Europe

“Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” (Drink from Joyful Cups) in Rome

My husband and I recently visited Italy for our anniversary. We had wonderful time there. Italy is a fabulous mix of history, religion, archeology, art, delicious food and great music. While traveling from Venice to the south Amalfi, my favorite place is Rome.

Rome is a museum itself.  There are so many historical places to see: Colosseum, St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon……Every morning we went out very early to avoid the crowds.  

We stayed downtown in Rome, only 3 minutes walking distance from Piazza Navona. The fountains of the 4 rivers in the center of Piazza Navona, is Rome’s most famous square, and was designed and created by Bernini. We thoroughly enjoy staying this neighborhood. With the narrow cobblestone roads, there are restaurants and shops. People are outside eating and talking until after midnight.

The fountains of the 4 rivers in the center of Piazza Navona, designed and created by Bernini
Downtown of Rome

I cook every day at home. Although not a great cook, I am very curious how other people make delicious cuisine. I found pasta in Italy are so pleasant and soaked with flavor. In the restaurants downtown, we saw they handmade noodles from scratch. I think this is the one main reason why pasta in Italy tastes so good, because they are freshly handmade and are easy to soak in the flavor when wet. Actually many secrets in food preparation are freshly making. During our entire trip, I had the most yummy seafood pasta also in the downstairs restaurant in Rome.

Cannot forget Italian coffee when coming to food and drink. Cappuccino is probably Italy’s most famous coffee. It is certainly my favorite type of coffee. It’s basically ⅓ espresso, ⅓ steamed milk and ⅓ foam. I feel espresso is too bitter. We have cappuccino in USA, but some kinds of too sweat. We also found enjoyable Tiramisu downstairs shop. Tiramisu is a coffee-flavoured Italian dessert.

Italian cappuccino & Tiramisu

When I was a little girl, my dream was becoming a Beijing opera singer. My father’s coworkers were my loyal audience. Unfortunately, one day a professional of Beijing opera came to our elementary school, and said that I don’t have strong voice to perform on the stage. My opera dream did not come to true, now my career is laboratory scientist. However, I always enjoy listening to all kinds of operas.

One night when we walked back to the apartment, there were two opera singers singing “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” (Let’s drink from the joyful cups). The lovely song certainly delight the night and encourage the joy of wines and beers! The song is from the opera of La Traviata, which was composed by Giuseppe Verdi based on “La Dame aux Camelias” from the novel by Alexandre Dumas fils. The title “La traviata” means literally “The Fallen Woman”. La traviata tells the story of the tragic love between the courtesan Violetta and the romantic Alfredo Germont.

Singing “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” (Let’s drink from the joyful cups) in the street of Rome

Before we came back to USA, I found St Paul’s Within The Wall church holding an opera concert of “La traviata”. St Paul’s Within The Wall church was in a walking distance to where we stayed. I purchased two tickets and we went to the performance. The majority of audience were Italians and some English speakers. The performance was successful. We were allowed to take pictures during the performance, without flash light. I especially like the ending of extra “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici”. The performance of group of three is always fun to watch. The short video is enclosed. The link below is the opera show of “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” with English caption if you are interested.

The opera concert of “La traviata” in St Paul’s Within The Wall church

20 thoughts on ““Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” (Drink from Joyful Cups) in Rome”

  4. I haven’t been to Rome for around 45 years. I hope the driving there has improved. I remember we sat on some steps overlooking a busy, complicated road junction and watched in amazement as countless speeding cars missed one another by centimetres and blasted their horns angrily, until two drivers misjudged it entirely and slammed into one another. Another memory is of lots of cats, particularly (and appropriately, I suppose) around the Coliseum. But we never got to see any opera, something I now regret. The La Traviata performance you attended looks like fun!

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    1. I didn’t see too crazy driving within the limited stay time in Rome, but saw it in Amalfi every day. Two big buses stopped, trying to adjust position to pass in the narrow curve road, while the motorcycle driver were grabbing the opportunity and passing between two buses. Eventually the buses passed with centimeters distance between them and the wall😉. There are many little smart cars in Rome right now. It possibly helps the traffic, I hope🤞
      I didn’t see any cats around Colosseum, maybe with the tour group, too many people, scared the cats🐱
      Thank you for your comment. It is interesting to compare Rome today and yesterday😄

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      2. You will have wonderful time in Rome. It is such a fascinating city! When we visited Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel on Sep 29, the tour lady told us there were 22000 visitors to Vatican museum on Sep 28, Wednesday. Every Wednesday the Pope also holds a General Audience. We visited Vatican in the early morning (7:30AM) to avoid the crowds. Have a great trip😊

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  6. Hi June,
    We just returned from 7 days in Rome (and Venice too). It was our third time in Rome–previously in late August, mid-October, and now early November. This trip had comfortable weather–mid 60’s mostly. Very busy I thought. I mentally planned for the ‘crowds’. The Vatican was crowded–we went early afternoon midweek. To witness all that beauty is mind-blowing. And the Sistene Chapel is in a league all it’s own. Also saw the Pantheon, Coloseum, and much more. Lots of pizza and Gelato daily. And lots of walking and picture taking. Will return soonish. Much thanks.

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    1. Awesome 👏 I am jealous that you went to Rome three times at different months. That is so cool. Our Italy trip was my first time and my husband second times. I surely love to visit Rome again. The art masterpieces, history and delicious foods…… l also love the smart cars in Rome. They are so cute and pretty😻 Thank you for the update. Much appreciate!

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