Day 123- Italian Things

Not in a great mood. It's really draining to be judged by people...I don't understand why there's this need to impose or force certain ideas on you, opinions of this or that.  Why can't I just think what I think and be left alone. Everyone has a reason for the way they are, everyone has positive things to contribute to the world...no one is perfect, no one knows everything. So just let people do what they do and like what they like.

Haha anyway...I thought I'd write a little to clear my head.

Since I've been back in Rome, it has been somewhat busy, in the best of ways...just enjoying a variety of all things Italian that have become part of my routine. I finally had some company running. Paqui decided to muster up the strength after a long day's work (brava) and we jogged together by the river. Thank god she's not one of those people that tries to have a conversation while running because...um, no. So it was good.

I also got some great news. First, Marta is staying at the apartment for more time! She was originally going to be leaving at the end of June, but now she stays through July. AND she got a job in Greece that she wanted for after here, which is so exciting. Woohoo. And second, I found out I'll be having a most special visitor in July...my boyfriend, Carlos, finally got his tickets, so after a while without seeing him I get to show off and be sexy with my Italian and plump him up with all the food here, so we can be fat and happy together! Haha. Plans for Sicily and the Amalfi Coast are in the works too...Can't wait! :)

Besides that, last Sunday, Valerio, Mary, their friend Cecco, and I, decided to leave Rome for lunch to try and get away from the heat (although to no prevail).  After driving up a long windy country road, past beautiful hillside views, we ended up at the cutest little mideveal town called Tolfa, almost 600 years old. There, we pulled up to a restaurant we found online, called "Da Buzzico", and were quickly pleased with the food. First we were surprised with a complementary appetizer, called "La Triste" (the sad one), due to its "meager" ingredients. As the hefty white bearded owner explained to us, the poor would make a broth with any small fish they could find and dip some bread in it. Later, the dish developed and is now a little more refined, consisting of a broth, a piece of bread in the middle and sardines on top, with herbs and spices sprinkled over it. As "sad" as it might have been at one point, "La Triste" was a great start to our meal. After some delicious cheeses with honey, and toasted olive-oiled bread that we rubbed with fresh garlic ourselves (yum), I thought I would never be able to finish my order.  However, when my tagliatelle with wild boar arrived, and Mr. Beard shaved fresh truffle over it, it was clear that I would be returning an empty plate. As did everyone else. Soo so good. A lunch for the books...I am definitely in the land of wine and fine dining.

Before we left, Valerio couldn't resist trying some of the home made liquors, of course we joined in...my favorite: pomegranate liquor. Afterwards,we took a walk up and down the little alleys of the town and watched the hundreds of sparrows, apparently fond of the area, flying overhead like a mobile in a baby's crib.

Distant Tolfa

Then, during the week I saw some friends from Chile, Jesu and Montse, passing through for a few days during a trip. We met at the Vatican, had lunch and went on to more tourist attractions-Piazza del Popolo, Via del Corso, Piazza Spagna- and had a much needed gelato (no joke, 35°C/99°F) at the famous and traditional gelateria Giolitti. It's a must have when in Rome. So far (since I've only tried 3 flavors), I have to say it seems like their sorbet equivalent gelatos are much better than creamy flavors. My mango, Montse's sour cherry and Jesu's watermelon all stood out as amazzinngg. I'll be going back to find out more, don't worry.

Later that day, we met up near Campo dei Fiori to have dinner and some drinks, and it turns out we chose a good night, because Italy was playing in the Eurocup (and won) so everyone was out watching the game and excited about the victory "degli Azzurri". After the food and wine, on our way to Trastevere, we saw something set up on Lungotevere, along the Tiber..so we went down to check it out. It turns out that for summer, they set up bars, restaurants, and stands, creating a type of river boardwalk. We met some people there, had a few drinks...I bought some candy (inevitable) and then called it night. As we walked to our bus stops, we couldn't resist the fresh watermelon and fruit being sold on the side of the road, so we each bought a piece and went home with our hands all sticky from the juice. Perfect ending to a summer night, though.

