Sotto Le Stelle - FIUMICINO

Sotto Le Stelle, Via del Faro, Fiumicino, Rome, Italy Review covers open-air dance/dining area; not the swim-pool/reception area next door. Three years, three reviews and counting but weve been enjoying the dinner/dance routines at Sotto Le Stelle for more years than we can remember,...having explored a host of different venues along this section of the coast within easy reach of Rome. So, the current review is much like those that were submitted earlier; in other words: plus a change, plus c'est la mme chose. As-we-said-before, this place provides great entertainment, a reasonable choice menu and good value local foods. It is not your regular tourist venue but the haunt of the locals of all ages, social groups and dance capabilities. So familiar is the Sotto Le Stelle over the years that you can see the changing dance routines, the dance groups that form and reform when people move on, the pleasure of an open dance floor and the exotic/unusual atmosphere of the music playing with the aircraft overhead. Now theres a novel feature this place is under the landing/take-off path of Fiumicinos north-south runway closest to the seashore. (The second north-south runway is further away and adjacent to the Rome-Civitavecchi autostrada You dont hear the aircraft after h when the dancing/music begins half-hour of tuition for those interested in learning some (new) ballo di gruppo routines before the formal musicians and/or the audio deck/jockey takes over for the evenings entertainment. But you get all the visuals landing lights, tail-light/airline logo, etc. and whoosh theres this glimpse of an enormous shadow passing overhead. On a clear night with a sweep of stars in the dark sky, theres the exhaust glow of the engines as the plane climbs. The music, rhythm and speed of the dance tends to dominate the dancers lost to themselves as a couple spin their quickstep through a corner or, people in groups, feet sliding/tapping/hesitating/turning as they dance in synchrony with those around them. Youre not here to watch the aircraft, but to escape into the music and dance youre on an open floor next to the beach a short distance from the defunct Fiumicino lighthouse, where the Tevere exits into the Mediterranean. This review covers a Friday probably the more popular dance evening of the weekend. Wed arrived for h to catch a meal before dancing began and to talk with friends at our shared table. Once the dancing begins, the music is too loud for talking easily. Looking back through those earlier reviews choice of food/prices seem to be much the same leastways for our preferred choice of meals. You pay each for entry (with the option of a pizza/pasta deal together with the entry ticket). This evening, however, we were chasing different foods insalate di mare and spaghetti alle vongole which cost and respectively. A bottle of frizzante complemented the meal So, our evenings entertainment and meal, respectively, came to Get to the venue for h and order immediately, and the food arrives quickly less competition. Then you dont have to take time out from dancing to eat (when you food gets cold). The young cameriere mainly men zip around the tables balancing their plates/bottles. Our meals were good food well-presented and attractive to look at neither large nor small and with the majority vongole complete shells. There was a noisy party at the swimming pool/reception area next door the reason that the car park was full when wed arrived. You dont notice this, however, after h when the formal dance music begins. Theres a stage at one end of the floor and, this evening, it featured NonStopBand comprising a singer with a pair of backup musicians all men the musicians accompanying the singer with an accordion and an electronic keyboard. Great music and vocals, with the singer using his stage choreography animated, full-of-life, entertaining across the width of the stage and stepping down on to the dance floor to sing microphone in hand surrounded by dancers. Post-Ferragosto and there were perhaps less than people on hand that evening other times the place is heaving with plenty of space available on the dance floor. We enjoyed our usual mixed stranieri/locals table half-dozen couples people whom we had known for many years. The table/venue exemplifies images of Italy in summer sure, it can be warm/humid (it was that evening) but you stack this against the pleasure of the music, the people around you and the dance routines that captures your joie de vivre. Weve said it before, but mid-summer in Rome is all about pleasure, festivals and holidays for many; this is where eating al fresco and dancing to popular Italian music captures you the sense of pleasure when moving to well-known routines. Fiumicino Airport simply provides those exotic sounds and sights off-stage Sotto Le Stelle at its best. Peter Steele May *Satirical statement attributable to Alphonse Karr, and from his satirical monthly journal Les Gupes (aka the Wasps (July

