New Year in the Eternal City

I landed in Roma at 2pm on New Year’s Eve. Upon exiting the jet bridge, I couldn’t help but notice the tumbledown condition of the terminal at the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumcino Airport. Arrows promising toilets led to nowhere, wall paint was peeling, and signage announced the terminal was under construction.  As I rounded a corner, however, I was greeted by the biggest, glittering Gucci store I’d ever seen in an airport. Then I noticed the Fendi, the Tumi, and just generally, stellar shopping options available to all weary passengers before they even exited the terminal. Then, I noticed all the super chic, stylish tight-pants-ed, sunglass-ed fashionistas stalking around grumbling about how long their suitcases were taking to arrive. Ahhhh, Roma, I thought, I’m back!

I emerged uneasily scanning the crowd for a little sign bearing my name, and I spied gentle, white-haired Lorenzo, my driver du jour, peering out among the crowd.

“Do you speak Italian?” he asked me.

“No, parlo poco italiano y parlo espagnol.” (I speak little Italian, and I speak Spanish.) I replied hesitantly. It didn’t really matter because I passed out as soon as we got in the car.

I arrived at Zeke’s, gave huge hugs to Zeke & his mother Michele, and then fell asleep for an additional 4 hours. (I had taken an overnight flight to Munich and hadn’t yet slept a wink!)

Zeke’s garden at his place in Balduina, a small neighborhood at the top of a hill in Rome’s outskirts

When I awoke, it was time to leave for the heart of the Eternal City. Our destination was Piazza Navona — where the best NYE activities were said to go down. We walked around leisurely trying to find a little pizza, and we settled on a quaint, family-owned spot on Via de Pace, a small alley that connects to the Piazza.

We ordered pizzas and a carafe of vino tinto (red wine), thankful that we had found a vacant, cozy restaurant with a lovely owner and his adorable extended family milling around for the New Year’s celebration.

Pizza Margherita

As the clock neared midnight, the family ushered out trays of panettone (a sweet bread loaf originating from Milan) with sparklers stuck inside.

The family huddled around panettone

As the sounds of firecrackers escalated at a frenetic pace, Zeke and I raced off towards Piazza Navona to catch the display. Friends and family gathered around the central monument of the Piazza Navona with bottles of champagne that they collectively shook and popped off as fireworks exploded all around us.

The base of the central monument in the Piazza Navona

It was beautiful! I missed the familiar notes of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ ringing through the air but seeing the joyous and laughing faces of all the groups of friends and families all around us was a welcome exchange.

When we returned to Michele at the family restaurant, she had made friends with the family’s nonna (grandmother), and the head waiter brought us plates of lentils and zampone, a delicious sausage traditionally served with the lentils around Christmastime. The piping hot plate of lentils was just what we needed during that (literally) freezing night. (The day I had arrived in Rome coincided with a week of unusually cold temperatures hovering around the low 30’s F. See photo below)

Even the fountains were freezing over! Brrrrr…

As we came to learn, lentils are a traditional New Year’s dish in Italy because they recall the shape of coins and bring auspicious promises of good luck, wealth, & prosperity for the New Year.

Zeke cooling off the hot lentils while Michele smiles for the camera

The men of the family also ushered out a huge platter of garlicky pasta with about 10 forks stuck right in the dish. They invited us to come over and try a bite. On a food tour later that week (where we subsequently learned the symbolism of the lentils), we asked our food guide what the pasta dish was and if it was typical to pass around a giant bowl of garlic pasta on New Year’s.

She thought about our question and shook her head. “New Year’s? Nooo, not really,” she replied, “That’s just something you do when you’ve been out drinking with your friends and you come home late at night. Typically, you just cook up some pasta and share it with your friends.” Buona fortuna, indeed!!

Buon anno e auguri, friends!!

The Vatican in the distance and the Tiber River