roma: what a whirlwind.

Let me just start by saying...RO-MA RO-MA-MA! Just kidding. But we did do a lot of Lady GaGa singing this weekend.

I'm always a little overwhelmed about how to begin on these long weekend recaps when I don't get to do updates day by day AS I'm experiencing everything. To be honest, Rome just felt like a whirlwind. I loved it, but I never really felt like I was THERE, you know what I mean? Anyway, the trip started at 7 AM on Friday morning, when I was on my way to the bus...and realized that I'd forgotten my passport, which API had expressly asked us to bring (that we didn't end up needing...annoying!). So Sam and I both ran back to the apartment, up the hellstairs, and then back to the bus, where we got some of the WORST seats, all the way in the back. Oh, well.

I slept most of the way, after putting my headphones in. We arrived in Rome around 11 AM, and were herded off the bus, divided into groups, and sent off onto the most impromptu and unexplained tours, ever. I could hardly hear the guide, but I was having a good time just being there and seeing everything. We started in the Piazza di Spagna, where we saw...

the Spanish Steps.

Then we headed to the Trevi Fountain, where I, of course, took the cheesy shot of me throwing my coin in.

The fountain itself.

The Pantheon was also on our route.


The Piazza Navona.

Haha, the guide wanted to show us this statue really badly, but when we got to it, it had been covered for some reason. Apparently, back in the old days (technical term), when people weren't allowed to speak out against the Roman government, people would come in the night and write on these statues all over the city whatever they were thinking about, and then other people would write in response on other statues...so the statues were "talking" to each other!

There was also a market area called Campo di Fiore, and this little truck in there just amused me.

Flower stand in the market.

After the tour, we were all WIPED, so we checked into the hotel and I crashed for about an hour. I was ready to go after that, though, so while Gillian and Sam napped some more, Marissa and I went out for a walk. We stumbled upon a cute little bakery with the most DELICIOUS looking pastries, so of course we had to stop. I thought this was a cannoli, but I was wrong...still good, though.

We walked toward the Tiber River (Tevere, in Italian) and stumbled upon the isola in the middle of the river.

The sidewalk to the Isola was really pretty.

On the bridge, we came upon a man making copper jewelry by hand. I bought a copper ring from him from 6 euro. Pretty sweet.


Later that night, after Sam and Gillian had joined us, we went to an exhibit in the Piazza Cancelleria of drawings and remakes of Leonardo da Vinci's works.

The exhibit was very interactive, and interesting.

Water shoes! Remember, from the movie Ever After?

That night, we went in search of this mysterious restaurant where Gillian's parents had eaten while they were in Rome. After we made it all the way across town to where their hotel was, we found out that it was a lunch restaurant. Fortunately, Gillian had another trick up her sleeve. She took us to a restaurant on top of a building on a terrace, so we had a view off. The food was definitely good, but I wasn't totally WOWED. Apparently, when we were leaving, the waiter told my roommate Sam that I was beautiful, haha. We were totally exhausted at this point, so we retired to the hotel with a bottle of wine and just relaxed.

The next morning, we woke up super early to take advantage of the hotel breakfast without having to wait in a super long line. After breakfast, we were taken on a tour of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Look! That's me in front of St. Peter's, with The Jacket on (in spite of the ridiculous this-is-so-not-February heat).

There was all kinds of crazy art in the Basilica. It was beautiful, but a bit too ornate and overdone for my taste...but I guess that is the Baroque style. Me and my roommates just felt that it is a little hypocritical for Catholics to espouse the philosophy of living humbly and serving the Lord and then to have this enormous church full of priceless art and extreme wealth...but maybe that's just my cynicism about Catholicism talking.

Statue of St. Peter, and the line of Catholics waiting to touch his feet.

After the tour of St. Peter's, we were taken to the Castel of San Angelo, where the pope went in the past in case of emergency, for protection. The castle itself was pretty fascinating, but by this point, I was SO hot, sweaty, and thirsty that I could barely pay attention to the guide. I needed a restaurant, and fast.

This was the view from San Angelo's onto the city of Rome. Pretty inspiring.

