Introduction

On my last day in Rome I walk so, so much. From the CitizenM I walk to the Vittorio Emanuele Monument, and then from there along the Forum Romanum and the splendid Colosseum to the Domus Aurea. The domus was the official palace of the notorious Emperor Nero, who is usually credited with having instigated every villainy ever to befall ancient Rome. It has even been speculated that Nero was responsible for the great fire of Rome in 64 A.D., which burned for six days before it was brought under control and then another three days before it was put out.

When Nero committed suicide in 68 A.D. all of the Roman empire, as it were, breathed a collective sigh of relief. The early rulers of the Flavian dynasty who took over the reign from Nero were keen to rid the empire, and especially its capital, from any vestiges of the unscrupulous Nero. And so, the rooms of the Domus Aurea were quickly filled with ruble and earth, so that they would serve as the foundations of a vast complex of public baths built above them. The domus and its treasures would remain concealed, hidden away and perfectly preserved for 1600 years before they were rediscovered by accident when a little boy fell through a whole in the ground and found himself in a beautifully painted vaulted space, which was originally thought to be a grotto.

The Domus Aurea is not open daily and access is only with a tour. The number of visitors is limited to protect the art work.

From the domus I keep on walking, passing the impressive Pantheon and the elegant Spanish Steps before eventually arriving at my last stop, the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. The church houses a sculpture that depicts The Ecstacy of Santa Teresa by Bernini. Teresa was a Carmelite nun who reported having a religious vision in which an angel pierced her heart with a golden spear that filled her with divine love. Both her account and Bernini’s oeuvre were highly controversial, mainly for her account’s obvious orgasmic connotation – which clearly was not lost on Bernini: the angel’s arrow, for example, is very obviously not pointing to Teresa’s heart but her… somewhere else.

By this stage, I’m seriously exhausted from all the walking. Fortunately, I have a reservation for afternoon tea at the St. Regis Grand Hotel on the other side of the road from Santa Maria della Vittoria.

The afternoon tea at the St. Regis Grand Hotel is served in the Lumen lounge in the central atrium. The atmosphere is calm and peaceful. A waiter immediately comes to see to us and guides us to a table in a small blue salon off the main atrium.

Very quickly the table is set for the afternoon tea and we are brought the menus with the tea selection. While we wait, our waiter brings us a bottle of San Pellegrino, a bowl with nuts and another bowl with vegetable crisps.

I go for the Darjeeling, which is usually my second choice if they don’t have an Earl Grey. The tea is served with honey.

The food is brought out in two stages. First, we are brought a three tier étagère with the savouries. I rather like that they only serve finger sandwiches, so it’s rather a traditional service. On the top shelf are the ham and cheese sandwiches. These are simple but very nice.

On the middle shelf are the cucumber and mint sandwiches with crème fraîche. These are nice too and very refreshing.

And then at the bottom are the salmon sandwiches – because you have to have smoked salmon sandwiches with afternoon tea.

The first étagère is removed and a second one is brought out with the scones and sweets. These scones are small, but very tasty. They are served with a large bowl of whipped cream and strawberry jam.

In the middle of the étagère is a plate with two slices of chocolate cake. This is very good and somehow tastes very Italian.

And then on the top shelf, there is a small selection of sweet pastries.

Conclusion

I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon tea at the St. Regis Grand Hotel Roma. I think what I like the most is that they strike a good balance between the sweet and savoury dishes. Very often, the savouries are underrepresented, whereas there are so many sweets that you barely manage to escape a sugar coma.

By the time we leave the St. Regis, it’s already starting to get dark. I figure it might be good to take a digestive walk back to the CitizenM, which takes about forty minutes and takes us past the Vittorio Emanuele monument and some of Rome’s grandest sights.