The Beehive Hotel's Blog

The neighborhood of Esquilino, lies south of Termini train station and named for the Esquiline hill - one of the original 7 Roman hills.  The Beehive's first location was in this neighborhood and our Clover and Acacia guestrooms are in Esquilino.  Officially, the current Beehive is in what's known as Castro Pretorio - not as interesting and because I have such fond memories and loyalties to Esquilino, I call The Beehive's neighborhood "Esquilino adjacent". 

Esquilino is a much maligned area, many guidebooks and journalists write it off considering it as only a place of budget hotels and convenient to the train station.  For Roman residents, the last 15 years has seen a huge influx of immigrants from Asia and Africa which has indelibly changed the literal face of the neighborhood in both good and bad ways.  Good in that it's a joy to walk in that neighborhood and see non-Italian faces, clothes, hear different languages and smell non-Italian food smells.  Bad in that many of the former mom and pop establishments sold out and were replaced by identical cheap trinket shops, chock-full of low quality imports all packaged in kilos and kilos of plastic.

There are many wonderful things about this neighborhood - things that are not very obvious to the casual observer, and my goal is to change that outlook by posting about the hidden gems located in this neighborhood.  A recent post by my husband Steve kicked off that campaign. 

On 20 April, Context Travel began its Tours in the Public Interest with a visit to what's known as the Auditorum of Maecenas.  These tours will be held once per month with a Context docent who will lead these visits to little known, not-open-to-the-general-public, archaeological sites. 

The Auditorium of Maecenas is located behind a wrought iron fence and locked gate on a very busy street in Rome, via Merluna near the basilica Santa Maria Maggiore.  Years ago it was a neglected, downtrodden place surrounded by overgrown weeds, rubbish and the urine of street people masking any kind of treasure that was inside.  Some care and with the rubbish and stench gone, now the auditorium is surrounded by a small and pretty manicured garden, but the gate is still locked.  Context with its magic keys opened the door to a site that I had passed on a daily basis for years and so I was extremely curious to see what lay inside. 

On this rainy, but warm day, docent Agnes Crawford, led our small group into the auditorium and as we decended the ramp into the semi-underground room - that's when with Agnes' knowledge, insight and guidance it became a walk back in time. Agnes' detailed ruminations on the history of the area, the politics of the time, and theories on what exactly this site was exactly were interesting and evocative.  Painted frescoes of garden scenes which were still visible and the idea that the auditorium was a bit of a cooling water garden for the elite wanting to escape the heat of Rome while looking out towards the Alban Hills had me imagining all kinds of halycon scenes of ancient Rome.

 

Guest post & photos by Sarah May Grunwald

I am a wine lover, wine snob and wine educator, but in my line of work, I often find the hardest thing to impart to my students and clients are the wine basics.  I suppose I just take wine for granted, just as many Romans take the huge amount of culture in their city for granted.  Wine is like air for me.  I can’t live without it, and not only because I like to drink it.  I am interested in the entire culture of wine.  I have had this passion since the first time I visited a winery, Wirra Wirra, in 1997 in South Australia. 

Moving to Italy was an entirely different experience in terms of the world of wine.  Outside of Italy, wine is seen as some otherworldly drink, something for people with money, something to be coveted, there is a lot of money involved in the world of wine and a lot of that money is used for marketing.  But why?  After all, isn’t wine just fermented grape juice?  Yes, it is a fermented beverage, but its connection to human culture, including religion, medicine and art spans millennia.  It is more than an alcoholic drink; it is a culture in its own right. 

Here in Italy, one can think of wine as its own food group.  It is at every table and almost every meal. Wine brings people together rather than separating them.   Italy is covered in vines and there is a huge variety of wines made.  This is due to the fact that Italy is extremely diverse in terms of topography and natural feature and the fact that the grape vine is a plant that mutates very easily and adjusts to a variety of conditions.  So firstly, you have a landscape that spans from the Alps to near Africa in the south; a landscape with extremely diverse terrain.   Then, in the scope of that landscape, there is huge amount of variety in the types of grapes use. 

