A Final Post (Written on the Plane)

My semester abroad is officially over. I’m closer to Washington DC than I am to Italy and am about 36000 ft in the air, or something along those lines. I’ve slept the majority of the flight, which isn’t a surprise to anyone that knows me and my flying habits. I don’t remember take off, but the lady next to me (from Gainesville, so my dad will be happy), said we left about 30 minutes late. I have about 3 more hours left to my 9 hour flight. They fed me pasta already and apparently I get a snack soon, which is good since all this sleeping has made me hungry.
I spent my last day wandering around to different piazze and people watching and just absorbing being outside in Rome. Rome was lonely once my friends left. It still hasn’t really hit me that the semester is over and that I have no idea when I’ll be back to Italy, but I have thousands (literally) of pictures and millions (also literally) of memories to remember the semester. I also have saved every ticket stub I received in my travels,, and started a rock collection in Greece to carry the memories with me as well.
Back to reality and millions of errands later today and tomorrow and to a world with no language barrier, big super markets, no 1 euro cappuccini or cornetti, no gelato, suppli and pizza on the end of every corner and a requirement to pay for public transportation every time you use it. Here’s to another chapter finished and a new one beginning. Salute!

Good Bye? or See you later.

My bags are pretty much packed, I'm scared my bag is like a million pounds over wait and i have a purse, carry on and a plastic bag (classy I know), but I got it all in something or another at least. Gabby and Rachel already left for the airport so the room is pretty bare and it's a little depressing. I'm going to my hotel in a few hours though.
I had the perfect last night with my friends last night though. We got dinner at Tony's, then got some big Peroni and walked through Campo de' Fiori, to the Trevi, to the Spanish Steps to Trastevere where we ran into pretty much everyone we wanted to say bye to. There were no crazy stories, no incidences where we had to run, or too many aggressive creepers, we just spent it us 6 girls pretty much.
I got extremely lucky here, most of my friends go to AU with me, or to UMD right up the metro line. It's not them that I'm upset about leaving. I mean I am, but I know in a few weeks we can see each other again. It is more that it is tough to leave the place that brought us all together, a place that became our home and that as much as we complained about some aspects, a place that made me fall in love with it. I know I'll be back, but as Gabby and I talked about it on our balcony the other night, I stated the fact: We won't be living here. We'll be 45 coming back with our husbands, wearing mom-jeans, and we'll walk by all the places we spent our late nights here this semester, or to a church we went to for class, and we'll probably be annoying to our husbands as we are like "I lived here for 4 months. We came here allll the time. This happened here." etc etc.
Today I'll wander the streets of Rome solo, stay in a hotel for the night and fly back to DC tomorrow. Once I land and am reunited with my friends it will seem like this was all a dream and never actually happened. The memories will forever remain fresh in my mind, the experiences from this semester didn't just walk through, they left concrete imprints within me. I think that I have become a much better person from being here and have become more comfortable with myself. I won't just be eating pizza, pasta and gelato when I get to the US, I'll probably semi go back to my healthier ways, but this semester has really taught me a lot about myself and I could never be grateful enough for such an experience.
So Rome... until next time. Thank you for everything. It's been real.

Writing Memoir

My final assignment was a memoir piece about my time in rome. i'm not sure if this is the right version for the final copy. it's long but I thought some of you may enjoy reading it. Two finals tomorrow then I'm done with my junior year!

You Fall in Love through your Stomach

Before leaving for Rome, everyone told me, “You’re going to love the food there.” I didn’t doubt them. Italian cooking is considered some of the best, especially since it is one of the centers of Italian culture. And considering the fact that food has been a passion of mine since I was eight, and grocery shopping is one of my favorite pasttimes, I knew I would take the opportunity and take advantage of all the deliciousness Rome had to offer. Despite being so passionate about food, I didn’t think it would be one of the centers of my life in Rome; I wanted a complete experience, not one based on one aspect. From my first plate of pasta primavera at a little family run restaurant on the Gianicolense, I knew everyone was right. The food would make my semester.

My first trip to the supermercato, I felt giddy and anxious as I walked through the aisles and around the fresh produce. The vibrant colors of the zucchine next to the pomodori and the deep purple of the melanzane, all I could do was smile as I pictured the extravagant dishes I would be cooking in my gorgeous penthouse apartment all semester. The cheese aisle was a whole other world. I didn’t know what most of the cheeses were, but they all looked delicious and I could almost taste them oozing out of a ravioli or being shredded over a plate of gnocchi. I stuck to what I knew and bought a block of fresh parmigiano, making a mental note to look up different Italian cheeses when I got back to my apartment.

