Well, Bob and Jane are now on their way to Sicily leaving us all alone except for the five extra pounds I am sure we are carrying around now.
The last six days have been an eating and drinking marathon interspersed with the occasional long walk, mainly searching for artichokes. Certain important discoveries were made. For example, it is possible—at least for Bob—to eat pasta and pizza at the same meal. And, yes, one can eat a huge lunch with two tankards of white wine and five hours later go on to eat dinner and drink two bottles of red wine.
Steve leaves tomorrow and I am putting myself on the wagon—well, maybe just a glass of wine at sunset—for the week I am here by myself.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
One is silver and the other gold
I’ve lived here for almost three months but new discoveries are still possible.
Yesterday while doing the the grand tour of il centro storico with Bob and Jane, we went into the church on the Piazza della Minerva and discovered a chapel with delicate frescos by Filippino Lippi I hadn’t seen before. After the requisite period of oohing and aahing, we went up to the roof of the hotel next door where new surprises awaited us—a fabulous view over the Pantheon and a refreshing new cocktail of Aperol, prosecco and soda water, a perfect addition to the menu in Maine. It’s a beautiful orange color and goes really well with Rome’s terracotta colors not to mention a plate of prosciutto and sweet melon or perhaps a caprese salad of mozzarella, tomato and basil.
And then there's the thrill and the luxury of revisiting old discoveries again. Like stopping in to the Palazzo Barbarini for a quick session with amazing paintings by Bronzino and Carvaggio. Or eating at Piperno for the third time and ordering carciofi alla guida yet again. Absolutely the best in Rome!
Yesterday while doing the the grand tour of il centro storico with Bob and Jane, we went into the church on the Piazza della Minerva and discovered a chapel with delicate frescos by Filippino Lippi I hadn’t seen before. After the requisite period of oohing and aahing, we went up to the roof of the hotel next door where new surprises awaited us—a fabulous view over the Pantheon and a refreshing new cocktail of Aperol, prosecco and soda water, a perfect addition to the menu in Maine. It’s a beautiful orange color and goes really well with Rome’s terracotta colors not to mention a plate of prosciutto and sweet melon or perhaps a caprese salad of mozzarella, tomato and basil.
And then there's the thrill and the luxury of revisiting old discoveries again. Like stopping in to the Palazzo Barbarini for a quick session with amazing paintings by Bronzino and Carvaggio. Or eating at Piperno for the third time and ordering carciofi alla guida yet again. Absolutely the best in Rome!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Perle Mesta comes to Rome
Sitting around waiting for Bob and Jane to arrive. So what else is new?
The last few days the weather has been positively bipolar. Brilliantly sunny and warm enough at times to wear one of my new pair of sandals (!) and then a tremendous thunderstorm with dramatic and startling lightening and torrential rainfall.
Last night, we entertained at home. Aramis, my gorgeous and lovely Cuban trainer, and his girlfriend came over for drinks. We polished off a bottle of white wine from Sicilia with cheese and my new obsession, fava beans. Conversation was interesting since his girlfriend spoke no English but I gamely tried to talk Italian and some how it worked.
A little later, we all walked out to a near by wine bar and finished off the evening with a bottle of delicious red wine from Sardegna and some more cheese and salami. Steve claims I fell asleep with my glasses on and holding my book. This I don’t remember.
The last few days the weather has been positively bipolar. Brilliantly sunny and warm enough at times to wear one of my new pair of sandals (!) and then a tremendous thunderstorm with dramatic and startling lightening and torrential rainfall.
Last night, we entertained at home. Aramis, my gorgeous and lovely Cuban trainer, and his girlfriend came over for drinks. We polished off a bottle of white wine from Sicilia with cheese and my new obsession, fava beans. Conversation was interesting since his girlfriend spoke no English but I gamely tried to talk Italian and some how it worked.
