RomeAncient monuments and bold new architecture, traditional trattoria and sleek bars, local haunts and tourist traps – all manage to coexist in the colour and chaos of Italy’s Eternal City.Words Lee MarshaLL PhotograPhy nassiMa rothacker

One perfect Day

The Colosseum

Home to emperors, popes and Italian presidents, the Eternal City is a fascinating historical layer cake, but also

a vibrant contemporary capital with a vocation for good food and wine. Quartieri of the moment include

boho-chic Monti and the new cultural hub, Flaminio, but don’t write off Centro Storico (old Rome) where

cool insider venues sit cheek by jowl with tourist magnets such as Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain.

clockwise: retro scooter; inside church of santa Maria del Popolo (9am); L’asino d’oro delight (12pm); fashion at tina sondergaard (11am)

opposite: Villa Borghese (7.30am); coffee at rosati (9am)

07:30The most central of the Roman aristocratic estates that have become public parks, Villa Borghese is every local jogger’s favourite workout space. In its 80 landscaped hectares, which take in formal gardens and woody glades, the running route combos are endless (fitrunning.it/borghese.htm).

09:00Something of a tourist trap from lunchtime on, the elegant 1920s aperitivo spot and literary cafe, Rosati, in Piazza del Popolo (barrosati.com) is more relaxed in the morning.

Dog-walking contessas and businessmen on their way to work stop here for some of Rome’s best coffee and house-baked pastries such as girella (sponge roll) studded with sultanas and pine nuts. Grab a terrace table and watch the Roman street theatre unfold in the piazza.

10:00Dive into the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, just across the square, where Caravaggio’s two dramatically lit canvases in the Cerasi Chapel come across as frozen cinema – three and a half centuries before filmmaker Federico Fellini, who lived just around the corner in Via Margutta.

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Ask thE ConCIErgE Lucian Zamberlain, the concierge at Hotel Hassler, knows Rome better than almost anyone else, so if in doubt, ask the concierge. travelinsider.qantas.com.au/ask_the_concierge_rome.htm

dEstInAtIon guIdE: romE everything from daylight saving dates through to phone area codes, electricity voltages and the weather throughout the year. travelinsider.qantas.com.au/destination-guide-rome.htm

ItAly: thE Art oF ordErIng Food Kylie Flavell has tips on how to order breakfast, lunch, coffee and sweet treats like a local. travelinsider.qantas.com.au/ italy_the_art_of_ordering_food_dining_out_guide.htm

thE AntI-tourIst guIdE to sEEIng romE Rome can seem chaotic and overwhelming for the first-time visitor. Learn how to avoid the crowds and seek out the quieter cafes and bars. travelinsider.qantas.com.au/ rome_the_anti-tourist_guide_to_seeing_the_city.htm

Q a n t a s . c o M / t r a V e L i n s i d e r

MOR e at tR av eLinsiDeR 11:00Rome is not fashion-brand central – you need to go to Milan for that – but it does a nice line in quirky boutiques. One good hunting ground is cobbled Via del Boschetto in the central, but still villagey, Monti district, between the Colosseum and Via Nazionale. Danish designer Tina Sondergaard makes exquisite dresses, skirts, tops and coats with a retro touch. Peruvian jeweller Kely Paucar’s creations at Perlei are of the moment, mixing modernist gilded silver with more funky items.

12:30Stay in Via del Boschetto for what must be Rome’s best gourmet lunch deal.

L’Asino d’Oro (The Golden Donkey, 06 4891 3832) is the fiefdom of Lucio Sforza, a chef who honed his fresh and local slow-food approach in Orvieto before relocating to this unfussy modern bistro, which also has a few much sought-after pavement tables. For around €13 ($20) you will get soup of the day, a pasta course and a main (such as chicken drumsticks in pizzaiola sauce with vanilla puree), accompanied by a glass of wine.

14:00It’s often difficult to envisage the time-weathered artefacts of ancient Rome as they once were. Technology solves the problem in the recently excavated Domus Romane (119a Via IV

clockwise from top left: Via del Boschetto (11am); Wonderfool (3.30pm); kely Paucar’s jewellery (11am); Panzanella with craft beer at no.aU bar (6.30pm)

treatments are offered separately, or combined in the Wonderfool Brand New Man/Woman package. Skincare and fashion items are also on sale, including Zimmerli and Orlebar Brown.