I went to the check out counter with a cart packed with fresh tortellini filled with spinaci e ricotta, a container of porchetta, prosciutto, salami, mozzarella and an abundance of fresh apples, blood oranges and vegetables. I bought enough food to last a few days, not knowing how much sightseeing I’d be doing, or when I’d get the chance to come back to my first favorite place in Rome. And the total for my purchases came out to 17 euro.
How affordable all the groceries were validated my thoughts that Rome was the right choice for my abroad experience and to further my culinary dreams, as I could experiment with some of the freshest produce, cheese and pastas for prices lower than I had seen in a lot of places that I’d lived. My roommate, Gabby, and I went straight back to our apartment to put away all our purchases.
“So… I know we already ate lunch, but do you want to cook up some of this food,” she started slowly as if she was embarrassed to be excited about the food.
“I’m pretty sure that’s a requirement. I was thinking some of the gnocchi you got and we can cut up my eggplant and mushrooms?” Planning meals was in my head the entire time we were in the supermercato. I had just met Gabby when we arrived in Rome, so she wasn’t even aware that I had the ability to cook, let alone that cooking was probably my favorite thing to do and that to procrastinate I go to recipe websites and bookmark the things I want to make.
Our kitchen was better equipped than my dad’s house back in Hawaii. I hadn’t encountered a gas stove until my mom bought a new house in Santa Monica a few months before, when I discovered how much better they are than electric, and luckily my Roman kitchen had one. We didn’t use any sauce or salt because the ingredients were so fresh and flavorful that it wasn’t necessary. My love for Italy began to grow even more, as did the validation that the way to someone’s heart is through his or her stomach. Italy was making me fall in love with it, through my stomach.

The next night at our orientation, a group of girls we’d met invited us to dinner. The school recommended a restaurant down on Viale Trastevere, called Le Fate. It was only a ten-minute walk from campus and had a student menu that included a bruschetta, primi piatti, dolce and wine for ten euro. Upon arriving we were disappointed to know that instead of a pasta dish, our primi piatti would be bean soup. Seeing as we had only been in Rome for about 48 hours, if not less, all we really wanted was either pasta or pizza, as any typical tourist in Rome would desire.
Our bruschetta was topped with fresh tomatoes, sweeter and crisper than the best produce Hawaii could offer. There was no mealy feeling left in your mouth as an after taste, and it was only seasoned with some fresh ground salt and olive oil. The bean soup, which most people at the table were dreading, was one of the most flavorful soups I had tasted. My mouth still waters when I think of it, especially considering it may have been the only soup I had during my time in Rome. It was very rich and hearty, with nothing but beans some tomato and some onion in the bowl. The final course of the meal was a lemon cake. Other than the cone of gelato I’d had earlier in the day, I hadn’t indulged in any sweets while being in Rome. It’s light consistency and hint of lemon was just what I needed to not feel as if I had actually eaten as much as I had when I got up from the table.

Little did I know, the owner of Le Fate was the chef who taught the cooking classes at school, Chef Andrea Consoli. Throughout my semester I took two cooking classes with Andrea. He not only taught me how to make the most delicious pasta alla carbonara I had ever tasted, but gave me many general cooking tips to enhance the other concoctions I put together back at home. Pasta alla carbonara, a long thin spaghetti-like noodle with egg, porchetta, pepper and pecorino cheese, would soon become a staple in my apartment’s weekly dinner line up. And thanks to him I now know to keep the skin on the cloves of garlic and smash the clove whole with the bottom of a pan, since the skin has all the nutrients good for your heart, as well as the fact that making fresh pasta really isn’t as hard as it sounds.
In my first cooking class with Chef Andrea, we learned to make carbonara, one of the classics. We learned to make Spinaci alla Romana, Straccetti di Manzo con Pachino, Rughetta e scaglie di Parmigiano and Soufflé alla Pera e Cioccolato as well, but the carbonara was a reminder of how decadent food can taste even with only five simple ingredients. In the class we made the pasta fresh, but really there are only five or six ingredients for the dish. Despite a lack of diversity in the ingredients the amount of flavors that come out of the dish make it seem like there are at least double the amount. There was saltiness from the porchetta, or pig’s cheek, creaminess from the egg and richness from the pecorino cheese. Because Chef Andrea goes to the market every morning to get ingredients, the ingredients were as fresh as possible, which adds more intensity to the flavors if the ingredients are cooked soon after ripeness.
My endless hours watching Food Network in the United States for probably the last fifteen years or so told me that the freshness of ingredients was key to cooking better food. I always believed what Rachel Ray and Paula Dean told me, they knew their stuff, but a lot of times it takes a first hand experience to actually believe what you’ve heard. Chef Andrea gave me that experience.
Throughout the semester I continued to savor the fresh and affordable ingredients Rome had to offer. From mornings spent at the Campo de’ Fiori market, to quick afternoon trips to the Conad down the street, I tried to get different ingredients each week. While some people would have regrets about not traveling enough while abroad, as the semester went on, I realized my regrets would have been about not immersing myself in the Italian culture enough, especially in terms of food.

