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!  

Look what I found!

Just up the road from my house... So close!

Fa Molto Caldo a Roma!

It's really hot in Rome!  (Rome... it's so hot right now)  I knew this was coming and I knew this was the risk I was taking by renting an apartment with no AC (sorry Sadie, it might be damn hot when you are here).  Somehow I imagined the breeze from the terrace keeping me cool.  Turns out the breeze isn't that cool and it's better to keep the shutters closed to keep out the hot sun.  Walking around is actually manageable if you can walk in the shade but if you are in the direct sun... it's pretty damn hot. Luckily most of the Cafès and Gelaterias are air conditioned (yes, any excuse to stop for a gelato).

However, I do have to say that one of the best things about Rome in the summer are the ice-cold drinking water fountains called fontanelle (little fountains) or nasoni (literal translation "big nose").  There are some 2,5000 nasoni scattered throughout the city. Some leave much to be desired...

But most are actually quite lovely and inviting.

While some aren't your typical nasoni but still delicious drinking water from a lovely fountain!

Initially, only 20 nasoni were placed in and around the city center in the 1870s, and some of the originals can still can be found in Trastevere.  As Rome expanded, more and more were installed.  280 can be found inside the old walled city.  Ancient Rome received its water through a system of aqueducts in distant cities and towns allowing the water to flow by gravity.  For more information on how the aqueducts and fountains work, take a look at this interesting article.  Who knew?

I carry around a water bottle with me everywhere and refill with fresh, cold water when I see a fontanelle. If you don't have a water bottle it's no problem - just plug the spout that resembles the nasoni with your palm or thumb, the water will spurt out of a hold on the top, providing you an ice-cold perfect drinking arch!

The only problem is the shortage of public bathrooms.  I feel too rude walking into places just to use their bathrooms so I've definitely stopped to but un cafè or gelato just as an excuse to use the bathroom.  Or maybe it's an excuse to get a gelato)!

Famiglia

Quick Notes: 

- If any of my family is reading this and I got any of the family associations wrong, let me know.  This was downloaded through some broken English and Italian and some sign language. 

- My camera battery died after my first night and I left the charger in Rome so most pictures were taken from my camera phone so sorry for the poor quality.  To see all of my photos from Campo, Sulmona and Pacentro pictures, click here.

-----------------------------

In the states, when someone is coming into town they usually make arrangements ahead to either get a hotel or clear it with their relatives a few months ahead.  And usually the family has to check their schedule to make sure those dates work well for them, etc, etc. When I emailed my family in Italy after not having seen them for 14 years they said "Okay, what time do you arrive?  We will pick you up. You're only staying for 3 days?"

Max and I were on our way to visit the family when I visited him in December of 2010 when one of the trains we had to catch after traveling for four hours from Perugia was delayed.  We finally read the dreaded words sciopero, strike.  The happens more frequently thank you would imagine in Italy and for us it basically meant there was no way we were getting to Sumlona that day.  I had to leave the next day from Rome and Max shortly after. Unfortunately, there was no way we were going to see the family that trip.  It was a big part of the reason I wanted to return so badly.  When you have family that ties you to your past, I think it's so important to do what you can to stay in touch with them... especially when they are as wonderful as this family!

That being said, I made sure Campo di Giove was on my agenda early during my stay here in Roma.  After a few emails and phone calls, I confirmed with Rita (Rita's father was the son of my Great Grandfather's sister - I think) that she would pick me up from the train station in Sulmona (for a map of Rome - Sulmona - Campo di Giove, click here).  

Sulmona is the closest large town to Campo di Giove (approximately 25,000 people).  It's in the center of a beautiful valley surrounded by green and lush mountains.  It's known for it's confetti.  When Rita told me this, I pictured bags of American-style confetti being sold in every store.  I guess I never knew those delicious candy-covered almonds we used to get at Italian weddings were called confetti.

View of Sulmona from Campo

Confetti - delicious!!

Confetti store in Sulmona

Campo di Giove is the city where my great grandfather, Vincenzo, and great grandmother, Nicola (Cola aka "Grandma Chicken") lived and where my grandmother, Freda and her two brothers, Antonio and Vittorio were born before coming to America.  After a beautiful drive up the winding hills, you pass the small town of Cansano, where Cola lived until she met Vince, and then reach the bella Campo di Giove. 