After grabbing lunch at a salad bar that API had recommended in the Vatican area, we realized that none of us knew where the Sistine Chapel was. If you had asked me, I would have told you that it was in St. Peter's....so wrong. We guessed that it HAD to be in the Vatican museum, because there was just nowhere else on the map that it could possibly be. Fortunately, we were correct. Most of us thought that we would buy a ticket, walk in, and be able to go directly to the Chapel....wrong again. We walked through hall upon hall of art, and honestly, by the end, I was just walking without even looking. I had come to see the Sistine, dammit, and that was what I wanted to see! I was especially enraged after the final room was full of MODERN art...talk about a non sequitr! Some of the art, though, was pretty incredible. The photo below is Raphael's School of Athens, which is immensely famous, my roommate Marissa explained to me.

There were all sorts of tease-y signs like this, making us *think* that we were about to finally see the Sistine Chapel, but every time we just walked into another art-filled room. I think it was Gillian who said, "I feel like I'm going to need someone to tell me when we're finally there." There was a lot of "Are we there yet?" -ing and we were all relieved to finally get there. I snagged a seat on one of the benches along the walls, and honestly, almost fell asleep looking at the ceiling. I don't have a lot of religious education background, so a lot of the pictures didn't really make sense to me, but it was still pretty incredible that one man had painted the entire thing...solo. Also incredible were the guards in the room...but incredible in an inappropriate way! They kept shushing the crowd so loudly that their shushes would ECHO. They must have had some serious lungs of steel, but it was definitely a mood killer. And talk about hypocritical. I've always had a problem with shushers, though. Do you really expect huge groups of tourists to enter this hugely famous chapel and remain entirely silent for upwards of twenty minutes? You, sir, are kidding yourself if you do.

Oh, blogspot, uploading my pictures in reverse order again.

This is the salad I ordered at Insalata Ricca. The Tropical Salad, with mango, avocado, crab, lobster, sesame seeds, pine nuts, corn, and oil and vinegar dressing. Not AMAZING, but definitely light and fresh like I needed after the ridiculously hot afternoon.

After the Sistine Chapel, we intended to go to this coffee shop near the Pantheon that our tour guide had supposedly told a girl the day before that it had the best ICED coffee in Rome. Now, we have yet to see iced coffee in Italy, so we definitely went to check it out. Wrong, wrong, wrong. The guy looked at me like I had two heads when I asked, so we settled for a cappucino at a different bar on the way back to the hotel.

Roomies on the bridge. Look! It's The Jacket again!

Just a shot of the Tiber.

That evening, after resting at the hotel for a couple of hours, we took API's restaurant recommendation for dinner, again and were very pleasantly surprised! The restaurant was very cozy and intimate, and the waiter was extremely helpful in picking out a bottle of wine for us. I had a pasta dish with fish (forget what kind!) and tomatoes that I was very pleased with. We were very proud of how Italian we were, since we had arrived after 8 PM for dinner instead of at 7ish like we usually do (the Italians eat MUCH later than Americans!) and then sat there, enjoying our wine and just chatting for a long time.

After dinner, Sam and I decided to check out the nightlife in Rome. I'll spare you the gory details, but we went to a bar called Sloppy Sam's (and you can bet that Sam got a lot of mileage out of that) where we met these Scottish guys who were literally wearing kilts. There were a lot of them in town for the weekend rugby game against the Roman team. We got bored around 2 AM, so we headed back to the hotel and crashed.

The next morning, we had to check out by 10 AM, so we got up early for breakfast again, and then packed up our stuff and got out. We only had a little time before we had to be back for the bus tour, and Sam was feeling the effects of the night before, so we just got an espresso at a caffe and mostly just chilled. I did get Marissa to take a shot of me in the Piazza Navona, though, one last time.

Me enjoying my uber-expensive latte. They definitely overcharge you for table service. If you think having to tip 15-20% is a big deal, America, then think again!

Haha, Sam loved this red Vespa.