The next day I couldn't bring myself to leave the house again in the heat (have I mention HOW HOT it has been getting!?).  But once the sun went down, I left to meet up with Jesu and Montse again, in Trastevere to show them the bars and typical nightlife there. We had dinner and a jug of margaritas outside, explored the area a bit and then decided to go home early, since they would be leaving early the next day for Florence. I had so much fun with them here, I wish they could have stayed longer...but I'm glad we could get together and that we actually made it happen without cell phones or anything. I'm actually surprised we were successful in meeting up three times at the right time and place. Take a minute to remember what it was like without cell phones, you know those things we use all day, for everything now. Technology, huh?

Friday brought more sun, so I decided to take advantage of it and tanned a little...and then that night I cheerfully hopped on the back of Mary's motorcycle and we drove to Isola Tiberina, a little island where they have the "boardwalk" set up on the other side of the river. Close by, Maria pointed out what's left of Rome's oldest bridge, and despite the nice ambiance, had an unfortunately disappointing cocktail. After talking a while we decided to spare ourselves more bug bites and were enjoying the breeze on the motorcycle so much, that Mary decided to take me on a little tour. Could I be living in a movie any more?? We went to Aventine Hill (one of the seven hills of Rome)past some beautiful churches, to see "Il Giardino degli Aranci" (The Orange Garden), a private garden, with a secret-bearing keyhole. I can't tell you what you see if you look through it, and you might find it less than remarkable if you go, but for me it was so unexpected...maybe even a little romantic? The whole ride was the best...I feel like riding on motorcycles is one of those things people in Rome just get used to, that it's just part of their routine, so it loses its charm and  becomes normal. Like the Andes Mountains do in Santiago. I don't think Maria realizes how exciting it is to be barely holding on to the back of a bike, riding through Rome, looking around like you've never seen the world before, trying to see everything and to hold on to that moment forever. It's such a special feeling that will make the night unforgettable to me. So even if you might not fully understand what it is you've given me-Thanks Mary :).

So that basically brings me up to date...Tomorrow is Pasquina's birthday-actually today by now (HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAQUI!!!), so we decided to have a dinner all together, the perfect occasion for Valerio to teach me how to make...get ready...PIZZA. Yes, the mother of all Italian lessons. I might not be able to sleep tonight. Haha. So I will soon be writing a very special post. Until then...

Day 59- Happy Birthday Rome

Productive weekend. Catalina came and stayed with me and we went to a few of Rome's prime attractions. I went into the Basilica di San Pietro and saw the Pieta for the first time since I've been here, as well as to the Panteon, Castel Sant'Angelo and the Spanish Steps by daylight. We also stopped at Piazza Navona for lunch which was really nice. I had the Spaghetti alla Carbonara (egg bacon and cheese). It was not what I've thought a carbonara sauce consisted of this whole time, but sooo good. The egg was awesome. Of course eating in the tourist area means it was so overpriced, so that stung a little, but good nonetheless. If anything, what you put in your body to stay alive is worth it, right? More so than the beautiful 50-euro leather wallet I saw in a window? Haha.

Spanish Steps from afar

Italian flag Peek a boo 

View from Castel Sant'Angelo

Cupola in Basilica di St Pietro (Vatican)

Anyway, the highlight of my day was definitely this historical parade we stumbled upon, in honor of the Rome's 2,765th anniversary.  I just basked in the scenery watching procession of people dressed like Romans from thousands of years ago - dancers, soldiers doing war cries, the senate in their white robes, gladiators in...cloths. With the backdrop of the huge Vittorio Emanuele II Monument in Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum peeking from the distance, I basically felt like it was 700 BC. I could just imagine all the people and the festivities, with all these beautiful buildings just recently built and the Roman Empire thriving. It really makes you realize, it's all so old...