Day trips that I took to small towns surrounding Rome helped validate that it was not just Rome that I was falling in love with, but Italy as a whole. On an unseasonably warm day in February, two of my friends and I took a trip to the beach town of Anzio. We brought some school reading to sit on the beach with, but started with some lunch before getting to work. Our two criteria for lunch were that we wanted seafood and we wanted to sit outside. Both were fulfilled at Nostrum Taberna, a small restaurant along the boardwalk run by a one man show.
The menu was written on a piece of red construction paper, ripped around the edges and crinkled as if it has just washed up on the shore a few feet outside the restaurant. The special for the day was fresh pasta with baby lobsters and clams, which all three of us decided sounded absolutely perfect for our beach side lunch. Prior to getting the pasta we had ordered, our waiter, who was also the chef and the owner, brought us out two other courses to show off the delicacies of the area. The first was a polenta cake covered in a shaved, dried fish, which was not something I’d eat again, but it was imporatnt to try their traditional dishes. The second was baby octopus in a tomato sauce, which was delicious.
With each dish that the waiter brought, he smiled and explained it to us in the best English he could muster up. The pride that he had towards the food he served flooded out of his mouth with each explanation. He gave us his card, as well as his brother’s card, who has a restaurant near the Colosseo. He knew we were Americans, most Italians can tell from about 100 km away, and that there was a good chance we’d never be back at his restaurant. But his love for his food and sharing his culture with us in the few hours we were at his restaurant were his priortiy.
It could easily have been my best meal of my semester abroad. The freshness of the seafood against the pasta that had clearly just been made, topped with a light tomato sauce complete with pieces of tomato, all still lingers in my mouth. But what enhanced it all was that his passion for his food and his culture. Similar to my home of Hawaii, food is the center of the culture and family life in Italy. Everyone is part of the clean plate club because it’s insulting if you don’t finish your food, and it is a time for family and friends to be together and enjoy each other’s company.

To some, looking back at my semester in terms of my experiences of foods may sound a bit obsessive, pathetic and lame to most people. I was able to appreciate the beauty and history of Rome, the concept that if you are walking down a street, you can literally walk into thousands of years old ruins. These kinds of things are completely unique to Rome and can’t be seen anywhere else. But while I think back to amazing places I traveled, trips to the Fontana di Trevi, Piazza de Spagna and il Colosseo, I can’t help but think back to the panino I ate in Piazza de Spagna overflowing with salami picante and mozzarella.
The pastas and gnocchi I make in the United States won’t have the same freshness as those I ate nightly for dinner throughout my semester in Rome. Instead of sitting at the dining table with my roommate watching the cars go down Colli Portuense, I’ll most likely fall into the American tradition of eating my dinners in front of the television in my studio apartment alone. But I will take back how simple a dish can be, yet still be delicious and I will bring the vibe of the Italian culture surrounding food to my friends and family.
My time in Rome has felt much shorter than it has been, while I know I’ll be back in the future, it won’t have quite the same feeling as it did during my semester abroad. The love won’t be quite as fresh, new and exciting as when Rome got me to fall in love with it through my stomach.

5?

In a freakish case, I randomly woke up at 6am and couldn't go back to sleep. I laid in bed trying to go back to sleep until I got so hungry I had no choice but to get up and make myself some breakfast, and have not yet found my motivation to study. I only have 5 more days left in Rome. 5! What is going on? Gabby and I reflected on all the things that we'll be different and that we'll miss about Rome, so I thought I'd share it with everyone else.

- Gelato (kind of an obvious one) can't/dont want to think of all the cones I had this semester.
- Cappuccinos. Most places only a euro and so much more delicious than I could ever make.
- Fresh and cheap pasta. Along with all the other extremely affordable fresh foods. Meats, cheeses, produce... noms.
- Cheap Peroni. Sorry you probably don't want to read this mom, but I've actually started liking beer some.
- The ability to literally walk into ruins (boom). The amount of history throughout the city is unreal. In the US a building is typically a couple hundred years if it's considered old. Here it's thousands.
- The affordable travels and ability to go so many places. Maybe it's cause I grew up in Hawaii where you could only drive to the North Shore or Kailua, but I have gotten to take 3 euro trains to so many different small cities as well as Greece and Amsterdam relatively affordably.
- The Churches. I'm still Jewish, but the churches here are amazing. Nothing makes me say wow more than walking into a church and looking up at the ceiling. (the ceiling in the picture is of the Gesu the head Jesuit Church and was done by Gaulli)
- Our gorgeous apartment. We lucked out big time with our penthouse, but nonetheless I'll miss the gorgeous balconies, kitchen and even the airplane sheets.

Off to a study break of gelato. Hoping they have papaya today (guess you cant always take the hawaii out of the girl) but seriously, this papaya gelato is UNREAL.

Nostalglia

So I'm getting really bummed about leaving. I've decided I'll study for finals (don't worry mom and dad), but it will not consume my last week in Rome. I'm so lucky to have had such an amazing semester. Honestly, this was such a great experience for me and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I went through my pictures (which almost put me in tears) and put together a little slideshow of my semester. Off to a BBQ. Leaving 1 week from today. Wasn't it just January?

The Rest of Adam's Visit

Adam left a few hours ago to head back to San Fransisco, and his visit really went way too fast. We had a lot of fun hanging out around the city and looking at different parts I hadn't been also. I sent him to the Colosseum and Vatican on his own while I was in classes, but we still did a lot of other things together.
Wednesday (after we got back from our getaway) I had class all day, so he did the Colosseum and adventured on his own. I was exhausted because I had 2 papers due that day, an oral exam and a quiz, so I just cooked us some dinner and took an easy night. Thursday we got lunch near school and I sent him to the Vatican for some culture. Later that night we went to Le Fate for dinner and walked around Trastevere. Friday we spent pretty much all afternoon in Villa Borghese Park (honestly probably one of my favorite spots in Rome), hanging out, I took a nap, and then had some beers by the Pantheon. That night we tried a pizza place I've been wanting to for a while, Bir&Fud. It was reallllly good. Although the wait was like an hour and I got way too full, it was delicious and well worth the wait.
Saturday, Gabby Adam and I took a field trip out to Nettuno (about an hour train ride away). We spent the day semi-hawaiian style with a picnic on the beach and sleeping in the sun all day. I got real burnt, but it's already turned to tan over night, so at least I'm not THAT haole right? Then we went back to Tony's for dinner, had some penne alla vodka and steak and then walked around Trastevere people watching. He had to wake up at 3:45 to get to the airport, which was not a fun experience, and quite the adventure, but overall it was a really nice visit and I'm so glad he was able to come out and see me and we could spend 10 days together. Now... Finals mode.

