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Trastevere is generous in options for everything. You want a bar? Pick one; there are several of them in any street. Feel like a good Roman pizza? In no time you will see before you plenty of pizzerias. Most of them follow European schedules for lunch and dinner, which means that if you’re hungry, say at 16:00, no restaurant or pizzeria will be open.

In the San Cosimato square, a few steps from Santa Maria in Trastevere square there is a restaurant that does not have this hourly restriction, and it’s open from noon until late at night. It’s Ai Spaghettari, roughly translated as “place where the spaghettis are made”, and they offer a varied menu specialized in roman cuisine. Pasta sauces like carbonara (parmigiana, egg and a type of bacon), ammatriciana (tomato and bacon and a touch of wine) have a very special taste in this very traditional restaurant. Pizzas and bruschetta are only served in the evening.

Make sure to not leave the table without having ordered a grappa barricata, it’s the perfect digestif after a good dinner like this.

There was a time when in Rome tea was only available in pharmacies. Two English ladies came to the city planning to open a tearoom and a space for reading. So they opened Babingtons, just a couple of meters to the side of the Spanish steps lower level, and right under the place that was John Keats’ home.

Just ahead of the entrance door you have the welcoming sight of the cookies, scones, cakes and pies that a few minutes from then you will be devouring in your table.

It is not a cheap place: You will be paying about 10E for a small tea pitcher, and another similar amount for the accompanying sweet treats. But on the other hand you will get to feel like an Englishman (or woman) having tea the proper way. The waitress wear this cute white-and-turquoise dresses and speak a correct English.

The selection of teas and infusions is varied. In the menu you can read the characteristics of every particular flavor and essence. If by the end you liked the tea so much that you would want to take it home with you well, you can. Just ask the waitress or at the register and they will give it to you a beautifully packed bag. Enjoy!

We love everything about Italy. Well, except for Berlusconi. Its fashion, its food, the ancient buildings and the savoir-vivre… they all have a very high content of style and good taste. When it comes to paper and paper-related products it is no exception.

Fabriano, a cozy boutique located in Via del Babuino, between the Spanish steps and People’s Square, carries the most stylish and minimalist collection of everything that can be made out of paper: squared blocks of notes, coloring books, agendas, notepads, drawing pads, beautiful RSVP books and, of course, folders and business cards holders.

My personal favorite: whenever I get invited to a nice dinner, I bring along a bottle of good wine and this special adhesive sheet that allows the labels from wine and beer bottles to be removed and collected. It works great when the drink is exceptional. Or when the occasion is memorable.

Fabriano’s boutique is like a museum for paper. When I visited, they had this magnificent haute-couture nightdress made entirely with colored paper done by a Mexican illustrator who combined the beauty of fashion and the simplicity of paper.

They also have a store in Rome – Fiumicino airport. It comes very handy when you need a nice stylish souvenir from Italy to take to your relatives but want to avoid the poorly made key chains and magnets.

If you feel like blending with the locals come to this recently re-opened bar. It is located in a small square by the same name (literally, fig) and when the evening comes, it IS the place to be. Its crowd during weekdays is mostly young professionals in search of a drink before heading home (or elsewhere) for dinner.

Sparkling wine is very fashioned here. Its name is prosecco and it’s served in the same flute-shaped glasses as champagne (they’re actually very similar in taste but can’t be named that because of protected designation origin rights). My favorite drink is called Spritz and in this part of Italy has a particularly is bittersweet tasting. To accompany your drink you’ll find a table full of salty snacks that vary from evening to evening. Usually you’ll find pasta dishes, pizzeta (pizza-like bread) and crudités. After all, you don’t want to get fat.

If you’re lucky and the weather is right, a table in the external part of the bar will be available. Take a sit, enjoy the view of neatly dressed romans and decide where to go for dinner. The restaurant is just a few steps away, on Via della Pace. And it’s worth trying it. 

In one of the ways of pedestrian access to the bohemian area of Trastevere there is one special gelateria. Now, with Rome being full of ice cream shops, what can make this one so special? Well, the natural bio – cultivated flavors they offer, for one. Second, the high standard of quality they use, defined as the search for balance between the organic, nutritious and ethic properties of the ingredients. Isn’t this enough?

Inside you’ll find a good selection of water and cream-based tastes of high quality ice cream. The ingredients used are obtained only trough the organic cultivation, and obtained through fair trade agreements. S

Surprisingly, they only offer iced cream in cups but not in cones. And this is because, they say, the use of cones came only after a long time after the long-established method of ice-cream elaboration. While this may or may not be true, truth is the gelato tastes great and you can actually feel the sensation of no artificial ingredients added in your taste buds.

But you can also find other kind of products here, always from bio- produced. Here is where I get my marmalades and fruit preserves. They are usually low in sugars and have a natural taste that I really appreciate in my morning bread.

If you have extra room for more calories on your gelato, don’t forget to ask for whipped cream and a delicious wafer on top of your cup. You have to pay extra for these but they’re so worth it.