I was pretty bummed because there was this juice/smoothie bar next door to the hotel that we all really wanted to try. When we got to the bar on Sunday morning, however, it was CLOSED. Of course, when we walked past it again at 12:29 PM, literally 1 minute before we were supposed to be on the bus, it was open. We ran inside, but only Gillian managed to get her smoothie before the API directors told us to get our butts in gear. Sad day.


We went on a very whirlwind bus tour of the sights of Rome before stopping at the Colosseum. It was pretty cold and windy by this point, so it wasn't as great of a sight-seeing day as the day before had been, but it was pretty sweet nonetheless.

Little known fact: Did you know that the women had to watch from the highest level with the slaves because they were prone to falling in love with the hot, muscular Gladiators? Yeah. Also, the thumbs up/thumbs down thing in the movie Gladiator is all wrong. Apparently, giving a thumbs up means that you want the guy to be killed, because the thumbs up represents the sword being out of its sheath. When you do a thumbs down, you wrap your other fist around your thumb, to symbolize it being put away, and giving the man salvation.

Me inside the Colosseum.

Me and Sam on the lowest level, where the animals and Gladiators stayed until they had to go out and fight.

The whole thing was pretty intense. I was quite impressed that it was still standing after 2000+ years, and that we were still allowed to WALK in it.

Yep. I'm a ham. I swear it's genetic.

Just walking down a street in Rome..going to get a cappucino...hey, look, it's THE COLOSSEUM!

The ride home from Rome was uneventful, took us about three and a half hours include a 20 minute stop for food and bathroom break. I definitely had a great time, and the city was quite different than I expected. I had been expecting something dirty, overcrowded, and EXTREMELY touristy, but I got a taste of big city charm with a lot of historical themes woven in. A pleasant surprise, and I definitely enjoyed this weekend much more than my crowded and rushed experience in Venice.

The rest of this week is going to be a blur for sure...I have an essay due tomorrow that I have procrastinated on to the MAX, then a couple more days of classes before I leave on Thursday night for Innsbruck, Austria for the weekend! Stoked!

and the fail award goes to...

Um, me. Obviously.

Failblogger here did not photograph herself in the new jacket or the purchases made today at H&M. SORRY! SORRY! SORRY! At any rate, I will be wearing The Jacket and two out of three new shirts this weekend in Rome, so you are likely to see pictures when I post those. My apologies, for real.

I had class all day from 9 AM until 2:30 PM...when I got home I was STARVING, so I whipped myself up a fancy lunch of an apple with vanilla yogurt and a bowl of brussel sprouts (thank you Gillian, my new obsession). Sam and I hit the streets after that, searching for clothes to wear in this newly-warm weather. Oh, Italy, why so humid? Found a few good deals; paid about 30 euro for a light dress and a couple of tops, suh-WEET.

Dinner with the roomies....I made bruschetta! Gillian put together a kind of veggie lasanga/casserole/pie that my hungry tummy fully appreciated. And for dessert....KINDEREGGS! (And nutella crackers and coffee, later on.) We all avoided packing together for a few hours, but we finally got down to business. I'm all ready to go!

Tomorrow morning we depart at 7 AM for ROMA until Sunday night. I'm sure I'll be blogging/uploading photos upon our return that evening. Until then....arrivederci!

okay, yes, more food, BUT ALSO OTHER THINGS.

It was stupid of me to make promises to diversify the blog on a Tuesday, the day before my cooking class. Prepare for some pretty serious food pornography; if you are hungry, or if you ate a salad for lunch, close the page, walk away, and come back after you've eaten something sufficiently delicious to assuage your jealousy.

This morning. despite the fact that I had no class, mind you, I set my alarm for 9:30 and woke up accordingly, so that Gillian and I could go exploring. We were kind of just walking, kind of headed for the Santo Spirito market and vaguely wondering if we could find this mysterious restaurant that Gillian swears will change our lives...if only we can find it.

It was actually warm today in Florence. Like, I put on my peacoat over my Rumblin' Tumblin' Reptiles t-shirt and I was sweating. This is the reason I finally snapped and bought my leather jacket (sorry, no pictures today...tomorrow, I promise!). It cost me an arm and a leg, but it is beautiful, and it was worth it. I needed a jacket lighter than the peacoat, but equally as stylish.