In Italy, wine is not for the privileged only but for all.   Even if some are not fine wines, almost every Italian knows someone who makes wine, including their own grandparents with their homemade wine.  In the fall, entire families participate in the harvest on a small plot of land to make the family wine.  These are simple and rustic wines, but it is a story that has firm roots in the Italian culture.  Even today, Italian immigrants throughout the world will make this effort.  If they no longer have a small plot of land, they will buy grapes and make wine at home.   Wine is ubiquitous to Italian culture.

When I lead a wine tour, I start with the basics, what is wine and how is it made.  Wine is made by yeasts converting the sugars present in the grape into alcohol.  Alcohol is the byproduct of this biochemical process.   Red wines are red because they are fermented with the skins; the skins give wine its color.  White wines are lighter in color because they are not fermented with the skins, hence you can have a white wine made from a dark skinned grape.  Rosè or pink wines are made by fermented with the skins for a short amount of time, giving them their pink hue. 

Once we have these basics, we can talk about the sensory experience of wine, that of sight, smell and taste.   There are five tasting basics:  see, sniff, swirl, sip and savor.  Color can tell us a lot about a wine.   For example, how young or old it is or where it might be from.  When we sniff wine, we are evaluating volatile aromas that should tell us a lot more about the wine, what type of grape(s) is/are used, for example.  There are hundreds of aromas in wine, but they are NOT added.  I have been asked countless times during this phase of a tasting if the winemaker added the aromas to the wine, such as adding essential oil.  The answer is no.  The aromas we perceive are naturally occurring chemical compounds that come from the grape varietal-this means the type of grape, such as Chardonnay or Sangiovese-they can also come from the yeast fermentation.  These are called esters.  Esters are what give fruit their aromas.  Finally we have tertiary aromas and they come from aging.  What you smell in the glass should give you an indication of what you will shortly taste.  For example, if you smell a red wine and it has aromas of leather or coffee, most like the wine will have tannin, or if you are smelling grapefruit in a white wine, you can expect a fresh tasting wine. 

When we taste the wine, we do not actually taste flavors.  What we perceive as flavors are actually aromas.  80% of taste is smell.  There are actually 4-some might argue - tasting sensations and they are sweet, salty, sour and the bitter.  The fifth, Umami has been described a savory, tasty or meaty. It is a Japanese word meaning good taste.  It is elusive, but a sensation that cannot be described in any other way.  And strangely enough, it can be applied to wine.  We will first notice if a wine is dry or not.  Dryness in wines should not be confused with the astringency and dry feeling in your gums from a tannic wine.  A dry wine is dry due to absence of sugar.  Wines can be dry, off dry, slightly sweet and sweet.  The sweetness or lack of it is a result of residual sugars.  We then notice the backbone of the wine, its freshness or acidity.  Without the acidity, wines will feel flabby.  It is the acidity in wine that makes wine food friendly and stimulates the appetite.   You feel freshness on the side of your tongue.  Some wines can taste salty or saline to us and bitterness is what you taste on the back of your tongue.   Now there are the flavors we perceive.  Remember, you do not actually taste them.  80% of taste is smell.  Some wines are overtly fruity; some have a very strong minerality on the palate.  This is what we call the wines finish.  Those are the flavors and sensations that linger on your palate after your swallow the wine.  In general, the longer the finish- the length of time you perceive these aromas and flavors- the better the wine. 

Wines should be complex and well balanced.  A well balanced wine is a wine that has all of the elements in harmony.  One does not overpower the other.   Elements such as alcohol, acidity and tannin are evaluated when we taste wine.  Tannin is often the most confusing element in the wine tasting for new tasters.  Tannin refers to a tactile sensation in the palate which leaves a sense of dryness, especially in the gums.  It is an astringent and sometimes bitter taste that is perceived in red wines and absent in white wines.  This is not to be confused with the sensation of dryness in a wine.  Dryness is the absence of sugar and you feel that on your tongue. 