Later, while Cata went for the Collosseum, Pilar and I took advantage of the free entries this week and went to the Galleria Borguese, a modern arts museum that turned out to be completely worth a look. They had some really interesting expositions there now, especially the op art one. I was quite satisfied and thoroughly exhausted when I got home.

So classes this week were tough to stay awake for, but it's almost over. I had another Italian class today and on the way back, under the rain (still. raining.) I realized I was talking to myself in Italian. It was good practice okay? But then at some point I was just talking to myself period..."So laundry...then defrost the chicken, look up things to do in Naples, run?" I guess at that point what I needed to say was well past my abilities in the Italian language. I was pretty organized when I got home though.

And the more I'm in the kitchen with Valerio the more of a genius he proves to be. Today plain old mashed potatoes. But throw in some noce moscata (nutmeg) and it's Perfect Mashed Potatoes. He is going to be in trouble when the plane can't take off because of how HEAVY I WILL BE. God. :)

Anyway, I'm trying to get organized for my trip on Thursday. I leave with Daniela and a friend of hers, Nadine for Napoli! I'm not sure how long it takes to get there yet, but I know I leave around 10. So we're thinking we'll look around Napoli the first day, then on Friday visit Pompei and then Sunday leave after lunch. In preparation I did go running today after all...even with the rain, since you know my plan is to eat nothing but pizza. After all, they say it's the best pizza in Italy..which means it's the best in the world. I'm salivating a little...

I did go ahead and find the address for the pizzeria mentioned (and shown) in Eat, Pray, Love "L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele" (Via Cesare Sersale 1, if anyone's in the area). It definitely had to be one of my favorite parts in the book, so I cannot wait! They say there's a line, but really, who cares? It just means it's worth waiting in line for...

So I leave you with this. See if it doesn't make you want to meet me there in a few days:

"So Sofie and I have come to Pizzeria da Michele, and these pies we have just ordered - one for each of us - are making us lose our minds.  I love my pizza so much, in fact, that I have come to believe in my delirium that my pizza might actually love me, in return.  I am having a relationship with this pizza, almost an affair.  Meanwhile, Sofie is practically in tears over hers (...) "

"Pizzeria da Michele is s small place with only two rooms and one non-stop oven. It's about a fifteen-minute walk from the train station in the rain, don't even worry about it, just go. You need to get there fairly early in the day because sometimes they run out of dough, which will break your heart.  By 1:00 PM, the streets outside the pizzeria have become jammed with Neapolitans trying to get into the place, shoving for access like they're trying to get space on a lifeboat. There's not a menu. They have only two varieties of pizza here - regular and extra cheese. (...) The dough, it takes me half my meal to figure out, tastes more like Indian nan than like any pizza dough I ever tried.  It's soft and chewy and yielding, but incredibly thin. (...) How was I to have known there could be a crust in this world that was thin and doughy. On top there is a sweet tomato sauce that foams up all bubbly and cream when it melts the fresh buffalo mozzarella, and the one sprig of basil in the middle of the whole deal somehow infuses the entire pizza with herbal radiance, much the same way one shimmering movie star in the middle of a party brings a contact high of glamour to everyone around her."

-Elizabeth Gilbert (from Eat, Pray, Love)

Day 23- (Uno) Pisa

My first trip in Italy was to see the leaning tower of Pisa. "La Citta di Pisa" is about 380 km from Rome, and it took us about 4 hours to get there on the regional, non-express train. Dani and I were successfully woken up by our alarms this time, so we were on our way to the Toscana region of Italy around 6:00.  Now I must admit I was dreading sitting on a train for 4 hours, but as it turns out, getting up that early for the first time in oh, many months, made me sleepy. So, after looking out the window for a little (and catching my first glimpse of the Italian coast!) we basically slept for 3 hours and woke up in Pisa.