17:00Rome isn’t just about old stones and old masters. For a glimpse of the city’s third millennium side, take a cab to the Flaminio district, where the MAXXI gallery of contemporary art and architecture (closed Monday, open until 10pm Saturdays, 4a Via Guido Reni, fondazionemaxxi.it), designed by Zaha Hadid, finally opened in 2010 after a stop-start, 11-year gestation. It was worth the lengthy wait. This exhilarating structure borrows ideas from computer

circuit boards and flow charts to create a dynamic container that can be more impressive than its contents.

18:30Craft beer is the big new thing in Rome, and NO.AU (16 Piazza Montevecchio) – co-owned by Italian artisanal ale guru Teo Musso – is a good place to sample it. Squirrelled away in a residential square not far from Piazza Navona, this boho bar serves up a fine selection of draught and bottled beers from Musso’s own Baladin brewery, plus several others. The wine list is also good, and you can graze on fascinating gourmet snacks such as seppia stirata (cuttlefish cooked by briefly ironing it) or more substantial fare.

Novembre, palazzovalentini.it), beneath the headquarters of Rome’s provincial government, Palazzo Valentini. In what was once the home of a wealthy family, missing mosaics and wall frescoes are video-projected on the walls as you walk through the space, accompanied by an audio narrative and sound effects. Book ahead for an English-language tour (daily except Tuesdays, tosc.it).

15:30Grooming time. Defining itself as a “wellness barber store”, deliciously cool Wonderfool (39 Via dei Banchi Nuovi, wonderfool.it) began as a men’s pamper space, but has since gone unisex – all except for the men-only barber shop. Facials, scrubs, massages and depilatory

One perfect Day

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First Luxury art hotel (left, 8pm); MaXXi gallery (5pm)

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One perfect Day

for airfares call Qantas on 13 13 13 or visit qantas.com. for holiday packages to rome call Qantas Holidays on 13 14 15.

wor d up

roMe: a cULtUraL history

Robert Hughes (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

An engaging romp through two and a half millennia by this always-readable

bull in the cultural china shop. Hughes first visited the city as a

wide-eyed 20-year-old.

the coMPanion GUide to roMe

Georgina Masson (Companion Guides)

Opinionated, detailed, anecdotal, this is still the best guide by far. It has been updated after Masson’s death by John Fort, a long-time resident of Rome, but is still unmistakably hers.

i, cLaUdiUsRobert Graves (Penguin Classics)

The evergreen fictional autobiography of a canny emperor

who survived the madness and debauchery of ancient Rome by carefully cultivating a reputation as a harmless, stammering idiot.

0°300°, First Luxury art hotel (8pm)

20:00Keep this perfect day golden – after lunch at L’Asino d’Oro – by dining at All’Oro. At the end of 2012, chef Riccardo Di Giacinto moved his Michelin-starred restaurant from the northern suburbs to the First Luxury Art Hotel (14 Via del Vantaggio, 06 4561 7070, thefirsthotel.com), just off central Via di Ripetta. Although he trained under Spanish chef Ferran Adrià, Di Giacinto’s approach is less flashy, opening up to the Roman tradition in dishes such as risotto cacio e pepe, or sheep’s cheese and black pepper, served with smoked salt cod and candied lemon peel. The main restaurant, cool and contemporary, is in a windowless ground-floor space. For views, book a table on the 0°300° roof terrace, a swooningly romantic perch amid Centro Storico domes and rooftops, where Di Giacinto presides

over a much simpler menu of raw fare (vegetables and seafood) and non-carb wood-oven specialties, both fishy and meaty. The third part of the All’Oro experience is the Misceliamo bar, next to the downstairs restaurant, where mixologist Patrizio Boschetto specialises in gourmet cocktails such as the Amatriciana Bloody Mary.

22:30Housed in a cavernous brick basement not far from Stazione Termini, Micca Club (7a Via Pietro Micca, miccaclub.com) is the centre of Rome’s growing burlesque entertainment scene, plus retro-flavoured music forays (courtesy of in-house DJs and live acts) into swing, rockabilly and doo-wop styles. Check out the website for the latest listings when you arrive in Rome. c