Monday, October 31, 2011
Typical Italian roof, light, and color house that I love. And especially Roman with the cross on the side of the house and the little square window!
In Rome there were also military cars and people on every corner, it was bizarre! And also, there were more Vespas than cars on the streets, as you can see parked here!
Italy = Wine + Pasta
Italians are not skinny like the French!
And for those who know Rome, some of the sights I saw:
The Pantheon (duh)
Outside the Colliseum
Piazza Navona
Castel Santangelo
Fontagne di Trevi
San Piedro (also through a secret peep hole across the city that only locals know about)
Villa Porghese
Tratstevere
Piazza di Espange
Monument Victor Emmanuel II
The Basilica (Vatican)
The Catacombs
...just to name a few!
Literally: Roman munks on the streets (not halloween!), gelato man wanting to get in my pic of the gelato, roasted chestnuts
Roasted chestnut sellers were everywhere on the streets, so I decided it is time I try one! They are cooked on this big metal platform, and as they get hot they crack open and turn yellow!
The beautiful and colorful streets of Rome, an already made ministrone soup mixture at the market, Italian shoes at Piazza Espangola!fthe
The most fun thing for me at all of these little markets is finding the true meaning of regional food. In the United States, the only experience we have with regional food is the asparagus festival in Stockton, wine in Napa Valley, and maybe a few things we find at farmer's markets. But peaches in Tahoe do not represent the region, as they most likely come from Sacramento somewhere (if we are lucky it came from that close by). In Italy, everywhere I went had something new featured on the menus, and the markets had a completely different array of food!
So in these pictures show how the long-stemmed purple artichoke comes from the southern-central area of Italy. And the grapes that will be shown are long, skinny, and look a little dimented. I have never seen these before, as these only exist in Italy and especially this area! Even the apperativo (with a buffet) was a specialty of Rome.
In Florence, I tried Papa di Pomodoro. This was a soup specialty only in Florence litterally made from basil, garlic, bread, and tomatoes! It was so simple, yet I will always think of Florence when I make it again. (Recipe below, definitely worth a try. Quick, easy, and AMAZING!) In Florence I also had cioccolotto, which is hot chocolate Italian style. It is so thick with hot chocolate that you need a spoon to eat it because it is almost like pudding. This you can ONLY find in Italy, I have never experienced anything quite like it in my life.
In San Fruttuoso (near Sestri Levante), they were famous for their pesto and something called "troffi". Troffi is a pasta that is made with some added potato, so almost gnocchi, but is skinny like pasta. It was created to perfectly retain the pesto onto the pasta.
And of course, in Cinque Terre, the sea food tomato/wine sauce spaghetti was a specialty there, considering it was on the sea. The mussels, clams, shrimp, and pine nuts (from the nearby pine trees) were all found likely within a mile or 2 of the restaurant where I was eating.
Even in Riomaggiore, the fifth town of Cinque Terre (the only one we got to explore), there was the specialty lemons called "Limones di Riomaggiore". There were lemon trees in almost every single backyard.
Pictures and videos of all of these are to come!
Primero: Roma!
Rome was the first stop of my many adventures! I went there to visit Melanie and Neil, but went a day early to explore a little on my own. I would not have chosen to see Rome if it Melanie and Neil had not been there, but now I regret even considering not going. This city was the most majestic city I have ever been to, with 2000-3000 year old buildings and monuments on every single corner (at least). I have literally never seen so much history packed into one city! It is indescribable!
I took a map and circled every area I wanted to see, then followed it walking for 8 hours straight as a self-guided walking tour. And as I walked from one to another, I would stop every 20 feet to check out a new church, store, restaurant, or monument that was new and exciting! I took way too many pictures, so hopefully the ones I post give just a general idea of some of the things I found beautiful and mind-boggling.
My favorite things were: sipping tea next to a beautiful big church, walking in Piazza Espangola (where I tried roasted chestnuts and my first true Italian pizza for lunch, and was the most high-end and interesting shopping street of Rome), seeing the GIGANTIC "Wedding Cake" also known as "Victor Emmanuel Monument", meeting 4 cute Spanish boys in the Piazza Navona (covered in street art) and realizing that I seriously need to practice my Spanish, dancing to a blues band by the Castle Santaigo, and sipping an "apperativo" in Trastevere. An "apperativo" is a traditional Italian night-time/dinner thing. In trastevere there are dozens of bars that charge you for 1 drink, usually about 5-10 euros worth, and then they put out a buffet of all sorts of veggies, meats, and italian finger foods that you can help yourself to with the price of the drink! So this was economical, and the easiest way for me to try a BUNCH of Italian things for the price of not even one! And so I sat there at one of the tables on the terrace and people watched while I also practiced my Italian with my handy-dandy Italian conversation translation book.
The most incredible part of my first day began when I was walking home. It was about 8:30 pm and it had just gotten dark and I figured that, for safety reasons (mom, dad, and mimi), and I needed to start heading home to the hostel. As I was walking out to the street, completely puzzled by the awful bus system in Rome (I will get more to my feelings on Italian transportation later), a nice girl and guy about my age asked me if I needed help finding my way. Halleluja! I knew they were safe because they were very clearly Americans who were just exploring the city like me, so I asked them where I could catch the bus to get back to my hostel. We started walking to the bus stop (they wanted to show me to make sure I got there safe) and I found out that they were both students studying abroad in Rome! So we were having a blast getting to know each other, and then I decided to stay with them and explore the city with them a little before going home! They took me up on a hill to the best view of all of Rome at night, then we went to their favorite gelato spot, and then to the top of their appartment roof overlooking the Vatican! I saw the Pope's lights on just across the street! And after that, they wanted to make sure I got home safely so the boy paid for my taxi and sent me on my way! It was an incredible first night!
The magic of Roma!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
"When in Rome!"
I have used that phrase too much already!!! Everything yesterday for me was, when in Rome! Double scoop of gelato, crossing the crazy roundabout street with no lights, flirting with the cute italian waiters at the restaurant, trying a sparkling wine aperativo with an amazing buffet at the bar (as you know i am not a big drinker, but when in rome!), going in every church i see and climbing every flight of stairs to the top, singing in the streets with my friends i met yesterday who live here and going to the tip top of the building looking into the Vatican late at night (and seeing the Pope's lights on in his room!), tasting chestnuts cooked right there on the street, walking through the millions of markets, saying gratsi milli and ciao everywhere i go, and gaping like i have never gaped before on every corner of every street (this is definitely the most beautiful city throughout that I have every seen in my life)...therefore the phrase "When in Rome!" is being used to its full potential.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
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