So with the fundamentals now covered you may be wondering why people are so obsessed with wine. People, like myself, make a career out of it and devote hours of their day to the study and tasting of this beverage.  Why is this drink so coveted and adored?  Many former normal people have thought the same thing until they had their “A-HA” moment.  This is the moment that makes you see in tunnel vision, when you drink a glass of wine or have an experience with wine and food that leaves you breathless, makes your heart beat a little faster and makes you feel like you’ve fallen in love.  This could be drinking a Lagrein on top of a mountain in the dolomites, smelling an aroma that brings you back to your childhood, sharing wine with a friend in a medieval town in Umbria while feasting on truffles.  For many it is tactile and others it is cultural.  If you feel intimidated because someone perceives balsamic aromas with hints of rosemary in the glass of wine, don’t fret.  People actually train their nose to perceive.  It takes most people a long time to develop a “vocabulary.”  There are very few people in the world who are natural super tasters. 

In my travelling experiences, the best way to get to know a culture is to eat and drink with people in the culture.  If you are in Tuscany drink Tuscan wines like Chianti Classico, but to understand the complexity of the Italian world of wine you need to step out of the Pinot Grigio-Chianti comfort zone.  There is more to Italian wine than Tuscany!  Just in the region of Lazio-the region Rome is in-there are wonderful wines to be had at great prices that evoke warm summer days by the sea, tasting local delicacies in Rome.  You can buy a lovely Frascati Superiore for about €6 to €10.  I highly suggest tasting wines from Umbria, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige and Basilicata as well. 

While you are in Rome, you can sample many wines from a variety of regions when you visit the local enoteca-wine bar.  Many of them have wonderful list of wines by the glass that will allow you sample wines from all over Italy.  Join a wine tasting, vineyard tour or join a market walk.  Get to know the real Italy or real Rome by tasting it.  Food and wine producers and experts are more than happy to share their knowledge with you, you just have to ask. 

Cin Cin!!

 

The Beehive's cafe offers vegetarian and organic homemade breakfast goodies - eggs, oatmeal, granola, toast, etc.  Our coffee and teas are fair trade and our milk - cow, soy and rice - are also organic.  Since everything is made to order and there is only one chef working at a time - our cafe epitomizes slow breakfast. 

If you need or want a faster alternative in the morning, just a couple of blocks away from us is Bar Fondi.  They serve pastries and coffee with speed and efficiency since they cater to a lot of the B&Bs and guesthouses in the neighborhood that offer breakfast vouchers for their guests.  It's quite a crush in the morning, but it moves quickly.

Entering Termini train station from The Beehive side is another option - VyTa bar. 

There you will find pastries and coffee and at lunch and in the afternoon there are also sandwiches, salads and pizza by the slice including focaccia delivered from the excellent Roscioli bakery and cookies from the local kosher bakery, Mondo di Laura.  There's also free wi-fi. 

Other VyTa bars can be found in the central train stations of Milan, Naples and Turin.

 

 

Guest post & photos by Toni DeBella

In my everyday life I am somewhat of an “over-planner”.  I like to know when and where I am going far in advance.  However, when it comes to spending an afternoon in Rome, I prefer to let my day just unfold instinctively and naturally.  When in Italy, I prefer to improvise. 

 Sweet Nothings 

 Italians  have a say ing: “il dolce far niente” (the sweetness of doing nothing), but I wonder if it’s possible to be in one of the great capitals of the world and actually not do anything.  I am about to test the veracity of this expression and set out into the Eternal City in hopes of answering the question: Is it possible to do nothing in Rome?

 Piano, Piano (Slowly, Slowly)

Walking is one of the best ways to pass time while doing nothing special. Rome is perfectly situated for kicking around all day on its ancient, uneven cobblestones.  I didn’t have a destination in mind, nor did I bring a guidebook nor street map.  I was a blank slate, ready to improvise away!

Today I started out from Stazione Termini (the main train station) and walked over to and down Via Nazionale to Piazza Venezia.  Because it’s Sunday, Via dei Fori Imperiali is closed to motor vehicles allowing everyone to stroll freely from the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (also known as the Vittoriano) to the Colosseo unassaulted by honking taxis or buzzing Vespas.  A quiet walk into tranquil nothingness.  I ventured back up Via Dei Fori Imperiali, heading for parts of town undiscovered and unscheduled.

By zigzagging through the narrow, winding streets, I avoided the heavy foot traffic and loud buses and ambulances.  I loved translating the meanings of the beautiful and evocative street signs carved into the sides of old buildings along the way. 