We eventually made it to Santo Spirito, a kind of alternative piazza across the river, named for the church also located there.


The market itself was kind of a bust, more of a flea market than anything else. If I ever need any super-cheap-but-questionable clothing, I'll head there. It was neat to see, though, and it was definitely a change from the catcalls of the San Lorenzo market...which I just realized I have yet to photograph for you. AHHH. So much to share!

They did have pretty flowers, though.

The piazza itself is really beautiful too, in a more understated way than most of Florence.

This bike was decrepit and sad, and I kind of liked it.

Typical. That bike is occupying the entire sidewalk while Gillian walks in the street.

This Is Italy: Vespas Everywhere.

We also met my friend from the plane, Beth, for a nice lunch at a little trattoria in San Lorenzo called Sergio Gozzi or something along those lines. I paid less than 5 euro for a perfectly sized bowl of pasta that was amazing, by the way; the atmosphere was also way more authentic than anything else I've experiened (except for Vineria, in Pisa). It was quiet, packed mostly with Italians (before a huge and conspicuous group of Asian tourists filed in as we were leaving) who were drinking wine, and having the kind of four course meals typical of Italy. Beth also took me to THE MOST AMAZING SHOE STORE EVER, where I fell in love with a pair of brown ankle boots, but after the purchase of my leather jacket, I couldn't justify another splurge.

After naptime, I went to the API office to find out if I would be able to make it to the opera tonight. My cooking class doesn't end until 8:30...and guess what time the opera starts? You probably guessed it. I was planning on going, but cooking ran a little late tonight, but by the time I got home, all sweaty and a little crazed, I didn't much feel like dressing up and running across the city in my heels, so here I am blogging for you.

In cooking tonight, we were studying the Emiglia Romagna region, which is where such gastronomic delights as Bologna and Modena are located, directly north of Toscana. We started by preparing a lasagna pasta from scratch!

1 egg for every 100 grams of flour does the trick.

After mixing, roll thin, then cut into small rectangular pieces.

Michele allowed us to sample a white wine with our meal. I took a photo because I actually really liked it! Note to self: find and buy this wine.

For our antipasti this evening, we had an affetatti misti, or mixed meat, with bruschetta (needs no explanation). The bruschetta was simple, made by chopping fresh tomatoes and mixing them with olive oil, basil, salt, pepper, and oregano. The bread was toasted and then rubbed with garlic. We sampled three different kinds of salami from the Emiglia Romagna region. I'm not a huge meat person, but it was a nice, simple start to the meal, and the bruschetta was uh-may-zing.

Our primi piatti was lasagne al forno: the previously-mentioned fresh lasagna noodles with a ragu sauce, a bechamel sauce, made from flour, milk, and butter, and parmesan cheese. The ragu was made with a sofrito, base, of onion, garlic, celery, and carrot, before adding white wine, ground beef, and peeled and chopped tomato. Michele told us that a ragu is better the longer it is allowed to cook, and then eyed us with disdain as if it were our fault that the class is only 2 and a half hours long. The bechamel gives the lasagna a creamy component, without adding more cheese.

Once again, our secondi piatti was, you guessed it...veal. This time, scaloppene al aceto balsamico. BALSAMIC VINEGAR, my love! The veal was given to us in very thin slices, but we pounded them a little thinner after removing any excess fat. They were then coated in flour and fried on both sides in butter. After they had all been cooked, all of them were returned to the pan to be boiled in white wine for a bit. After the sauce had thickened, Michele added balsamic vinegar to the pan. Mmmmmm. I must say though, after the loss of my veal virginity, I have had it three times in three weeks. A little excessive, methinks.

I wasn't initially super excited about dessert, a panna cotta, or cream custard. After all, it didn't involve chocolate of any kind. It was very simple to make: we simply heated cream and sugar with a little vanilla and added gelatin right before it boiled. I personally ladled the cream mixture into individual little tins to be refrigerated. After our meal, we removed them from the tins and topped them with a fruit mixture made from lemon, sugar, blueberries, raspberries, and cranberries. The verdict? BEST DESSERT EVER, no lie. It was so light and creamy and fresh...the perfect end to such a heavy meal.