A little later, we all walked out to a near by wine bar and finished off the evening with a bottle of delicious red wine from Sardegna and some more cheese and salami. Steve claims I fell asleep with my glasses on and holding my book. This I don’t remember.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
The last supper
Last night, Christine took Steve, me and Jeff to what she described as a simple trattoria serving traditional Roman food. No menu. The owner just recites a short list of pastas for the first course and then a few meats and vegetables for the secondi.
It was when the plate of heart and lungs and artichokes was placed on the table, all looking very dark and green and not very appetizing, that I realized that this was the first night of Passover. Oy vey, my mother would not have been happy. She would be pleased to know that I did not eat the heart and lungs but that I did drink four glasses of red wine—Brunello not Manaschevitz.
It was when the plate of heart and lungs and artichokes was placed on the table, all looking very dark and green and not very appetizing, that I realized that this was the first night of Passover. Oy vey, my mother would not have been happy. She would be pleased to know that I did not eat the heart and lungs but that I did drink four glasses of red wine—Brunello not Manaschevitz.
Friday, April 18, 2008
They should pay me to live here
I should be doing this for a living. At age 60, I’ve got a whole new career—personal cicerone in the Eternal City. I can thread my way through the streets of Rome leading you to the Pantheon, Piazza Navona on to Fontana di Trevi and Piazza da Spagna, the Piazza del Popolo and back. I know what churches to stop into to see the Carvaggios, where to get the best gelato and I can do this all while spouting off lots of random information with an air of great authority.
My map is in tatters but I’m not buying a new one. I’ve got three more weeks and I’m finally off book.
My map is in tatters but I’m not buying a new one. I’ve got three more weeks and I’m finally off book.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Excursion
Yesterday we finally got off our asses and out of Rome for the day. We drove to Tuscany on the sea to look at a villa with Alex, our rental agent here in Rome, and his friend Roberto, owner of the villa.
The villa is lovely and right on the ocean although the countryside around it isn’t nearly as pretty or as interesting as the areas inland in Tuscany we’ve looked at. It was a gorgeous day and we sat outside in the garden enjoying the view while Roberto, an excellent cook, whipped up a delicious lunch of pasta with eggplant. Throughout the day, Alex’s cell phone kept going off—his ring tone is the sound of car siren!—and we listened in awe as he effortlessly switched between French, Spanish, English and then back to rapid Italian. All this while driving, too. He says his Portuguese is even better than his Spanish and he can speak a little Chinese having lived in Shanghai for a few years.
On the way home, we stopped at the near by town of Talamone to look at the marina, the usual scene with fisherman repairing their nets. When we stopped for coffee in Porte Ercole I had my first maroconini, a coffee, cream and chocolate confection that was absolutely delicious and definitely gave me a buzz. For a moment, I considered making this new drink a regular feature of my day but then I thought hey, I've given up diet coke why take on another possible addiction. And, then, there's always prosecco.
The villa is lovely and right on the ocean although the countryside around it isn’t nearly as pretty or as interesting as the areas inland in Tuscany we’ve looked at. It was a gorgeous day and we sat outside in the garden enjoying the view while Roberto, an excellent cook, whipped up a delicious lunch of pasta with eggplant. Throughout the day, Alex’s cell phone kept going off—his ring tone is the sound of car siren!—and we listened in awe as he effortlessly switched between French, Spanish, English and then back to rapid Italian. All this while driving, too. He says his Portuguese is even better than his Spanish and he can speak a little Chinese having lived in Shanghai for a few years.
On the way home, we stopped at the near by town of Talamone to look at the marina, the usual scene with fisherman repairing their nets. When we stopped for coffee in Porte Ercole I had my first maroconini, a coffee, cream and chocolate confection that was absolutely delicious and definitely gave me a buzz. For a moment, I considered making this new drink a regular feature of my day but then I thought hey, I've given up diet coke why take on another possible addiction. And, then, there's always prosecco.
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