Once there, we went to buy our ticket back just to be sure, however it seems Italian transportation workers are not very happy lately, and went on strike. For us, this meant we were out 45 Euros if we wanted to get back that day. Upside: only a 2 hour trip. So, glass half full. End of story. Now, I had previously googled "what to do in Pisa, Italy", so we had some sort of plan...we just had to find everything, which was pretty easy once we got our hands on a map, because the city is quite small-185 square km to be precise. 

So we made a few stops around the city (and by stops I mean looked at shoes haha), and walked down the picturesque streets, taking everything in. And watching the people, I thought about those that live in the city-the locals. The Piseans. I mean you think okay, Pisa, Italy...that place exists, there's the leaning tower of Pisa.  But who actually lives in Pisa...is born there, grows up there?  Does anyone really? And of course they do. But it doesn't seem real until you're there. Until you're looking at this beautiful door, with the tarnished wood and iron knob, taking a picture, trying to capture how mysterious it is...when suddenly a woman walks up to it, unlocks it and goes inside. Because she lives there. 

And then, even what you expect of the city becomes sort of unreal. We kept walking, and out of the blue, we could see the tower in the distance. It made me feel smitten, because when you're younger you hear about the  Leaning Tower of Pisa, this crooked building somewhere in Italy and you think about how it doesn't fall over, and that the name sounds like "pizza", and do people eat pizza in Pisa? And then I'm older and I'm walking along, and boom, there it was. 

So we took the pictures (yes, we ridiculously posed holding up the tower) and then had a most delicious lunch at La Buca, with a view of the tower. What better than pasta while looking at something so legendary. And Daniela...ate pizza in Pisa. It was great. But the old man who was the owner was even better than the food. Him and his little wife who strut around serving the wine and bread...It made me want to move there and just be a waiter at his restaurant for the rest of my life. Can I please?

Pigeons in Piazza Garibaldi

Just a regular old window reflection.

For more pictures: Pisa

The rest of the day went well...we saw a few more things-Piazza dei Cavalieri, Chiesa di Santa Maria della Spina on the River Arno, a Keith Haring Mural (apparently one of his lasts) and were about ready to go home, at that point very satisfied that it would take us only half the time to get back to Rome. 

Around 11:00, I literally sighed walking into my room and fell into bed. It felt a little like coming home...

Day 1

I arrive in Rome at 5:20 p.m.-Italy time. It's only 1:20 in Chile. After a long flight to Paris, and few hours of uncomfortable and awkward sleep in the airport waiting for my connection flight, I look out the airplane window and realize I'm actually looking for the "Colosseo". Of course I can't see it...I don't even know what direction it would be in.  And it's funny, because what I can see of course doesn't even look Italian like I expected. It's been so long since I've been here. It's funny how sometimes countries are not so different when you're at the airport.  Just tiny houses and streets, and cars moving around like in a video game. So I get off the plane and lug both my suitcases towards the exit. No customs police-that was in France...so I walk out and look a little like Bambi for a second...all confused and alone. But then I found transportation desk and was in a taxi in under 5 minutes. I use my first horrible italian words to greet the driver and try and hold up conversation as Carlo drives me to where I'm supposed to stay. Viale Aurelio Saffi is only 25 minutes away so I don't feel lost for nearly as long as I thought I would. The host Giovanna greets me and shows me around the apartment and then leaves me to get settled in my room. It's basically just as nice as it looked in the pictures. I still can believe I'm here. No dinner tonight, it's dark and I like not feeling anxious about not knowing where I am for a little. I just stole a yogurt from the fridge though, which I think are only meant for the included breakfast. It's probably my idea, but the yogurt was amazing. MTV in italian is greatt except I really don't even understand a word. Ohhh well. I think for a dose of routine I'll watch a grey's episode. I have to go to the school tomorrow for all the official stuff and figure out my schedule. It seems far and a little complicated to get there...but I'm not sure. I hope not.

Still can't believe I'm here.