Sotto le stelle, fiumicino, rom, italien midsummer in rom and all the centers around celebrating, time-out routines and the community festivals available in the July-August period; this is where dance and eat al fresco rule. safe, there are many places to dance, but beach side with. space and shadows to save, an almost full moon and those pictures that from dance and music in wide range of airplanes climbing into the cloud cover or stars over them provide theatre that they do not find easy elsewhere; this is best the sotto le place. we have come to them for more years that we can remember, watching the change of the old watch and the coming of the new; all these musicians and singers – an iconic shade of traditional music and well-known dance routines. last weekend, for example, we took nights in Friday and Sunday, the familiarity of the first – human and dance – and the second less. safe, sometimes we recognize couples and groups of other places in this part of rom – you can also tell them, because they bring their own steps/routines to music; and sometimes dance separately in small groups (ballo di groupo). Here they fall in and copy; learning routines that are interesting, for example, for the speed of foot movements or for those who are only more energetic to manage. Here the older dancers sometimes lose steam – but nobody cares about them, their partner (for ballroom routines) and the open floor. they mix with eating, with the cognoscenti come earlier – to order and eat before the music/dance routines begin – popular music draws from the conversation around the table, and you can eat cold as people change to the floor. Friday they pay for dancing and pizza/pasta (if they do not eat, enters on Sunday is free. we do not remember that from previous years, but perhaps it is a reflexion about falling pay or more astute management. whatever, Sunday dance is a great value to zero entry fee. yesterday we ordered margharita pizza and pasta arrabiati (tomato mix with tweepers, chilis garlauch) with a handful basilikum on the top. add a bottle aqua frizzante and we pay for three hours of entertainment. great. (for the first day on Friday we ordered spaghetti/vongole – large plates with dishes overloaded – and paid via our ticket/paste ticket; for two pasta/vongole networks (i.e. around half the typical restaurant price – great taste great value). the day temperatures increase in July-August to the high degc and begin in the evening to reduce the moisture, but can remain high. in this weekend everyone was a “walking shower”, with people who change shirts, tops and T-shirts in the evening. the sotto le stelle is highly recommended if you want the traditional Italian night not to explore a straniero/a in itself. best they need a car to get there. peter steele rom

Sotto le stelle, fiumicino they come for the dance they can eat here – most people eat when they are here – but they really come for the social dance al fresco in an atmosphere dominated by dance music and fiumicino airport directly on the road; when the winds from the south (if it is really warm at mid-summer) and the late evening trips are climbing low. atmosphere is all it is like in a virtual reality play station – a impression of start-off lights, wing silhouettes and cabin windows, with the colored emblem illuminated at the **** and alitalia (natural), singapore, norwegian and others. you can hardly hear how the jets above the beat of the music that turns around the dance floor, but you can pick up the gap of the occasional short-stroke turboprop aircraft that make this last flight of the evening into the balkan. if there is a moon, this is a charming dance floor – the aircraft (and the clouds) skip the face of the mondes – and there are the musicians and singers on an elevated platform at one end, and the or more dancers in their separate groups turn and turn to the dictates of their dance sequences. this is first line “balli di gruppo” there are more and more dancers than men on the floor – with the change on “ballo lischo” for the couples and their quick steps, tango, rumbas, rollr and more. eat italics dance and eat well. beach side sotto le stelle is popular in summer months. dancing on a full may be a challenge, however, and the cognoscenti tend to eat before the music begins – at There’s still canned music play, but it is not so loud. You can talk comfortably. there is also half an hour of instruction available. cost for dancing add a basic pizza/pasta meal and the cost are choose something else from the menu and they simply pay the additional costs via their ticket. spaghetti alla vongole, for example, cost an additional earlier in this week (e.g. dancing and eating). a bottle of water costs – they drink plenty of a summer evening. service is good – fast and friendly – with the young men and their ipads, who take the order and spend minutes later balancing their plates and trusting around the periphery of the dance floor to provide tables hidden in the dark. they seem to remember everyone. you can dance until midnight, but depending on the age, mobility and ability to hang there (especially when you learn to copy), people begin to leave after a few hours; their dresses, shirts, t-shirts, tops and blouses that stick to them. many bring a change of clothes. this is not her regular tourist italy, but on Friday night simply a firm of the new weekend for families and friends. here the local children learn to dance first. peter steele rom