Osteria dei Pazzi

I was inspired to write this post by a dessert. There is a charming little neighborhood restaurant in Garbatella called Osteria dei Pazzi. It is right along the walk from our flat to the train station. One day, shortly after arriving in Rome, we stopped in while walking by to have a drink and check the place out. It was small but cozy, with warmth and great character. We sat at the bar, which faced the small grill used to cook the meat entrees. As we drank our beer, we watched the chef preparing several amazing looking steak dinners, which smelled as terrific as they looked as they slow cooked on the grill. I know, at that moment, that we were both strongly regretting the fact that we'd just come from eating a big pizza dinner! Anyhow, we have since returned, twice, for dinner. Both times the traditional Roman food was delicious and the service was excellent. On our last visit, I ordered what I thought was mixed fruit gelato for dessert (the restaurant's menu is in Italian, with no English translations - so ordering was partially guesswork). What I received was very impressive! Five different flavors of gelato, creatively housed inside a piece of fruit or nut of the same kind. For example: A frozen strawberry, cut in half and filled with strawberry gelato...a miniature banana peel filled with banana gelato...a lime cut in half and emptied of fruit, filled with lime gelato...a walnut shell filled with walnut gelato and  a chestnut shell filled with chestnut gelato. You get the idea...

A view inside of the restaurant that I borrowed from the website...

I definitely consider this little gem added to our (small but slowly growing) list of go-to places...

Catching Up...

What a busy couple of weeks! My apologies to those who have noticed my blog has been a little quiet lately. February has so far been a month full of visitors, which has been great. My sister has come to visit, as well as some of Roland's family and friends. It has been so much fun getting to show everyone around Rome...even if the rainy weather has been extremely uncooperative for our guests...(sorry, guys! I swear the sun shines here more often than not...)

Last weekend we attended a Rugby match - England vs. Italy. Had a seriously fantastic time! I wasn't sure what to expect - the only other rugby experience I've had occured in England during an epic rain/hailstorm...during which I spent so much time trying to avoid getting pelted in the eyeballs by massive raindrops (fail) that I wasn't able to appreciate the game. Not so this time! We arrived in time to stock up on plenty of Peroni before we found our (excellent) seats. Note: When I say excellent seats, I mean excellent location - The seats themselves were a whole other story...basically, rows of posts sticking up out of the ground with small square backless tops to sit on, squeezed so tightly together that I felt like we were a cozy little family of tightly packed, rugby fan, sardines in a can. Luckily, the fans were good fun and made the experience even better. The English and Italian fans were mixed in together throughout the stadium, and we made some friends in the stands...the English fans seated by our side shared their flask of rum and were very helpful in holding on to me as I tried to squeeze by without tipping over in the miniscule walking space in our row...and/or soak the poor girl sitting in front of me in a rain shower of Peroni. The Italian fans in front of us pulled out bag after bag of assorted cookies, or biscuits, and enthusiastically passed us different treats throughout the match. One Italian fan nearby repeatedly produced a trumpet and played the Italian National Anthem, which the crowd loved! It was really great to see two completely different groups of people, speaking two different languages, rooting for opposing teams, but still managing to enjoy each other and the experience without the ugly competitive spirit that sometimes comes along with the territory in sporting events. As for the rugby itself - it was exciting to watch, even if I never fully understood the rules of the game. According to the boys, the odds were strongly in England's favor. In the end, England did take the win, but only by a small margin. We took full opportunity to celebrate England's win afterwards! Great experience.

Our seats!

These photos of are taken from where we sat - great view of the action.

Snow Day in Rome!

I woke up to quite a surprise today! Just when I thought it was safe to leave my snow boots packed away in Chicago, I opened the curtains this morning to find myself face to face with a snowy Roman morning. (shouldn't that be an oxymoron??) I'll admit I did a double take at the window...the "Chicago Winter Survivor" inside me wouldn't bat an eye at a light dusting of snow covering cars and streets - I'm so desensitized to winter weather I could drive through a snowstorm without batting an eye - but we're in the Mediterranean for goodness sakes! There's something just a little bit wrong about snow covered palm trees, no? From what I read, this only happens once in a great while...we're talking years! So, I'm chalking it up in hopes that this is winter's "Last Hurrah." ...Good riddens! I know the warm Mediterranean sunshine can't be far away now...I can almost feel my flip flops on my feet...

Roland's little snow-covered car

Lost in Translation

In the center of Rome, where tourism is at its highest, signs and information will often be posted in both Italian and in English. Sometimes, the translation from Italian to English will be perfect...other times, not so much. We've gotten a big laugh out of some of these translations...here are a couple. I will post more as I come across them...

Sign posted inside a stall in the ladies' room in a restaurant.

This one is from a menu. It is from our visit to Rome last year but still one of my favorites!

"Service it not inclused."

Note on this post: I'm not posting these photos in a mean-spirited, "making fun" manner...As someone who is far from fluent in Italian, I really do appreciate being able to understand things I would not otherwise!

Epic Journey!

Miles: 1,800
Countries: 4
Driving Hours: 24

...And a lot less painful than expected! Our Epic Journey to buy Roland's new car in London and drive it back to Rome is complete! What a cool and interesting drive. There was so much beautiful scenery that it totally made up for things such as the ridiculous amount of gas station sandwiches consumed, number of visits to public restrooms, fingernails lost while digging them into the dashboard in terror as we slid around in the snow in the middle of the night, and terrible musical selection on the radio. Seriously - I have now heard terrible music in more languages than is decent. First French, then German, and finally Italian...which I think was probably the worst. There was one Italian song that was so awful yet so horribly catchy that we both ended up singing it for hours...I think there was a little bit of highway-induced loss of sanity there. But I digress.