Some streets are named for things (Vicolo dei Venti, Alley of the Winds and Via della Pace, Road of Peace), some for artisans (Via dei Cappellari, Hatmakers Street), some after famous people (Via Cesare Balbo, Via Garibaldi) and others after Cities (Via Napoli, Via Firenze).  Don’t be afraid to duck around corners and peek into alleyways – you never know what small treasure or grand masterpiece you might bump into along the way.

Time Flies When you are Doing Nothing

Much of Rome’s main sites are jam-packed into the historical city center, so quite a lot of territory can be covered in one afternoon.   For instance, today I encircled the Colosseum, glanced at the Roman Forum, walked along the Tevere (Tiber), waited in a long line outside a bakery in the Jewish Ghetto, “window shopped” at the Campo dei Fiori (in the past a place for flower sellers), observed artists paint on Piazza Navona (read more about Painters in the Piazza here),

ate lunch in a centuries old portico, cruised past the Pantheon, made a wish in the Fontana di Trevi, people-watched on the steps at Piazza di Spagna, sipped espresso in front of Bernini’s statue of Triton at Piazza Barberini, marveled at one of the great intersections at the corners of Via delle Quattre Fontane and Via del Quirinale,

then finished up at the famous church, Santa Maria Maggiore, where Gian Lorenzo Bernini happens to be buried.   Now I am just a few blocks from the start of my journey at Stazione Termini where I can grab my train back to Orvieto.

Idle in Rome?

In answer to the question: When in Rome, is it really possible NOT to do as the Romans do?  I don’t think so, but I wonder if perhaps one shouldn’t take "il dolce far niente" too literally.  Could it be that Italians aren’t actually suggesting one strive to do “nothing” as much as it’s a manifesto for living with more intention, savoring the simple moments and allowing life’s rich experiences to sink in and permanently imprint in our memory?  If that’s the case, my day in Rome was not about nothing – it was in fact really all about something.

 

Toni DeBella divides her time between San Francisco and Orvieto, Italy and writes about the adventures on her blog, Orvieto or Bust (www.orvietoorbust.com) - a collection of stories and articles based on her experiences of Italy, travel and life in a small hill town in Umbria. 

Guest post by Tiffany Parks

Photographs by Luca and Antonella Cappellaro www.fineartwedding.it

They say that difficult journeys make the destination more rewarding, and when it comes to getting married in Italy, this is doubly true. Saying “I do” in Italian is not an easy task. Oh, it’s beautiful all right, and incredibly romantic and charming, but it’s certainly not easy. Particularly if one member of the couple is not Italian.

Our guests were welcomed by the sinewy façade of a converted monastery by Borromini. A rich soprano voice intoned an immortal Puccini melody on a terrace with the hills of Rome in the distance. The rest was a haze of improvised brindisis, sequined dresses, scrumptious food, teary speeches, frenzied dancing and infectious laughter. The magical end of a long and at times nightmarish journey was, ironically, the beginning of an exciting new one.

Tiffany Parks fulfilled a life-long dream by moving to Rome over seven years ago. She hails from the glorious Pacific Northwest, and has also lived in Boston and Montréal where she studied classical singing and opera. She now works as both a tour guide and a travel and culture writer and is working on her first book, an art mystery for young readers. She can be found musing about the wonders of her adopted city on her blog, The Pines of Rome. www.thepinesofrome.blogspot.com

photos by Alina Goroaia

We've been experiencing some incredible weather phenomona in Italy this past year - the most recent being the unbelievable amount of snowfall that has come down in central Italy -  Tuscany, Umbria and most surprisingly of all - Rome.  Rome hasn't had a major snowfall in 26 years and some parts of Lazio (the region Rome is located in) haven't seen this amount of snow in well over 50 years.  These weren't just a few flakes, but a virtual winter wonderland which came as even more of a surprise after an unseasonably warm start to the winter season.  Here are some images captured by Beehive staff member, Alina Goroaia.  More snow is being forecast for tomorrow.....

A view of the Colosseum

A view through the Arch of Septimus Severus in the Roman Forum

The Roman Forum under snow

Walking on the Lungotevere road, too icy for the sidewalk

Along the Tiber River - Roma spelled backwards  - cute!

Detail on the Vittorio Emanuele bridge

These scooters aren't going anywhere!