I think I forgot just how beautiful this place is.  It has a very close resemblance to Evergreen (with the exception of the centuries old village in the center) with dense green pines stopping at the tree lines and rolling hills for miles.  Campo is 2,360 meters (7,742 feet) from sea level.  There are only about 900 full time residents but is flooded with tourists and visitors in the summer and is a winter ski resort destination (4 chair lifts).

If you take an alternate route to Campo, you pass through the amazingly picturesque Pacentro.  Pacentro is 2,133 meters from sea level and has been a mountain retreat since Roman Times.  I learned this is where Vince (my great grandfather) and his father were born.  Fun fact: Pacentro is also known for being the village of origin of  the grandparents of Madonna (the entertainer, not baby Jesus's mother). 

Pacentro

Pacentro with Sulmona in the background.

Besides being in an insanely picturesque, and tranquillo city, I cannot explain how wonderful it was to spend time with my family. I stayed with Giacinto and Rita and their two boys, Jacopo and Emilio.  Jacopo was maybe 4 or 5 when we came to visit as a family 14 years ago and he somehow remembered Max's (who was 10 then) little stuffed dog, Rex. Rita speaks outstanding English for not having had much practice over the years (Rita's mother moved her and her sister, Saundra, who lives in Sulmona now, back to Campo when they were 10 and 7).  It's been 40 years and I was thankful to have Rita there to speak with because for the most part, most people there speak zero English, niente.  Giacinto and I began to communicate quite well in broken Italian and sign language.  He loved showing off his beautiful town (his parents were from Campo).  And if you take a look at the full picture album, he insisted I was in every photo showing their beautiful home... decked out in my PJs.

Everyone in the town knows each other and the main piazza is where everyone goes to meet in the morning, after siesta and after dinner.  Kids are free to do what they want and can safely go anywhere around town.  The old men gather at the pub to watch il calcio, the game (football of course), and the old women gather on benches and catch up all day long.  I met the lovely ladies below who wished me "Salute Obama" as I walked away. :)

Piazza in Campo di Giove

Gli Uomini (the men) in the bar. 

"Salute Obama!"

The best part for me was that many of the older residents knew and remember Zia Cola, aunt Cola (my grandma Chicken), fondly. Even this sweet woman in Sulmona who Saundra introduced me to was a dear friend of Cola's.

I'm not sure if places like this exist in the US, but to me it felt like a step back in time.  I had such a wonderful time with my family and I can't wait to go back again while I'm here this summer.  It brings me such a sense of calm and comfort knowing I have family so close while I'm thousands of miles from home.

Rita, Jacopo, Giacinto and Emilio (the boys were not into posing).

Jacopo, Rita, Saundra and Aldo

Rita in her delicious yogurt shop!

Jacopo and his friends.

Me and the boys.

 Again, to see all of my photos from Campo, Sulmona and Pacentro pictures, click here.

Blinking Dots

Hidden Treasures

After lunch with a friend yesterday near Piazza Navona, I stopped to look at a menu of a restaurant that was recommended to me and saw someone I used to work with seven or eight years ago.  I didn't know him well and really didn't want to have the small talk conversation so I just kept walking by.  However, I couldn't believe how random it was.  In this huge foreign city with thousands and thousands of visitors each day, what are the odds of me seeing someone I once knew in California when in the same city it's so difficult to find a place or someone you are actually looking for.  

Earlier that same day I was walking by Piazza Colonna, which has been the seat of the Italian government since 1961 - kind of like Italy’s White House, but definitely not as busy or symbolic as ours, I saw a fantastically dressed woman with gorgeous gold sandals walking into a hotel.  I remember thinking to myself that she must be the wife of someone important if not very important herself.  That afternoon, on the other side of the city, I walked out of a cafe to see the same shoes on that very same woman navigating the cobblestone in front of me.

