these two tired travellers. After the main course I still had some room for a bit more so when the owner cleared our plates, I enquired about desserts. “Come, I show you” he said with a wink. Inside the dessert display was truly mouth-watering (even after such great pasta). Beth and I each enjoyed our desserts (a chocolate something for me, a cheesecake for Beth) in the cooling air of the late Roman evening, truly contented. There was no one else in the restaurant at that time, so we had the full attention of the owner, who was not overbearing at all, but truly attentive, a perfect host.

If you ever find yourself in Rome, you should seek out La Pilotta da Mario, close to Saint Peter’s Basilica, if you have food that is anything like our meal you won’t be disappointed. We were simply looking to fill our empty stomachs and we ended up experiencing another delight of Rome. Thank you Mario!