Sibling Getaway

From Sunday to Tuesday Adam and I went on a little getaway to Sorrento, Capri and Pompeii. Despite every single person in the area thinking we were on our honeymoon, or at least a couple, we had a really good time and got to see some amazing stuff. We left on a 730 am train on Sunday, which went through Naples and got to Sorrento in time to walk around and have some lunch. We spent the day wandering the streets, having beers in a square people watching and parade watching, then had a more than delicious seafood dinner. We had asked the guy at the restaurant we had beers at for a recommendation, which was near the port close to the water. There is no way we would have assumed the restaurant, Kapusa, was as delicious as it was, but we split some seafood risotto, seafood pasta, swordfish and the owner gave us some free seasoned flatbread that was delicious.
Monday we got up and went over to Capri. It was cloudy and so we couldn't do the chairlift in Anacapri, but we were still able to go on a boatride to the Blue Grotto, venture around the island, and had a picnic lunch overlooking the side of the island and ocean. Capri was gorgeous, and we were there from about 10-5:30, despite the weather not totally agreeing with us. Monday night we went to another dinner that we would not expect the restaurant to be good, and it too was delicious. As we looked at the menu outside a group of people walked by saying "Definitely go, it was delicious last night" They were right. Adam and I eat got "pasta in foil" which was pasta with seafood in a delicious sauce, all cooked in foil. Adam also got veal with mushrooms, which was also realllly good. We then watched a lightening storm over Capri and went to a really cute Irish Bar, who's owner Gino (but his "stagename" in the bar is Shamus) really liked us. Of course he assumed we were on our honeymoon and announced that to the bar, which was awkward.
Tuesday we checked out of our hotel and headed to Pompeii. We did a group tour of the city for 1 hour and 45 minutes, which was interesting and our tourguide was quite the character. The city was huge, and it was really quite unbelievable that it had been around for so long, as well as that so much of it was preserved. After the tour we ate our lunch we had packed earlier in the "town square" and walked around a little longer before heading back to Naples station to get back to home sweet Rome in time for my friend's 21st birthday at the Ice Club. I'll do a post about the Ice Club when I upload the pictures, but for now it's back to quiz studying and paper writing.

Sibling Bonding

Adam landed Thursday night for a 9 or 10 day stay in Rome with me. Haven't seen him since December so it is really nice to have him around and show him everything here. Friday morning we got up and did (hope you're ready) Pantheon, Trevi, Spanish Steps, Campidoglio, Il Vittoriano (Wedding Cake Building and went in it too) and the Jewish Ghetto. Then we stopped at Dar Poeta for a late lunch and took a walk before coming home for an epic 3 hour nap.
Once we got up and moving we went to dinner in the Trastevere area. Everyone at AUR had been talking about a restaurant "Toni's" for a while but I'd never been, so we decided to stop by there. It was amazing. Way too much food, but absolutely delicious. We got bruschetta to start, which came with a salmon and cream one (which oddly was my fave), traditional tomato then an olive and cream one. I got a baked lamb dish for dinner and Adam got gnocchi in tomato sauce and veal in gorgonzola sauce. We shared everything more or less and it was all soooooo good. The guy next to us got a HUGE and i mean HUUUUGE steak, which we may go back to share later next week because it looked good and he said it was delicious.
Today we were supposed to do a picnic, but it's all cloudy, so we'll see what happens, but for now I'm off to shower since quiet hours don't let me shower after like 10pm and early tomorrow morning we're off to the Amalfi Coast!

I fell in love through my stomach

Two of my final papers for this semester involve food, a major passion of mine. I know a lot of people claim they have a passion for food, but mine isn't all about eating, in fact, I love to cook far more than I love to eat. One of my favorite quotes about cooking comes from the movie Julie and Julia:

You know what I love about cooking? I love that after a day when nothing is sure and when I say nothing, I mean nothing. You can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. That's such a comfort. - Julie Powell

Through my research, I caught myself looking at quotes about food and thought I'd share them with the rest of you: (all from Julia Child, one of my faves)

"The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook."
— Julia Child

"You'll never know everything about anything, especially something you love."
— Julia Child


"Learn to cook--try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!"
— Julia Child (My Life in France)


I talked to a friend in my writing class this morning as we walked through this gorgeous park. She grew up in Rome and is graduating from AUR this month. Writing has been her passion since she was little, in fact she published a novel when she was 12 or 13 probably. In August she starts at Columbia for Journalism, one of the best in the world. Listening to her talk about how excited she was, despite being nervous to be dropped in the middle of NYC, far different from Rome, she was real excited. For some reason it got me thinking of what I'm passionate about, and how next year I'll probably be in her position, except with culinary school... and probably not one of the top ones. My journey in Rome may be ending, but I have a whole new journey ahead of me.

