Have some Funtime
We’ve been busy little bees, navigating this new city.
From the bigger things like finding a home and work, to the myriad of other smaller things.
Pushing ourselves to the max, we’ve been all go go go!
Sure, there’s still lots to do, but as I’ve said before, a balanced life is a productive life.
Before we burn out completely, we need some funtime!
How hard have you been working lately?
If you look at your life, and weigh up your fun-time with your work-time, would it balance out?
Above: The first image is my regular professional pic I use on all my social media platforms and other places. However, behind every serious thing in your life, there should be a whole lot of fun-time 🙂
We need to live life to the full, to have just as much fun as we spend at work.
We need this, we really do. It inspires and motivates us to keep going.
We can’t be on this planet just to work, eat, sleep, and start it all again, every day. We don’t want to simply be a hamster on a wheel.
In my last post I spoke of Never Giving Up, and I take my hat off to this supercool hamster for getting back on that wheel so many times. Sometimes though, we need to take some time out.
How long can you keep running at breakneck speed, before you take some time out to refresh?
Sometimes you have got to take time out.
Time for you, however you enjoy spending it.
So, over the following weeks we relaxed a little.
We were still job-hunting and sorting various everyday admin stuff out, but we were now actively taking the time to celebrate what we had already achieved, giving ourselves a little more time to unwind and explore the beautiful city of Rome.
And, of course, it involved a lot of food-tasting 🙂
How do you spend your time outside of work?
Are you living life as much as you’re working for it?
Here are some of the ways I relaxed and enjoyed life beyond the must dos:
Aperitivo in Trastevere
Luca and I still hadn’t gone to an Aperitivo in Rome. It was about time! Luca found a spot online and off we went. Rather spur-of-the-moment, and the outing that triggered off this phase of fun-time as I now call it.
Freni e Frizioni is a great place to go for the traditional Italian Aperitivo – Late afternoon drinks and snacks. This place has a great vibe and is right by the River Tiber. Lots of people, lots of locals, drinking cocktails beers and wine. A wonderful big table of Italian snacks inside in one of the rooms leading out to the big terrace. Outside, people sit and stand, some on the the outside wall around the piazza, some on the stairs. People chatting, music playing, food and drinks. A great atmosphere!
After our plate of snacks and some delicious red wine, we went off for dinner. Done true Italian style – An Aperitivo first, getting our appetite warmed up for main course 🙂
Above: Freni e Frizioni’s cool creative drinks menu; The snacks buffet inside; The vibe outside.
After Freni e Frizioni we made our way to a little spot I’d found on a blog – La Renella, a place that’s been around since 1870! This place started out as a bakery, and has since then developed in a bigger offering of pizza al taglio, desserts and much more. On the menu tonight: Pizza, of course. A lovely place, with a warm relaxed atmosphere, and most importantly, great food.
We’d burst the hard-working go go go bubble we’d been in for quite a while. After this little night out, we had the spring back in our step. Feeling inspired and remembering why we were doing all this other more serious groundwork, for this sweet life!
Having some fun-time really made a big difference – Time for some more of it 🙂
What to do for a birthday in Rome?
Eat lots of tasty food!
I was wondering what I’d do on my birthday in Rome. I’m not big on birthdays, but do feel it’s essential to do something, something you really enjoy, for you.
For me, it’s food.
Yip, a day of food! A day of anything goes! Our very own food tour, from morning to night, made up of all my favourites – What more could a food-lover wish for?
What would you enjoy doing for a full day?
Why don’t you set some time aside, right now, to start doing more of it?
Birthday Food Day #01
Fresh coffee and pastries for Breakfast.
We got these from the best Pasticceria in our area (Portuense): Pasticceria Colella. These guys don’t mess around, and make their own cornetti and other pastries. We’d normally arrive there around 8:30am, when they’d be bringing out a fresh tray of them, with a wonderful orange zest on the top. We’d order half filled with cream and half filled with chocolate, and they’d take them into the back and fill them then-and-there, 100% fresh. And, to top it off, the chocolate is 100% Nutella – I mean!
This morning we were having a very relaxed day and got there later – So today we’d have a mix of 3 different delicious pastries.
After our true Italian breakfast of espresso and pastries, we were ready for the day.
Above: Great coffee, pastries and pasta #nomnomnom
Birthday Food Day #02
Pasta in tomato sauce.
Today we were having my ultimate comfort meal for lunch: filled pasta parcels in tomato sauce: Cappelletti con Prosciutto crude in Pomodori Peperoncino sauce. I can’t even begin to describe how much I enjoy a warm bowl of pasta just like this. The textures, the flavours, everything – Something about it warms my soul and makes me feel so comforted 🙂 On your next pasta day, try something similar and see if you can relate.