Obviously.

Promises for tomorrow:

1. Photos of my new leather jacket.

2. Photos of new clothing I plan to buy at the H&M and Zara sales with Sam.

Also, I added a link in the sidebar to the photobucket I created. If you are friends with me on facebook, you have already seen these photos. The link is for the benefit of those who are not. Feel free to look through the albums, which I am still in the process of uploading.

Ciao!

a treat for all of your senses.

It has been brought to my attention, and I myself have noticed, that this blog talks a lot about FOOD. Eating and cuisine is a huge deal here in Italy, and I am not lying when I say it was definitely a top 3 reason factoring into my choosing Florence. I wanted a city, a country, where I could imagine eating the local cuisine for four months and not getting tired of it. I wanted to be tested, challenged, pushed to try new things, and in my four weeks here in Florence (WHOA, when did that happen?) I would definitely say that that has been true. Case in point: I am eating eggplant right now. Booyah.

However, food is not the only thing going on in my study abroad experience. I want to give a well-rounded view of how I'm spending my days and nights, so I am making an attempt this week to diversify the blog a little. We actually discussed writing through senses other than sight today in my writing class; I will try to apply that philosophy to the blog from now on.

This is kind of a lame way to open up my diversification, but I forgot my camera while I was out today, so no photos for you of the firetruck that felt the need to stop in the middle of a busy street, put up the entire length of its ladder, and have a fireman climb it for no other apparent reason than to cause gridlick. This is a song that has essentially been the soundtrack to my Italian life. It plays a lot in clubs, but I have also heard it playing in the markets and shops around town. Enjoy!





In other news, I may be going to see my friends Laura and KJ playing in the soccer "championship" against other study abroad programs tonight, just to mix things up a bit.


There is also always the option of going out to a club and being sexually harassed. Oh, Italy, how will I ever leave thee?

the walking justifies the buffet.

Today, I had set my alarm to go off at 9 AM, despite the fact that I had no class. Clearly I was deluding myself. I hit snooze and slept until 10:30, but I got going pretty quickly after that. Put laundry in, showered, ate, and was out the door by 11:30 to do some shopping. I hit what felt like every freakin' boot store in Florence, searching for anything that was reasonably priced, in my size, and not repulsive. I came up empty handed. I intend to try once more on Wednesday, but after that I'm throwing in the towel and having my mom ship me a pair of boots from the US.

The nice thing about Florence is that even while you're huffing about, completely frustrated at the lack of attractive boots, you run across things like this, which have a calming effect:




This is an outdoor museum located right next to Palazzo Vecchio. You heard me right: an OUTDOOR MUSEUM. You aren't allowed to eat up there by those statues, and they have guards there to make sure you don't. It is still so weird to me to be walking and just come across ancient pieces of art. Spend a day just walking around Gainesville and you are likely to come up with little more than empty Natty cans and discarded Alligators.


After my fruitless search for boots, I bought some groceries and headed back to the apartment, where I made a quick lunch. I then went to the library to make copies of this book I need for a paper. I spent about three hours there and got NOTHING done (oops). It is so hard to concentrate in this country! I'll be paying for that as soon as I get done blogging.


My roommates and I were hell bent on having sushi tonight for dinner, but it turns out that every sushi place in Florence is CLOSED on Monday for no apparent reason, so we settled for the aperitivo place across the street from our apartment.

I had a glass of prosecco, or sparkling wine.

Great spread!

We love this place because it is only 8 euro for a drink and unlimited access to the buffet, which is one of the best we've seen as far as aperitivo goes.

Like I said, now I'm off to procrastinate some more before finally settling down to do my Italian and writing homework. Wednesday, Gillian and I are planning to go exploring on the other side of the river to try and find this restaurant she ate at with her parents the last time she was here. We are also going to hit up the market at San Ambroggio, which is similar to Mercato Centrale, which is where we usually go, just to try something new.