I have been meaning to get my webpage up and running again and what better time to do it than when I am on holidays?  Europe has never really been high on my list of places to visit.  Just ask my best friend SS who has been trying to get me over for close 7 years I reckon.  Now she’s getting hitched in London in a few weeks time and I find myself at Brisbane International Airport at 5am boarding a plane to Rome.  It’s not that I never wanted to visit Europe, I guess I just had a few places that I wanted to visit beforehand but now we’re making a holiday of it!

Breakfast in the Emirates Lounge at Brisbane International Airport

Fast forward about 24 hours – 14 ish hours spent on the plane from Brisbane to Dubai where neither MS nor I slept a wink and then another 5.5 hours from Dubai to Rome.  To say it was a long trip would be an understatement and whomever said that flying with Emirates is amazing must have rocks in their head because I have had better service on Jetstar (not even kidding).

Mini Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Bagels also from the Emirates Lounge at Brisbane International Airport

We waited a ridiculously long time at Immigration, grabbed our suitcases and made for the train station.  Catching trains in a foreign country I find is always a bit of a risk.  You never really know if you’re on the right train until you actually pull up at the station and breath a small sigh of relief knowing that – yes you got on the right train and yes it was going in the right direction.  Another short taxi ride and we were at our hotel in Travestere, Hotel Ponte Sisto.  If you’re coming to Rome anytime soon I definitely recommend it.  It seems to be very well positioned to see all the sights in Rome plus most importantly very close to some of the restaurants and cafe’s that I wanted to visit.

Dinner was next on the agenda so we found ourselves at popular pizzeria Dar Poeta, only a 10 minute walk from our hotel.  As I said it’s a popular choice amongst the locals and tourists so we put our name on the list at the door and within 10 minutes we had a seat inside away from the wafts of cigarette smoke from the outdoor diners.  Pizza was the name of the game at Dar Poeta and after reading through the extensive menu we ordered a pizza each, some still water and half a carafe of white house wine.  The place was buzzing with people and it was packed to the rafters but our pizza arrived within about 15 minutes.

Despite eating plane food all day and stuffing ourselves in the Emirates Business Class Lounge in Dubai we were still quite hungry.  I ordered the Bufala – Tomato Sauce, Cherry Tomatoes, Mozzarella Cheese and Basil for the bargain price of only 9 euros while MS chose the Rustica – Mozzarella Cheese, Speck, Potatoes and Soft Cheese (also 9 euros).  I don’t like to describe the food too much because I think the picture kind of speaks for itself.  Yes it was as good as it looks.

Bufala – Tomato Sauce, Cherry Tomatoes, Mozzarella Cheese and Basil (9 Euros)

We loved Dar Poeta so much – awesome prices, delicious food and a buzzing atmosphere – that we are seriously considering going back again.  I’ve heard so many people complain about the simplicity of food in Italy but I think simplicity is often the key to good food because it ensures fresh, quality ingredients and that really rung true to me after our first meal in Italy at Dar Poeta.