Our Journey took us on a flight from Rome to London to pick up the new car (a silver VW Polo Sport). It's a great little car and will be perfect for Rome! From London we drove down to Dover, a town at one of the Southern-most points of the UK. From there we boarded the Euro Tunnel train, about which I had no idea what to expect. It ended up being really simple - we drove right up and on to the train, which consisted of oversized compartments where you drive in, put your car in park, and hang out for the duration of the journey (35 mins). We both thought it would be a great -and last- opportunity for a power nap before the long drive. Unfortunately the massive family packed clown-car style in the vehicle in front of us did not agree and were happy to let their kids run screaming circles around the rest of the compartment.

Here we are driving on to the Euro Tunnel train.

And here we are inside of the train compartment.

One quick, sleepless journey later we arrived in Calais in Northern France. We drove off the train and through customs without anyone so much as glancing up at us. Then we were off!

                                       

Our GPS a little while into the drive through France - It says 1,431km and 13.5 hours left to go!

The next 5 hours or so on the road were the least scenic and eventful of the trip. We drove through some pretty countryside, and I think the only thing I took a photo of was a windmill or two. There was no traffic at all...might be due to the 60 or so euros we had to pay in tolls on the roads in the first few hours alone! Shortly after nightfall, however, things got interesting...and by interesting I mean heavy snowfall, extremely slippery roads, and not a snow plow in sight. Added to this was the fact that: by this time we'd been traveling 12 hours, our G.P.S. had suddenly decided to take us off the highway and on a random tour of the snowy back roads of France, and the landscape was becoming progressively more slippery and mountainous...we decided to call it a night.

The weather looked much better for day two. There was still snow, but by the morning, plows had been through and cleared most of the roads. We got up early and headed into Switzerland, where I got my first look at the Alps. The scenery was breathtaking and absolutely stunning. No words can really do it justice. Being that I am from the Midwest in the States, I'd never actually seen a mountain before me in person, so I pretty much just sat and stared in wonder for the hours it took us to cross through Switzerland. The weather was also really funny throughout the day...one minute we'd be driving and everything would be covered in snow, the next minute there was nonthing but green trees...then back to snow again. It was interesting how quickly and often it changed. I took dozens and dozens of photos (through the car window) through this favorite part of the road trip, and here are just a few. (click on them to see full size).

These last couple are from Italy. Italy was actually the longest portion of our drive. There was not as much to see on the highway through Italy...we would have had to detour into the towns to really see them, and neither of us could stomach adding any additional minutes to our journey. But there were still some mountains, and plenty of green to see as well.  

One of the beautiful lakes surrounded by mountains. I'm not positive, but I don't think we were far from Milan here.

So, we made it in a one piece and not too much worse for wear!... (unless you're counting calories in convenience store sandwiches...then we're worse. Much.). What a cool drive...not that I'd ever like to do it again, but still. Very glad to have had the experience.

Do Not Enter...

A couple of weeks ago, while walking around the neighborhood, I came across this intriguing example of property security: A tall stone wall (very tall - I had to climb up on Roland's shoulders to take this photo) surrounded some kind of development. To discourage trespassers, sharp shards of broken glass were cemented, spike side up, into the top of the wall. Barbed wire is one thing, but spikes of glass?? Sheesh! Probably does the trick though...I know I wouldn't want any part of me near the top of this wall...

Vatican City

The Vatican City has been high on my list of places to see here in Italy. I don't consider myself a particularly religious person, but there was something about walking through St. Peter's Square and entering the Basilica that left me feeling impressed and more than a little bit humbled. The size of the Basilica itself was overwhelming - with the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, it can hold 60,000 people. I've never seen so much marble! It seemed to stretch on endlessly in every direction, from floors to walls to the ceiling - I dont think there was a surface of the structure itself not crafted of solid marble. It was very dim inside, and very quiet. There was a service being held at the time we visited,  which we could hear but were not allowed to see. This area was blocked off from the general public - we saw people coming and going steadily, but I assumed they were members of the church, and not tourists. There was a lot to see and a lot to take in...though we were there a couple of hours, I left feeling like I hadn't truly absorbed everything. The amount of ornate detail that went into every square inch of the Basilica was stunning. Photos were allowed inside - unfortunately, because it was very dim, not many came out clearly, but I will share some of those that did:

A view of the front of St. Peter's Basilica from the square

One of the  Pontifical Swiss Guard located around the outside of the building. They stand guard with a "Halberd," which is basically a long wooden pole with a spike on the end. I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of one of these guys...

On our way into the Basilica.

Marble pillars outside the front of the building

This is the view you see upon entering. The service was being held at the other side of this massive room - beyond the altar you can see in this photo.

Golden grills on the floor...I saw several of these inside.

Marble, marble and more marble.

These were located in various places throughout the Basilica...we thought maybe they were confessionals? Except they had no doors. Hmm...

A closer view of the famous St. Peter's Baldachin, build by Bernini in 1633. It was meant to monumentally mark St. Peter's tomb.

An etching in the wall of the names of each Pope from the year 64 A.D. until 2005.

A view of St. Peter's Square at night. It's Christmas tree was still lit.

A view of Rome as we crossed the bridge on our way out of the Vatican City.