3 Weeks and Counting... Quickly!

This post doesn't really have a theme to it, but I felt like I needed to post an update.  What have I been up to?  Some days it seems like not so much (i.e. napping on a bench in a park... for real) and other days I wonder how I've fit everything in!  Some days I can't believe it's already been 3 weeks, but other days I feel like the time is flying by too quickly.  I'm trying to take in as much as I can and not let a day go to waste.

Bicciclete!

Last weekend my roommate, Anne-Claire and I decided to rent bikes!!  Finally!  After my feet have been covered in blisters from walking all day every day, I was excited to finally be on a bike.  I thought we would just be taking them around the city and then maybe a little ride along the Fiume Tevere (Tiber River), but it turns out Anne-Claire had bigger plans.

Anne-Claire on the Tevere

  

Once we passed Monteverde we were basically outside of the main center of the city, but still we kept going...  we road until there we no buildings and just the occasional person on the path.  It was a lovely trail passing through fields heading west towards al mare (the sea).  Here's a map to give you an idea of where we went.  I tried to map it and it was 13 kilometers one way!  We cut through the city on the way back, which was quite the trip.  95 degree weather, twisting and turning cobblestone streets with hills, and mid-day tourist rush.  We were stanchi morti (dead tired) by the end!

Bike Ride!  Blue - our route, Red - city center.

After such a long and hot ride, it was pretty amazing to get back to our casa with such incredible terraces and views of the city we just road through and around.  Here is a little video I took from our rooftop that evening.  Sorry, I don't know how to edit these and the camera filming is choppy.  I’ve learned that it is pretty special to have a cool, quiet place like this in the middle of a busy and crowded city.  The terrace has become my favorite place to go each morning when I wake up and before I go to sleep every night.

(STAY TUNED - VIDEO UPLOAD ISSUES)

Ristoranti

I've visited some pretty great restaurants in the past few weeks. One of my new favorites is Angelina.  There are two locations, one in Trevi and the one I visited in Testaccio (a great neighborhood off the beaten path of the city center - just south of Aventino and across the Tevere from Trastevere).  The space originally housed the sale of cattle and other meats, but now the main oven and wood-fired pizza oven are on display for the whole restaurant  to see as the roof opens up on warm nights.  I finally tried the Roman specialty, Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe (homemade tonnarelli tossed in pecorino with black pepper), and will definitely be having more of this yummy dish. Their tiramisu is served in a small mason jar and is some of the best I've ever had.  Delicious!

Angelina in Testaccio

Tiramisu at Angelina

Al Mare

As soon as mid-June arrives, you will find most Romans making their way to al mare every weekend at some point.  There are tons of different little beach towns along the coast line and they quickly fill up with people from the city looking for an escape from the heat.  I recently went to the little town of Fregene - this took me forever to say correctly.  It's pronounced fre-gee-naye (I think).

In Italy, most beaches don't have the familiar "walk out to the beach, plop down on your towel and enjoy" approach.  There's always some sort of club or place for you to rent chairs and umbrellas from, which is really nice if you are like me and don't love getting sand all over your towel, but it's also not very cheap.  Luckily when we arrived we were told they were setting up for their 10-year anniversary party so we did the good old towels on the beach for a few hours until we moved to one of the huge white blankets they had set up for the party.

They weren't kidding about the party.  There were entertainers (think Cirque du Soleil) wandering around, people on stilts, and this chick on a horse!  We stayed until sunset and decided to head back soon after but the party was just getting started.  As we were headed into the city around 9 or 10 p.m. the traffic was all still headed to the beach. 

Rose Garden

I read in a few places that I had to see the Rose Garden near Circo Massimo before the end of June.  All of the sudden the end of June is here so I made sure to see it this past weekend.  The park was established in 1931 and over 1100 varieties of roses are grown here.  Unfortunately, I think I missed the prime blooming time by just a few weeks but I still got my fill of some gorgeous roses.  Roses aren't my favorite, but when you are in a garden overlooking the Circo Massimo and Aventine Hill and are lucky enough to see some of these beauties, you can't help but be happy in their presence.

Thank you all for your encouragement with the blog and your emails and comments.  It's been really fun to think about what stories and pictures I want to post next.  I feel like I have so many more updates to add and don't want to shove them all into one post so more to come soon!