Confused seagulls on the steps of St. Peter's

Nun and snowman in St. Peter's square

Guest post by Beehive receptionist & cafe chef -  Francesca Ruffo

photos by Beehive receptionist - Alina Goroaia

Bread is one of those things which for some of us is essential - a source of nourishment and even a comfort food.  In The Beehive's cafe we like to make our bread from scratch, by hand, using a variety of organically grown flours and seeds. 

We have a wonderful book of bread recipes which Linda and Steve bought to inspire and motivate us when we first made the switch, several years ago, from buying bread at a local bakery to baking it ourselves in the cafe. These days, my colleague Gianluca and I have got it pretty much down pat, but it is still nice to take the recipe book off the shelf and consider a fresh ingredient or different method for our daily breakfast loaves.

The oven we use is a small domestic oven, about half the size of what many people have in their own homes. It is super simple and just does the job we need it to do, baking our bread and cakes without any fancy gimmicks. 

We love to have the smell of freshly baking bread, chocolate cake or other goodies drifting through The Beehive. It makes our place feel homey and it gives us a chance to connect with guests and have them feel as at home, as we feel working here.

I strongly believe in the mind body connection and taking care of yourself physically while you are traveling is just as important as making sure you get to see all the sites and galleries in Rome that you've been dreaming about.  Many travelers suffer a lot physically - not only from a change in diet and the stress of air travel, but also from the practicalities of essentially carrying your temporary home with you - either literally on your back or struggling with a suitcase.  In Rome physical discomfort can be exacerbated by lugging your bags on and off trains, down cobblestone streets and in the summer - doing all this in the heat of the city.

Not many of our guests realize massage therapist and personal trainer, Jenifer Vinson, has her own little cozy space downstairs at The Beehive near our lounge.  For the past several years, Jenifer's home for her private practice has been at The Beehive where she gives massage to our guests as well as her own permanent resident clientele.

Jenifer is an American who grew up studying ballet in her hometown of Tallahassee, Florida.  She later earned an MFA in Dance from Florida State University.  She then studied dance in New York City and received a BA in Humanites at FSU.  Jenifer is a graduate of New York's Swedish Institute, College of Health Sciences and is a New York state-licensed Massage Therapist.

Recently, I asked Jenifer a few questions about her personal history with massage as well as her life in Rome. 

How did you become interested in doing massage?    Being the one dancer in a family of three talented (but less flexibile) tennis players must have pricked my interest in loosening up others.  My teenage brother would ask for help executing a rather jarring abdominal exercise where I'd hurl his legs towards the floor (forcing him to catch his heavy legs with his ab strength).  I was always trying to get him to slow down and stretch his super tights legs.  Around fellow dancers in college  -- folks who already stretched -- I'd massage their shoulders and feet while we chatted after classes and rehearsals.    A fantastic massage therapist in Tallahassee was helping me with the excess tension in my back at that time,  and it felt natural to do the same for others.  I guess you could say I slid effortlessly into the role of caretaker and teacher.  By the time I started the Swedish Institute's massage program I was quite used to massaging friends, and I'd been teaching dance and exercise for many years.
 
Any suggestions for how travelers can avoid back or neck trouble?     Yes!  Only pick up children or bags with a straight back and bent legs.  Brace your suitcase against your legs when going up stairs.  Stay balanced - frequently switching your rolling suitcase from left to right so you're not holding the same twist for too long.  If carrying bags on your shoulders, try to balance your load.  On the airplane, get up frequently during your flight and make gentle circular movements with your ankles, shoulders and neck, both for your comfort during the flight and so you don't hurt yourself taking your suitcase from the overhead compartment.

What would you say to someone who thinks it's too indulgent to get a massage while they're traveling on a budget?   Oh it's maintenance, not indulgence:)  Your legs have never before stood on so many marble surfaces!  Pinch pennies instead by refilling your water bottle for free from Rome's excellent fountains (the "nasone") and by eating sandwiches or pizza picnic style or at the local tavola calda rather than having every meal at a sit-down restaurant.

How long have you lived here and what brought you to Rome?   I first came here in 1999 to live with my boyfriend (who's now my friend, ex-husband and occasional client).