As I kept wandering the tiny, curving streets of this ancient city with hidden treasures around every corner, I imagined a bird's eye view of the area and pictured all of us people with tracking devices on each of us and each represented by a little blinking dot.  I sat down on the bench overlooking the Tiber to rest my feet and remembered thinking about this concept when I first met Whitney.  Our paths had some so close to crossing so many times or probably had passed a few times.  But for whatever reason, our eyes didn't end up meeting until that particular night, at that particular location, sitting in those particular seats facing each other on a night where neither of us were necessarily looking.  I'm forever thankful for the fact that our blinking tracking dots were in sync that evening.

As I walk around the city I wonder which blinking dots are crossing paths with future friends or future loves...

Via www.tellussomethinggood.com

Attend what you can afford!

Updated title from Never turn down an invitation in Italia to Attend what you can afford!

I have to remember that I'm not on vacation everyday and eating out every day isn't something I'd do in the states so i definitely can't do it here while living off of my savings. Although I can't attend everything I'm invited to, I can politely turn down and try to make the next one. 


-------
I feel like I'm falling behind but wanted to update everyone on my wonderful day at the beach.  I've decided that while I'm here, if I can, I must try to accept every invitation I receive.  So when Gina invited me to go to the beach in Gaeta for the day, I didn't think twice about it.

We met early at Termini train station to find out our train was sold out as it's the same train that goes to Napoli and apparently it's busy on a Sunday morning.  No problem!  That gave us time to enjoy a bomba di cioccolato (basically a chocolate-filled doughnut) and a cappuccino while waiting for the next train.

Bomba di cioccolato e cappuccino.

We finally boarded our train only to move just a little bit and then stop again.  Everyone is used to train delays so we all sat there for a while but after 10 minutes, everyone began to get up and get off the train looking around for someone with information.  And usually that "someone" is nowhere to be seen in train stations here.  After an ambulance and many polizia came running by, we all had a sinking feeling that the train had hit someone... or worse yet, someone had let the train hit them.  The group from the crowded train waited in anticipation either to see what was going on or which terminal our new train would leave from.  When the new number popped up on the board, we began heading quickly to the new train as there would surely be a shortage of seats.  Apparently some people really needed to board that train because you would have thought a monster was running after them.  Seriously - a woman walking her baby in a stroller had to jump out of the way of these men running to get on the train!  Luckily most of us weren't as ridiculous.  We found our new seats, I said a quick prayer and hoped the person whom the ambulance was for was okay, and we were off for our hour and a half ride to Gaeta.  

Italy Map - Gaeta

Formia-Gaeta Train Station

View from Formia-Gaeta Train Station

A few of Gina's Italian friends live in Rome but are from Gaeta.  Once we got to the beach, the salty smell of the sea immediately made me realize how much I miss the beach.  We got ourselves some chairs and enjoyed the warm sun, cool breeze, and amazing people watching.  You will see some of the most fabulous bodies and some of the most not so fabulous bodies all on the same beach.  I'm not sure if Italians have a different mindset about body image than Americans, but it's almost as if they don't have the shame issue that we seem to have.  I love how they all seem to think, "Screw everyone else, I'm at the beach and I look amazing!"  Very refreshing and made me feel better about the five pounds I've already gained.  Dang!  There's that shame thing again.

Anyway, the beach was such a great time and her Italian friends were incredibly sweet and hilarious.  It was great for me to hear her speak with them but I definitely could not yet join in the conversation.  It's much easier to speak one on one when you are at my skill level (FYI, my skill level = maybe 2 out of 10).  Once again I was reminded of how fortunate I am to not only have this opportunity to live in Rome, but to have the beach such a short distance away.

Having been in Rome for almost six months, Gina has spent some time searching out restaurants other than Italian and has found some true gems.  One of which is El Norteno, a Peruvian restaurant close to Termini station.  I don't think it's possible for me to get sick of pizza and pasta, but if that happens I will definitely be back.  The spices and flavors were so unique and authentic.  I had a tamale and the seafood ceviche.  Yum!

I came home to the lovely sound of my roommate, Cho, practicing her violin.  She would say she's not very good, but I think it's lovely.  They way it echoes through the old walls of the apartment and out onto the terrace makes me feel like I'm in a movie.  She paused to let me know she had just baked a fresh apple cake out of the oven and to help myself.  Okay, now I really was in a movie.  And since I can't pass up an invitation, I helped myself... What a pretty amazing Sunday.  Truly indimenticabile (unforgettable).

Cho's Apple Cake