Calcata, Italy

Made a quick trip today for dinner. Fabio drove us about 40 km out of Rome to Calcata where he used to own a house. He bought the house on a whim and then made it a hobby to restore it. He had to have a special artist restore the ceiling because it was old school exposed beams. While restoring the old brick floor they found old artifacts including some old locks which he had restored and used on the doors. In the end the place was amazing. About 2 years ago he sold it to a friend who now rents it out.

Calcata sits on top of a rock. At one point, years ago, the experts said that the rock was going to erode and that the whole city would fall down the mountain, so everyone left the town and made a new town on the other side of the peak. Then after time they realized that the rock was not eroding. Hippies moved into the old town. Eventually people moved back into the old town and now it is the most desirable realestate in town. It's very cool.

It was dusk when we arrived so it was difficult to get good pictures. Dinner was great. Fabio had made a reservation at a place that he knew would be good. The menu was all goofy, for example they had "stinky pasta with spinash and gorgonzola cheese" and at the bottom of the menu they said "bread and service are free, but you had better buy food and drink or the owner will kick your @$$". They also had an obituary for the discount on the menu, it spoke of the wife and kids left behind and how the whole town mourned the death of the discount. For the veggies it said "whatever I can buy at the market for the cheapest price". We ordered Polenta for an antipasti and it came at the right time for desert! Goofy huh? The food was really rich and tastey and for all four of us it was less than 60 Euros which is great for a full dinner.

It was a good night. One more to go in Rome before we are off to Spain!