Rome Italy: You can't get a bad meal in Italy" Oh yes you can in Rome

The age of myths is over. There are so many tourists in Rome, every day of the year, that food is in huge demand. Many restaurants/trattorias/osterias because of locale are innundated with customers. The key is, they will not see these customers again.

So the tourist-diner gets sub-standard food at top price. The restaurants/trattorias/osterias that exploit their customers can stay in business in Rome a long time since their bad reputation, in the eyes of Romans, is irrelevant: they only serve bad meals to today's tourist.

So trust your own instinct -- walk in, look around, walk over to the antipasto table and look at today's products and concentrate your interest only on today's specials, don't be seduced by a menu of a 1,000 selections. Italian food, authentic Italian food, is of fresh produts, simply prepared, in a homey-neighborhood, friendly, unpretentios environment.

For good food and restaurants in Italy, visit the Food Channel of www.WebVisionItaly.com.

Italy Travel: Three Strikes You're In

Find a caffé or a wine bar close by where you're staying and patronize it.

First time, you probably will not even be acknowleged.

The second time, you will get a slight nod.

The third time you will be greeted by a smile and a certain look, one that says I know you've been here.

Each time thereafter, as soon as you enter you'll be greeted with a "buon giorno" and a welcoming smile. You are now part of the "inner" circle.

Skip a day or two, and when you return, don't be surprised if you get a hug and a "where have you been"?

The Most Beautiful Garbage Dropoff in the World

We rented an apartment on Via Farnese by the Farnese Palace at the corner of Via Giulia, in Rome.

Our front door was less than 10 feet from an arch designed by Michelangelo. I photographed it, stood under it, all the while marvellling at the fact that the arch is a work of Michelangelo.

When instructing us on the details of the apartment, our landlord casually informed us that garbage is picked up 3 times a day and that our assigned spot is on the street under the Michelangelo arch.

Where do you drop your garbage?

Italy Travel: The Rinse Cycle

Italy has an obsession with street washing.

If your hotel room or apartment faces the street (always our choice), be prepared to be startled by the massive machines that wash, scrub, and rinse the streets every pre-dawn in all the cities/towns/villages.

In Rome it happens even mid-day.

So should you look out your hotel window at the street and it's wet, it may not have rained, it's just the rinse cycle.

Rome Italy: Beauty Calls at La Vetrina

We took yesterday to relax and take care of ourselves with the Italian touch. Beard trimmed and I had my hair done at La Vetrina

We also stopped by Campo De' Fiori to see the herb specialist who now thinks he's more important in USA than a president.

And of course always fun to go back to Nabiz to see the last styles and desgins.

Italy Travel Train to Rome and Lunch

The train that brought us to Rome was late, empty, and immaculate.

Argument with cab driver over the fare, which I always lose.

Domino effect of late train: our landlord was no where to be seen in the midst of the medieval lanes off Piazza Farnese.

Rome, a spectacular 70-plus degrees (October 10th), blue sky in every direction.

First lunch in Rome at a neighborhood trattoria spilling out onto the lane: caccio e pepe and for me , bucatini all'amatriciana (with some herbs from the Spice Man), accompanied by Rosso di Montalcino 2006.

Their motto is ''l,acua fa malle...er vino fa canta!'' [Water makes you sick -- wine makes you sing.] So we sang all afternoon...

This may be our neighborhood hangout, Trattoria al Balestraria on the lane of the same name. 16th-century Rome at its most authentic.