What does a perfect evening in Rome look like? Perhaps seeing an amazing sunset from the oldest bridge in the city followed by Jewish-Roman cuisine that you will be talking about long after you go home?

This past October, we strolled along the Tiber River (street level not down by the water) to get to Rome’s oldest bridge, Pons Fabricius aka Ponte dei Quattro Capi, arriving just before sunset. Built in 62 BCE, this bridge stands in its original location and its original state. Seriously, how is that even possible??? It stretches from the eastern side of the Tiber (the one with the Colosseum) to Tiber Island in the middle of the river, which is fun to walk around and serves as a great backdrop for photos. The Latin name “quattro capi” means “four heads” and refers to two pillars that each depict the two-faced Roman god Janus. (see picture below) Those statues weren’t on the original bridge but were moved there in the 14th century. Rome truly is one big outdoors art museum.

After you get tired of all the beauty of the bridge and island as the sun sets, you can take a quick walk to the Jewish Ghetto and experience amazing food. Ba Ghetto Oldest Jewish Restaurant In Rome | Kosher Cuisine Rome is where we grabbed a patio table after wandering around and seeing some of the area’s historic sites. While we were feasting on artichokes alla giudía aka fried artichokes, pasta with pine nuts, and lamb stew, we heard someone call out my husband’s name. Lo and behold a guy he went to high school with just happened to be walking by and recognized Thom. What! They had a totally unplanned and happy reunion. They hadn’t seen each other since 1974. But back to the artichokes. They were SO delicious. We are going to Milan in a few months and Ba Ghetto has a restaurant there. I’m building my Milan itinerary around getting more artichokes. Yum!

Needless to say, the Jewish Ghetto should be on every visitor’s list to experience. By the way, ghetto is a name given to a location where people were forced to live. This particular ghetto is among the oldest in the world. We didn’t have time, but I would have liked to have taken a walking tour with an experienced guide to learn more about the history of this area in Rome. Next time!