Brother Bear

On Thursday my dear old BrotherBear lands in Rome for 10 days of sibling bonding. From Sunday to Tuesday we'll be on the Amalfi Coast together hitting up Sorrento, Naples, Capri and hopefully Pompei, as well as exploring all that Rome has to offer for the rest of his visit. I'm super excited for him to come, haven't seen him since I was in Hawaii in December, not to mention we've never traveled anywhere together just the two of us, so it will be quite the amazing experience to show him my life and venture other places we've both never been. I've already promised to make him carbonara when I pick him up from the trainstation and he got some euro's at the bank about an hour ago so he's ready too.
Unfortunately this is all at the end of my semester. For those of you that don't speak college language, papers projects and tests. I've worked my butt off the last week, and will continue to until he gets here, but the rest of my semester looks a little something like this:

May 4
Media and Gender Paper due -> not started, original topic didn't work out so I'm in the process of emailing with my professor. great.
Rome Memoir-> Done. Teacher editing, will get edits back tomorrow
Italian-> Oral part of the final exam and quiz

May 5
Music Paper due-> Wrote on Killer Queen by Queen. Need to add a little more, have 7 1/4 pages, supposed to be 8-10. Not a problem, doing well in the class despite the teaching being duller than a butter knife

May 9
Art History Paper Due-> group project. we have a full draft already, just need to format and see if it's too long.

May 11
Writing-> Reading instead of a final
Italian-> Final

May 12
Music Final
Art History Final

May 13
Media and Gender-> have to check in/show up, but no final.

Scary that I can plan out the rest of my semester, but that's that. Going to bed before my on-site class for writing tomorrow, an afternoon of homework and class, a night of homework and then Thursday I'll be crunching to get as much done before Adam's arrival!!

Wasn't it January 24 like yesterday?

I'm kind of extremely freaked out by the fact that 3 weeks from today I'll be back in the US and this semester will feel like nothing more than a dream. All the plates of pasta, cones of gelato and impromptu adventures with my friends will have happened and will be done. I know that I'll return to Italy, especially to Rome when I have my rich and gorgeous husband... but for now it's a really bittersweet feeling.
I have the best friends and family in the world so obviously I'm more than excited to get back to seeing them regularly, rather than random skype dates or gchat sessions or the occasional phone call that gets choppy thanks to gmail, but this experience has really been one of the most positive things in my life. Thanks to Rome:

1. I have some new amazing friends. Most of my friends go to American or UMD here, so luckily they are close by when we get back. I'm probably most happy about the amazing roommate I have been lucky enough to have here, my new wifey. Wouldn't have had such an amazing experience if it werent for her. Don't want to boost her ego too much, but we've had some amazing times and I can't wait to get back to DC where we can take over a whole new city. DC should start preparing.

2. I've got some new cooking techniques and recipes under my belt. Most people told me to learn to make some good Italian food when I was coming abroad. Well all you are lucky people because I listened to the requests and will make pasta for all when I'm back. I am so lucky to have been able to take authentic cooking classes from a Roman chef.

3. I really came out of my shell. I know most of you will be like "Zoe what are you talking about" but others of you may know what I'm talking about. I'm no longer the girl who takes carrots and sliced turkey from her purse from a snack, I'm the one that suggests we take a homework break for gelato con panna (gelato with whipped cream kinda thing). I may have gained a few pounds here, but there's not a single problem with that. I probably won't continue to eat gelato/ice cream multiple times a week, or have pasta every single night for dinner when I'm home (mostly because it won't be even half as good as here), but Rome has definitely helped me to become more comfortable in my own skin. You only live once right?


Once again it's back to the papers, the day after Easter is a national holiday so classes were canceled and everything is closed, but once these papers are done.. off to savor my last 20 days in Rome.

Easter in Rome

Let me start this post by saying Easter in Rome is nothing like what I expected or anticipated. I figured since it's basically the headquarters of Catholicism, it would be a huge deal and all this stuff would be going on etc. False. It was just like any other day would be. Not to mention it was nothing like the US where it is all commercialized with the Easter Bunny, dying eggs, easter egg hunts, etc. None of that. Just going to church (which there is no shortage of churches here) and spending time with family.
Our morning started early, but not too early, with an adventure to St Peter's Square. Because all the locals just go to their normal churches (only tourists and study abroad students go to St Peters for the most part) our bus ride was quite pleasant since we live in a residential neighborhood. Once we got to the square, it wasn't quite as crowded as I expected, but there was definitely a large turn out. We weaseled our way into the square as close as we could get. We were only about 5 rows of people away from the gate, so I'd say we did pretty good at getting close. There were free tickets you could get ahead of time to attend mass and have a seat and everything, but we didn't plan on staying for the whole time, the service was in Latin, and I didn't do anything for passover so I figured I'd just not do anything for anything, so we only stayed for about an hour before we went for some 11 am gelato.
Gabby's dad had sent her something that said it's interesting to go to tourist spots like the Spanish Steps on Easter because it's a different vibe and different crowd. Since none of us wanted to do any work, we ventured over there after finishing our gelato outside of the Vatican wall (no big deal right?). Even though Easter is completely different here than in the US, I could still feel it in the air for some reason. We had sandwiches on the steps and people watched and you could tell people had just come from church and that people were with their families and loved ones. On the way home we stopped in a church for Rachel and Gabby to light candles in honor of their loved ones and headed home for an afternoon of what was supposed to be work (but I took a nap). We then decided to treat ourselves to Easter dinner at Carlo Menta, where I ate so much I had the biggest food baby I've had in a while... so big my friends were terrified. For now it's off to bed because I can't seem to stay awake for more than like 5 hours and then a day of real serious paper writing tomorrow. Adam in 4 days!!

