Secondo Piatto: Eight Days in Rome, Day 3

[Author’s Note: This post is the third of eight on this site that will recount a visit of Eight Days in Rome that transpired in September 2025. On that trip, my wife Carol, an art historian (PhD, Yale), contributed insights on art and other matters. Our son Matt, a prize-winning videographer contributed photos and insights. The overall narrative and construction are mine.]

Roman Waters

The fountains and waters of Rome are a special breed. Rome is known as the home to iconic fountains like those at Piazza Navona, the Fontana di Trevi, and many more. There are elaborate fountains around Rome where people fill their water bottles. Some of them are prime tourist spots like the Piazza del Popolo and the “sunken boat” Barcaccia Fountain (by Bernini pater e figlio) in the Piazza di Spagna. These fountains are fed by aqueducts that carry water from the principal reservoir at Lake Bracciano. ​

Barcaccia Fountain (Pietro & Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1627-9)

​Many other fountains are simply cast-iron columns with a spout of continuously flowing water that are collectively called nasoni (“large nose”) or fontanelle. There are some 2500 of them around Rome dating from the late 19th century. If you plug the downward spout with a finger, a stream bursts upwards through a hole in the tube for easier drinking.

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​There are also other fountains with particular distinction for their imagery and design like those that we encountered in Roma Centro and on the Via Margutta.

Via Margutta

​On this day, we made our way from the Pantheon to the Piazza di Spagna, then up the charming Via Margutta to the Piazza del Popolo and back down Via del Corso to the Pantheon.

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Antica Salumeria Pantheon, Piazza della rotonda 4

We stopped at the Antica Salumeria at the Piazza Rotonda in front of the Pantheon. The front room is mainly a sandwich deli and wine shop, but we slipped into an inconspicuous back room equipped with a few tables.

​Shortly after, we were presented with a tasting platter of salumi, cheeses, bread and olives that resembled nothing so much as a curated culinary flower. With two drinks, the tab was 45 euro with plenty of leftovers to take home.

Palazzo Massimo alle Terme

The Museo Nazionale Palazzo Massimo alle Terme near the Stazione Termini (main train station) is one of the most underrated (and undervisited) museums in Rome, but its treasures of Greek and Roman art (mainly sculpture) should not be missed. It is also a fabulous value, since a single ticket costing only 10 euros (with an Amex card) provides entry to 4 different National Museums in the city. We went to one of them (Palazzo Altemps) yesterday. Prime objects on display at Massimo alle Terme included the following sculptures as well as lovely frescoes from the Villa Livia.

​The Empress Livia was the wife of Augustus and she had a painted garden (30-20 BC) covering walls at her villa at Prima Porta north of Rome. Her dining rooms were partially underground for cooling in hot summer months and, instead of looking out at real gardens, an imaginary one was painted on the walls in predominantly cool colors. It included an illusionary space that depicted vast species of trees, flowers, fruits and birds.

​Such a solution made possible unexpected combinations of flora and fauna and the inclusion of symbolic allusions to health, welfare and longevity. It also ensured seasonal consistency despite changing weather outdoors. The paintings convey a sense of depth and perspective, with closer objects crisper and clearer than the background. There is a sense of wind-driven movement in the bending foliage and flying birds.

Emma Pizzeria, Via del Monte della Farina, 28

Dinner at Emma Pizzeria fell towards the disappointing end of the scale. We had eaten there years ago when Emma emerged as a leader in the world of Roman pizza and we were duly impressed. Emma is laudably meticulous in delineating the origins and qualities of its ingredients and stylish in its visual materials.

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​Emma creates an exquisitely thin style of Roman pizza crust that resembles little so much as a crepe.

The menu presents an explicit choice between red, white and “traditional” pizzas. There are other offerings as well, but we were of a mind for pizza. The reds were crisp and covered with a sparse layer of sauce and whatever toppings one selects.

We chose a quatro stagioni, a margherita vacche rosse (margherita red cow), and a vegetarian (white). The quatro stagioni included a curious mix of toppings that did not clearly enunciate any “seasons.” It was mid-September at the time and they seemed skewed towards brown, autumnal varieties without much hint of other seasons. The distribution of cheese on the horizontal plane was unbalanced and pooled. As for the margherita, it shared little with the legendary original Neapolitan conception of the pie in 1889, nor was its titular “red cow” in evidence unless it referred to the combination of red tomato sauce and white cheese. It carried a rather soggy cheese layer topped by two quixotic, miniscule olives but no basil. The vegetarian pie presented a plain canvas with some cheese and a nicely cooked smattering of vegetables (eggplant and peppers).

In general, the visual and taste profile of the pies was minimalist and lacked a distinctive or memorable punch. The red “house” wine was nice and delivered to glasses in generous pours. Service was polite and efficient and our time fell well within the 90 minutes allotted for our reservation. Emma’s tab came to 63 euros for 3 persons.

​After departure, a few seconds’ walk took us to the nearby outpost of Fatamorgana for a satisfying finishing touch of gelato.