When in Rome

The time has come for Cara and I to take another European adventure and visit a place that we’ve been excited about visiting since we left Australia... Italy. So we jumped aboard a short flight from London and made our way to Rome. We flew over the amazing Swiss Alps and a couple of hours later we were in sunny, warm Italy. What excited us the most about travelling to Italy, was the food. We are both lovers of Italian food and we were keen to get stuck into plenty of pizza and pasta.

Our first day in Rome was jam packed. We hit the streets early and had a long list of sights to see for the day. The Colosseum was first on the list. A place famous for not only it’s amazing structure, but also it's gruelling gladiator battles which took place during the first century AD. After a couple of hours of exploring and learning about this ancient Italian icon, we hit a local pizzeria, for a good old fashion Italian pizza. After a pizza and prosecco, we continued on our way and made our way to Trevi fountain. A popular tourist destination, Trevi Fountain is one of the most famous fountains in the world. Standing 26 metres high and 20 metres wide, the fountain is a stunning structure. Built during the 15th century, It was seen as a source of pure water to the Romans. Today, It’s a place where people (mainly visitors) make a wish by tossing a coin into the pond. After a short walk from the fountain, we found ourselves standing at the Pantheon. Built as a temple to worship the gods, The Pantheon is another tourist hot-spot. Cara and I found ourselves just staring in amazement at these ancient buildings and places. So, after a busy day, we needed a cocktail.  Whilst looking at the Pantheon, we spotted and small cocktail bar which looked perfect for us to have a drink and reflect on an amazing first day in Rome.

Being in Italy, we had to order traditional Italian cocktails, and not many drinks are more Italian than the Bellini and the Rossini. I’ve mentioned the Rossini before when we visited Tower 42 in London. These two drinks consist of peach puree and prosecco for the Bellini and strawberry puree’ and prosecco for the Rossini.  The Bellini came first and was invented sometime between 1934 and 1948. The Rossini was a variation of the original Bellini. When our drinks arrived, they did not disappoint. Fresh fruit puree, topped up with authentic Italian prosecco. We sat back and enjoyed the sight of the Pantheon and set out our plan for the next day. We made our way back to our hotel amazed at all the things we had managed to do in our first day, and we were excited about what the rest of the week had in store.



 Bellini:
- Fresh Peach Puree
- Topped up with Prosecco

Rossini:
- Fresh Strawberry Puree
- Topped up with Prosecco

On top of the world at Tower 42

After our experience at the Trafalgar Hotel, we now had a taste for roof top bars. One bar in London that we were keen to visit was Vertigo 42. The Vertigo 42 bar is a champagne bar located on the top floor of what was known as the “Natwest Tower”, now called Tower 42.

Tower 42 is the second tallest skyscraper in central London. It was built during the late 1970’s and finally was opened in 1981. The 42nd floor was originally just a viewing gallery, until it later was transformed into a trendy style bar,  consisting of lounges an a comfy setting allowing you to have a drink and take in the stunning view.

Tower 42 mainly consists of office space, but you forget all that as you make your way into the building and around to the exclusive express elevator which takes your straight to the top in style. As Cara and I reached the top, we started to understand why this bar has so much appeal. The view over London was spectacular. As the host walked us around to our table, you can’t help but notice the total 360 degree view of the city which you get from the top floor. We read and hear how apparently the London Eye has the best views of the city, but we doubt that it is as good as Tower 42.

With Vertigo 42 being a champagne bar, their menu consisted of many top bubbly’s and of course champagne cocktails. Cara decided to order a classic Italian cocktail, the Rossini. This is a simple classic which consists of strawberry puree topped with prosecco. The Rossini is a variation on the “Bellini” which was invented in Venice, Italy. The Bellini was invented by Giuseppe Cipriani sometime in during the late 1930’s and early 1940’s (no one knows for sure). It is a cocktail which consists of peach puree topped up with traditionally prosecco. With Vertigo 42 being a champagne bar, the prosecco was substituted with champagne. When the drink arrived, we were a little disappointed, as Cara’s Rossini had strawberry liqueur instead of fresh fruit puree, but lucky, Cara didn’t mind. She loved the flavours and the liqueur made it just a little sweeter which was more to Cara’s liking.

I chose the Yuzu & Cranberry Bellini. Since our visit to Japan, I’ve become fond of Yuzu juice. It’s citrus flavours often complement other fruits well, so I was looking forward to trying this creation. When the drink came, it was exactly what I had imagined. The refreshing citrus flavours of the yuzu, went well with the much sweeter cranberry. This sweetness was balanced out by the dry flavours of the champagne.  Overall, It was a great all round drink, perfect for sipping on, sitting back, and checking out the view.

Yuzu & Cranberry (left), Rossini (Right)

Vertigo 42’s "Rossini":
30ml Strawberry Liqueur
Topped up with Champagne

(A Classic Rossini:
2 - 3 teaspoons of strawberry puree
Topped up with Prosecco)

Yuzu & Cranberry Bellini:
20ml Yuzo Juice
20ml Cranberry Juice
Topped up with Champagne

Champagne & Shopping

Myself and Cara were doing some shopping in Shepherds bush (West London) the other day and we came across something that we thought was quite bizzare. It was a champagne bar, in the middle of a shopping centre. I guess we found it so strange, because we don’t have these sort of things in Australia. It is one thing to have a food court, or a small cafe in the middle of a shopping centre, but to have a (very classy) champagne bar was new to us. I wouldn’t have thought there would be much of a market for shoppers who fancy a quick glass of ‘bubbles’ whilst doing there shopping, but after speaking to the head bartender of “Searcy’s Champagne Bar”, he told us that even he is amazed at the amount of shoppers who have a sneaky glass of champagne whilst shopping. He said that some shoppers fancy a glass as early as 10am.

As we walked past Searcy’s in amazement at the amount of people sipping on their champagne, we had to see what all the fuss was about. As we sat down and looked around, we soon realised, what looked out of place at first, doesn’t look out of place anymore. Searcy’s is located with shops like Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany&Co (just to name a few) surrounding 360 degrees around the bar. This classy establishment fit right in with all the expensive designer brands.

As we sipped on our glass of real french champagne, we decided to order a little cheese board to go with it. The head bartender was again happy to help. He recommended which cheeses go with the champagne that we were drinking and even went as far as to explain how drink the champagne and eat the cheese to get the most flavour out of both.

We thoroughly enjoyed our champagne and our cheese board, and also we really appreciated the time that the bartender spent with us going though the menu. So after a quick glass of ‘bubbles’ and a light snack we continued on with our shopping.