Cooking Class #2

Last Tuesday Gabby and I did another cooking class with Chef Andrea through the school. He remembered us from the previous class we'd taken, thus making us the center of his jokes, and having us teach the rest of the class how to make pasta. We are the pasta queens at this point basically. Since Chef Andrea goes to the market each morning, he picked ingredients in season and since our last cooking class was over 2 months ago, we learned to make new stuff. We only did three courses today because that's what he normally does, we just got lucky last time. We learned to make, pasta with speck and asparagus, a sicilian style beef and a custard flavored with lemon and fresh strawberries.
The pasta with speck and asparagus was my favorite of the courses probably, although the fresh tomato sauce on the beef would be a close second. I had never had speck before, but it's another cured meat, similar to panchetta or porchetta that is used in carbonara. The pasta was similar to carbonara, especially when you look at the ingredients: - 4 cups flour - 4 eggs - pinch of salt - 1 bunch of wild asparagus - 1 tablespoon of butter - ½ cup of thinly sliced speck - besciamel - parmesan cheese, but the fresh asparagus really added another dimension of freshness and was crisp.
Sadly we don't have time to take another class with our favorite Roman chef, Chef Andrea Consoli, but having the experiences of each of the classes was extremely fun. We now can go back to the United States with some Roman style tips under our belt, considering I fly home 3 weeks from today (seriously, where did this semester go? like seriously though.) For now, back to more paper writing. Easter post soon to come!

Holy Weekend in Rome

I thought I would make a pre-Easter weekend post about being in such a holy center for this weekend. I don't plan on going to services, especially considering I haven't done much for Passover (cutting carbs out of a diet in Rome is just not really possible), but Gabby and I are looking at Easter Sunday similar to how Inauguration in 2009 was.... tons of people, so wake up and go early and be able to say "Yo, we were in St Peter's Square for Easter"
There are more tourists here than I have seen my entire time in Rome combined. Last night we were meeting my friend in Piazza Venezia around 9something and there were floods of tourists coming back to their hotels from a day of siteseeing and shopping. Normally after like 8 no one is in the streets I feel like.
This weekend also includes nothing being open. Saturday is basically our only chance to go grocery shopping or get anything we'll need, if things are even open Saturday, because the whole country is shut down for Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and then on Easter Monday... whew 5 day weekend for Zoe (since I didn't go to my horrible music class yesterday, but wrote the paper for it so that counts just the same).
We're doing all our paper writing this weekend because Adam comes next Thursday, so I'm writing 4 papers this weekend pretty much (yipee), considering it's kinda overcast today. Tonight we're trying out a new pizza place that Chef Andrea said was the best in Rome, Bir&Fud, so I'll let you know how that goes. But for now, back to my personal memoir... or paper on Killer Queen by Queen, or my paper on Danny Tanner from Full House... yeah I've got an interesting mix going on in my schoolwork.

Epic Hawaii Comes to Rome Post

Sorry for the delayed update, but this month has been really busy. Once getting back from Amsterdam, I went straight to dinner with my dear old dad. It was sooooo nice to get to see him in Rome, as I write this, about a week after he left, I wish I could see him again. We spent the week sightseeing, eating (lots), getting gelato every day (at least once) and giving him a look into my life here. He got to meet my friends, see my life and we even did things I hadn't done yet, like go to the Jewish Museum and Synagogue.
The Monday he was here was his 21st birthday (and by 21 most of you know I mean 21+ a lot of years) so we threw him a mini party at The Drunkenship. He doesn't like being reminded of this fact, but me and Debbie beat him and my friend Brian at Beer Pong. He can consider it his birthday present though that he has a daughter with such a skill (and his son has the same skill... runs in the family or something)
I took him to all my favorite spots around the city, like the Borghese Park (which we also went to the Borghese Gallery) and the Aventine Hill Orange Garden and keyhole, as well as all the favorite restaurants and gelaterie and fun things like that. Even got him addicted to suppli. noms.

