A very important day fell in the middle of last week: my lovely flatmate Mac's birthday! She is a baby and only just turned venti anni - 20 years - but of course, you'd never know it with how classy she acts. On Wednesday, the night before the big day, we went out to an aperitivo in Testaccio with plans to meet her friends from UCSD traveling around Europe. For those of you not in the know, an aperitivo is a great concept that we don't have in the States, and really should. For around 8 euro, give or take, you buy a drink that comes with an all you can eat buffet full of dishes typically in an antipasto. You can easily make a dinner out of one of these, which is what we did. Italians place a lot of importance on eating while you drink, so as to not get excessively drunk, hence the idea of serving essentially free food at a bar.
When walking home from from Pizzeria da Remo, we passed a modern and interesting looking building (a little out of place in a city that is probably 80 percent monuments) that housed a bar called Rec 23. Mac did some research - her favorite thing! - and found out about their aperitivo and we decided to try it out.
Rec 23 aperitivo menu
waiting for Zakk and Zach...
Mac's Raspberry Cosmo
Kate's Mint Julep (so good that next round, everyone got one)
delizioso!
After the aperitivo, the five of us ventured into the historic center of the city to paint the town red, of sorts. I can now say I have drank in a bar called The Drunken Ship, which is a bragging right I crave because my only ambition in life is to be a pirate king.
accurate photo of the rest of the night
"there is a time and a place for the bars in Campo di Fiori" -Mac (that time was at midnight)
the whole gang!!
photo credit: Mac Witmer
On her actual birthday, we went out for dinner at Flavio Al Velavevodetto, in Testaccio. Mac, Adrienne, and Mac's mom had been there before, and really talked it up so I was quite excited. Unfortunately, our waiter had clearly not been trained in the utmost customer service. But the food was better than I could have expected, which made up for him. Also, there was a cat roaming around their outside tables, and y'all know how I feel about felines!
my dish: pasta all'amatriciana - of course, spicy and delicious
hope your birthday was a roaring success, Mac!
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