What are some of your favorites in Rome - places to go, things to do, restaurants?  I love the walk up Salita di Grillo in a part of the Monti neighborhood that's uphill from Trajan's Forum, and the walking up the Campidoglio stairs at night (then taking the less conspicuous stairs to the left down to Via Fori Imperiali.)  When I meet friends out we enjoy the older wine bars in the Monti neighborhood or other parts of the historic center.
 
Plans for the future?   I still need to see Sicily and Sardegna, and then a year or at least a summer working  in Berlin interests me.  I want to see Holland and Ireland as well.......and the parts of France I haven't seen, but I'll never move there as I can't approximate those tricky vowel sounds.

Jenifer can be found at The Beehive, via Marghera, 8, by appointment, just ask at our reception or call 0644704553.

Her rate for an hour massage is €45 and Beehive guests receive a special rate of €35. 

She can also be reached directly at 3395399550 or jenifer_vinson@hotmail.com

The Beehive is conveniently located to Termini train station, but we often forget that many of our guests don't have any idea just how close.  In addition, visitors unfamiliar with the area or train travel in general may find using the train and the arrival a bit intimidating - Termini is a large, loud and chaotic mess even for those of us who are used to it. 

This past summer, my 11 year old daughter, Giulia, showed how painless it can be to take the train from Termini to the airport and essentially, you just need to do it in reverse to get to The Beehive.  In this post, I hope to show you how fairly straightforward it is on your arrival to Rome's Termini train station on the Leonardo Express airport train (only available from Fiumicino (Leonardo da Vinci) airport) to get to a friendly face at The Beehive.  (Arrivals from Ciampino airport will be another post)

From the baggage claim at Fiumicino you want to follow the signs to the train.  It does take about a 10-15 minute walk (depending on your bag situation), and several escalator rides to get you to the train departure point.  When you arrive, you'll have several options to purchasing a ticket - ticket offices, tobacco shop or self-service machines.  My suggestion would be to use the self-service machines.  The machines are multi-lingual, quick and easy to use, you don't pay an additional service charge like you do at the ticket offices and you usually don't have to wait or wait very long to use one.  The price is €14 each for a one way ticket.  Please remember to stamp your ticket at these yellow validation machines before boarding the train.  They do control tickets on the train and you will be fined €50 if it's not stamped.   

The journey from Fiumicino to Rome's central train station Termini takes 30 minutes.  The train arrives at Platform 24 which used to disembark very far away from the main gallery, but which fortunately now arrives all the way into the hall.  When you get off the train you want to exit to your right and you'll see this sign for the binario (track) number 24 and a slight ramp which leads you into the arrival/departure hall.  You want to continue going straight passing the hall and into the main gallery which is full of advertising and many shops. The station has 3 main entrances/exits, and with the train tracks behind you, take the exit to your right which is the furthest exit from Platform 24.  So walk confidently towards that exit - you'll pass many tempting little shops including a Perugina chocolate shop - you might be inclined to have a little break on your way to The Beehive. 

When you arrive at the large open exit to the street, across the street you'll see on the left corner a book shop called Don Bosco and on the right corner Bar Trombetta.  With the station exit behind you, continue walking straight ahead on the Don Bosco side of the street.  This is via Marghera.  You can see the street name on the building.   

The walk is only 2 blocks, about 5 minutes from this exit.  It's a non-eventful walk and soon you will arrive to this corner where there is large yellow building with a yellow wall.  Behind that yellow wall with the trees and vines is The Beehive - you are almost there! 

Cross the street and soon afterward, you'll notice on your left a silver door, our sign and the #8.  Press the buzzer on the wall to your right, soon you'll hear a click - push open the door and there in front of you are our fish and our Welcome sign. 

Up the couple of stairs and through the door and you'll be cheerfully greeted by our manager Yuli (pictured here) or one of our other friendly faces - Diane, Alina or Francesca. 

After you've done it one time, you'll see how easy it is to get from the station to The Beehive, your home away from home in Rome.

 

Here's a cool tip for a hot day in Rome. Paloma, Viola, Margherita and Bieco show you how to use the water fountains that are all over Rome pouring out cool, fresh, clean water. Bring a water bottle and save money and reduce waste.

I Nasoni - water fountains of Rome from Cross-Pollinate Travel on Vimeo.