The Thursday my dad was here, one of my closest friends from high school Becca (known as Vanessa) came to visit for the weekend. It was extra nice having both of them here for the day and was just the taste of home I needed, without realizing it since I get caught up in how much I love it here that I forget the little things from home I missed. I hadn't seen her in two years almost, so we had a lot of catching up and literally picked up right where we left off (after catching up on the last 2 years of our lives). We spent Friday morning with the popsle then after a sad, close to tears, good bye we headed off to a different country... Vatican City.
I know I know, I've been in Rome for 3 months and hadn't been there yet. It was really fun though. It was amazing to see all these things I had learned in school and studied in Art History class, like School of Athens and the Sistine Chapel. It really is awesome to see, and definitely worth the like 12 euro to get in. Luckily we were smart and reserved tickets cause the line otherwise was massssive.
The rest of the weekend we did a bunch of touristy things, it was culture week so the Colosseum was free to go to, we rented bikes in the park and road around and then did a lot of cooking and wandering around the city. There was also a chocolate festival so we went to that and got cannoli's cause those are Sicilian and they don't have them very many places here. Best choice ever to go to the chocolate festival.
It's definitely a bummer than their visits went by way too quickly, but in another week Adam will be here and we're going to the Amalfi Coast together. Until then... Easter weekend (heading down to St Peter's square for easter morning) and writing all my papers due the week adam's here (4 papers yipee) but right now Gabby and I want some gelatoooo

Airport Thoughts

Even though I've traveled a lot during my time in Rome, all of it has been on boats, buses and trains until today. I'm currently on my KLM flight to Amsterdam to meet two of my friends from DC and have realized how different flying within/from Europe is:

1.Security is pretty lax. No need to take off your shoes and they don't even check your id until you're boarding your flight.

2. The airport is gorgeous. Tons of designer shops, including Furla, Bvulgari or whatever, etc were in the airport. Not to mention it was clean and had relatively cheap dining options.

3. Nice planes. Maybe it's just KLM, the Dutch Airline I'm on, but the plane is clean and I have tons of legroom, my brother may even fit if he was in a regular seat... or come close to it.

4. They feed you. They gave us sandwiches and drinks free of charge, not to mention asked if we wanted multiple drinks. The sandwich was interesting, half was a really weird egg salad and the other was turkey and cream cheese, but it's the thought that counts right?

The flight was delayed half and hour which was annoying and hopefully I won't get lost trying to meet my friends at the hotel but... I'm on my way!!

Amsterdam

So I backdated this because I realized I never wrote about my trip to Amsterdam. I'll keep it short, it's been a few weeks since the trip already. Here is a list of reactions to Amsterdam that I wrote on my plane ride back:

1. The place is beautiful: I didn't do much research prior to leaving for the flight, I was mostly excited to see my friends, but with the canals and boats everywhere it is really something unique. Not to mention how bike friendly everything is. The people on bikes may not be so friendly, you have to watch yourself as to not get completely nailed by them, but it just seems pretty clean and the air seems nicer since most people travel by bike.

2. The spirit of the place is so unique: I know people will claim it's due to the legalization of pakalolo, but whatever it is it's great. People seem nice, enjoy tourists and speak English. Such a change from the parts of Italy I've traveled where no one knows English.

3. Anne Franks House: It was unreal. I lost count of how many times I got the chills. They did such a good job of using what they had to make a museum. It was so well-done and such an interesting dynamic to be able to be in the house she was hiding in.

4. Bitterballen: Best food ever. Fried balls of what tasted like mashed potatoes and gravy in it. I'll need to look up what's actually in them, but it was amazing. They served it with a dijon mustard sauce and NOM

5. Tulips May be my favorite flowers. They are so pretty and cute and happy. Not to mention all the different colors they come in. It was hard to resist not buying myself some.

Spring!

Spring is in full swing finally. For the past week or so the weather has been gorgeous (70s and clear skies) and it has made life in Rome even better. I thought I'd make a list of all the things I love about spring time in Rome:

1. It's gorgeous- The flowers are blooming and the way the sun hits the city adds a new brightness to it. The Wedding Cake Building looks even whiter and everything just seems more happy.

2. Laundry is easier- As long as I do my laundry during the day light I can dry it on the balcony instead of in my room. The clothes dry faster and there isn't a huge drying rack taking up half our room.

3. Warm Weather Clothing- I've always had a theory that people look better when the weather is nice. Most of you know in DC I don't wear all that much color (I stick to black, grey, white and denim) but here I have a nice spring wardrobe of pinks, blues and greens, even a bag that is white with flowers on it.


4. Skin Tone- Because of the gorgeous weather and strong sun I have been able to sit outside as I do homework and spent Sunday tanning on my balcony. I'm back to a more normal skintone for myself and not looking all so sickly. Basically when my dad gets here this weekend (YESSSS!) I won't get told I should get to the beach or that I look pale. Sadly, I have tanlines from the top I wore yesterday from eating my lunch in the garden at school.

5. Overall Happiness- It's hard to motivate myself to do anything when it's rainy and cloudy, all I want to do is sleep. But with the gorgeous weather I have been up and doing homework or errands that I need to do earlier without a problem. This is partly why we picked the yellow room (to wake up to bright colors), but in general it's easier to get going, which is good since I have a lot of homework and project to be doing.

Back to some homework. It's only 9:15 am, but I woke up early to skype my friend (which skype totally failed us) and put in some laundry. Hopefully Music won't be canceled today since we haven't had class in like 2 weeks.