Birthday Food Day #03
Cappuccino in Town
We’d left the house and were off exploring. This food tour was being taken outside! I hadn’t been having much dairy so this was was nice early afternoon stop over before finding more food.
Birthday Food Day #04
Pizza al Taglio
I had opened my eyes, my heart and my stomach to today’s birthday adventure. It was already time for some Pizza al taglio and we were going back to one of my favourites La Renella.
We got a small slice each, as we needed to save space for more tasty treats along the way. No food tour is complete without at least 5 or 6 stops 🙂
The Pizza al taglios in Italy are great, as you can order and pay by weight, getting the perfect amount to satisfy your hunger.
Above: Creamy cappuccino; The entrance window to La Renella – photo credit: @warmpears – where we’d get a couple of the tastiest pizza slices in one of the coolest areas in Rome: Trastevere.
With our pizza slices off we went into the darling streets of Trastevere, finding a corner bench in the heart of the buzz, where we could enjoy these tasties while watching the Roman life pass us by.
Birthday Food Day #05
Suppli on the stairs of Piazza Trilussa
Suppli is one of Rome’s traditional snacks. Similar to Arancini but Roman-style. These tasty rice balls are normally filled with mozzarella and/or meat, or both. We got our balls from Pizza Trilussa – A cool little place selling warm snacks, and who also has great Pizza al taglio by the way! Off we went again, food-in-hand, looking for a place to sit and enjoy.
Finding ourselves in a cool little piazza, Piazza Trilussa, and parking off on the steps at Fontana do Ponte Sisto. A lovely little square where you can sit on the stairs, along with a bunch of others hanging out. A lovely atmosphere.
Above: Pizza Trilussa serving tasty pizza al taglio and suppli in the square; Piazza Trilussa where we could sit and eat our suppli and soak up the buzz of Rome; Our suppli – so tasty.
Oh, the street living I came to Europe for!
Birthday Food Day #06
Sicilian Pastries for Dessert
We’d been missioning around and decided that a special takeaway of pastries to enjoy at home with a homemade coffee was in order. Luckily, we stumbled on a true Sicilian Pasticceria: Siciliana e Duci.
If you’re ever in Rome, or Italy, be sure to visit a true Sicilian Pasticceria – They are the best. They know what they’re doing. If in Trastevere, be sure to visit this particular one. I’m going to have to do a separate review on the Pasticcerias in Rome at some point.
For today, we’d be indulging in Cannoli, Bigne alla Crema, and Cassata with almonds.
Above: Siciliana e Duci; So lovely how they wrap up your pastries; Front: Cannoli, Back Left: Bigne alla Crema, and Back Right: Cassata with almonds (the green one).
What a wonderful way to finish my day, at home, on the couch with a fresh caffe and the most delicious pastries on the planet. Not to mention a little bit of Game of Thrones… Mmmm
This was a much needed in-and-out phase in our journey of settling in Rome.
We’d been working so hard, and had become rather stressed and highly strung. Deciding to actively take time out, at least once a week, was the best thing we could’ve done. Having this time to just relax and enjoy the delights around us – It almost reset us, giving us that much more inspiration to keep going, chipping away at the other more challenging tasks at hand.
Whether it was having more than a few cornetti breakfasts instead of our healthy Whole30.
Or, if it was having a whole day of food tasting as a birthday treat.
Or, meeting new friends for dinner at a magical venue MoMo.
Or, going for lovely walks through the city, seeing where it would take us.
Or simple taking a whole day off to watch Game of Thrones.
Take time off to have funtime.
Above: My fun-time: Food! Having a fresh cornetti; Getting fresh suppli; Discovering the amazing Mulino Bianco and trying a few of their quality treats.
Above: Going to watch fireworks at Piazza del Popolo: The most amazing fireworks I’ve ever seen, synchronised with classical music; Red fireworks lighting up the whole sky; Noticing this cool artwork on the wall on the way back home – Reminding me to always stay curious.
Above: Going for walks in the city; Stopping at a darling little kiosk Alla Fonte D’Oro for a Grattachecca – a cold dessert drink originating in Rome; Stumbling across a lovely artwork carved into a tree trunk, the perfect place for a nap 🙂
Above: More walks in the city, my favourite past-time and what I consider as my fun-time – Stopping for a little caffè; Seeing a lot of pinocchio in Rome; Waiting for the tram and loving the light.
Do you work more than you play?
If you do, start trying to balance your work-and-fun-time more.
Take the pressure off and let your inner child relax every once and a while. Just live, just be, and enjoy life for a bit. You’ll see how great you feel afterwards, inspired to keep at those other big goals of yours, with fresh eyes and a happy spirit!
