that inspired me...

It was a rare opportunity that we went on a Europe trip last year without parents. We were my sister, brother in law, me and most of all, their first time away so far without parents, my cousin sister and brother. There was a lot of walking on our free and easy tour. It was like an adventure to the kids! Although tired, we always found ourselves enjoying immensely when we sank into comfortable environment at our pit-stop eatery places.

I was particularly in love with this place called The Caffettiera and my diary reads...

Our next mission was to locate a highly recommended tea room and the best galaterie in Rome... This was what the city guidebook said about the places: La Caffettiera Politician from the nearby parliament buildings lounge in the sumptuous tearoom of this temple to Neapolitan goodies, while lesser mortals bolt coffees at the bar. The rum baba reigns supreme, but ricotta lovers rave over the crunchy sfogliatella and rich pastiera.

We found the Caffettiera after walking passed a castle and the Pantheon. According to the guidebook, the Pantheon was built by Hadrian in AD 119-128 as a temple to the most important deities; the inscription on the pediment records a Pantheon build 100 years before by General Marcus Agrippa. The bronze doors are the original Roman ones. Inside, the Pantheon's glory lies in its dimensions. The diameter of the hemispherical dome is exactly equal to the height of the building. At the centre of the dome is the oculus, a circular hole 9m in diameter, a symbolic link between the temple and the heavens.

We were so tired by the time we reach the Caffetteira... we found a sofa seating area and the tea room was a fantastic place to hang out and unwind (not that we were done for the day yet). Their hot chocolate was superb, I had one with hot chilly pepper (ya... very special and spicy) and it's delicious! Alan's coffee was a but strong, but it looks really good! The cakes were great, we didn't get to try the recommended sfogliatella but the ones we ordered were just great. We spent more than one hour here and the best thing was no one bothered us and we didn't feel pressured at all to leave by the waiters. We spent lesser than at the earlier cafe we went and got so much more in return. Really highly recommended!

And so I thought, isn't TeaRoom a wonderful idea? Make that my dream... It's going to be called The TeaRoom by Bel Jee.