Let's Play Some Calcioooo

So we went to our first and probably only soccer (or calcio) game and it was against Juventus. We lost 2-0, but it was still extremely fun to be there for the game and surprisingly I got really into it. I yelled a lot and stood up in anticipation of the plays etc... what can I say, still got some of that boy baseball player in me. I was a little upset that we didn't win, but it was definitely worth it to go and even the excitement the opponents showed when they scored was really interesting. There were tons of security guards lining the aisles, as well as a few aisles left with empty seats to separate the two different crowds. Each time Juventus scored the crowd got extremely riled up and threw waterbottles and screamed and all this stuff. Luckily we were on the other side.

I really felt like I was in Italy after being at the game because it is such a big deal and a super cultural experience. So many people brought their flags and when the anthem was sang it really showed all the pride that they had for their country and for their team. Every one had scarves, which they held up during the anthem, and it was really neat to look around the stadium with all the scarves held up around. Unfortunately I probably won't have time to go to another game, but I repped the jersey well. Totti #10!!

How are they not shvitzing?

So the title of the post is probably spelled wrong... my Yiddish is a little rusty, but despite the nearly 80 degree temperatures the locals still wear their hideous puffy, metallic coats with boots and leather pants/long pants. Then they give us disgusted looks for wearing cute sun dresses, or shorts, or even if I was wearing jeans with a tank top I'd get bad looks as well. I just don't get it. Apparently if we aren't covered they assume that we are prostitutes or something, which is just silly because the Ann Taylor Loft dress Gabby wore the other day, and floor length dress I wore is nothing any prostitutes I've seen would wear. Plus, do they really think that white patent leather boots are stylish?

Anyways, I'll stop with the rant. Weather.com said it was going to be a high of 72 today, but laying in the sun at the park, sweating, I feel like it was at least 80 today. It was gorgeous. We packed lunches, drinks, blankets and books and spent a few hours getting some color for our ghostly pale bodies and relaxing since our trip to Naples was canceled. We then treated ourselves to gelato and made our way home. The park was packed with tourists and locals, as well as many street performers and bikers. Despite all the locals around our neighborhood, on the tram and on the street giving us looks, they tan in their bras so they can't be giving us looks, I'm sorry. It's just not fair. There were many different aged women around the park who had simply taken off their shirts to tan. Such as in the picture, the group of 60 year olds. Nonetheless it was a really nice, relaxing day in the sun and I even may have gotten a slight tan. Tomorrow we'll probably do the same but do homework and do it on our balcony. For now... dinner time!

Momma Bear Comes To Rome

Probably one of the only things that got me on the boat back from Greece was the fact that at the same time my bus got to Rome, my mommy would be landing at Fiumicino Airport for a week of fun. I have yet to be homesick while I'm here, but I was definitely looking forward to her visit and showing her my life in Rome. We got dinner Sunday night and then played all the way until Friday night. She left this morning (Saturday) because I was supposed to be going to Naples with a group, but the trip got canceled. But we definitely made the best of her visit here.

On Monday I had a lot of class, so my mom and Phil met me at my school between my classes for lunch in the garden, then I showed them my apartment, we got cappuccinos and caught up on my last few weeks since I didn't have much email or phone access. I showed her my grocery store, my coffee shop, the park near my school... basically most of the aspects of my daily life. Then I went back for my afternoon classes and met up with them for dinner at my favorite restaurant, Le Fate.

Tuesday I was only supposed to have one class, which got canceled, but we spent the day shopping and walking around the city. Once Gabby got out of class we took her to the Campidoglio and Jewish Ghetto, which they had never seen either despite coming like three times in the last 5 years or something. The weather was gorgeous their whole visit, so it was nice to walk around without a jacket or rainboots, and made for some cute pictures.

Wednesday I only went to my writing class, where we went to the Protestant Cemetery. Then my mom and I spent the afternoon walking around the city, grabbing lunch and I took them to the Aventine Hill where they could see through the keyhole and we relaxed in the Orange Garden. Then it randomly started hailing so we made our way home for rest time till dinner.

Thursday Gabby and I skipped our one class we had and we all took a family trip to Tivoli. It was a bit of an adventure to find the villa, and our timing wasn't the best so we only saw one villa, but I will live in Villa d'Este one day. It's happening. There are hundreds of fountains, all different and all around the gardens. Big ones, small ones, even lining the stairs were little fountains. It was a gorgeous day so we got to wear sundresses and get some sun. Unfortunately many of the people here think you're a prostitute if you don't wear turtlenecks, jackets and pants all the time, and despite the fact my father would probably like me to wear that often, I was about to start sweating in a dress and I'd rather the 50 year old women think I'm a prostitute. We then went back to Rome and went to Dar Poeta, which may have been some of the best pizza ever, and the dessert which is a nutella and ricotta calzone.

Friday was the final day of mommy and Zoe bonding in Rome. There was an all transportation strike, so we got a bit of a late start, but we went to the Villa Borghese gardens and walked around the shopping area one last time (what else do my mom and I do on a nice day? outside shopping is definitely the best option) We went to one final dinner and one final gelato, I helped them get money from an atm and then we said our good byes. It was really nice to have her here, I probably won't see her till August, so we definitely made our time together worth it.

Today it's supposed to be 72 and sunny so I'll be frolicking in the sun some and the next things to look forward to are Amsterdam on Friday and when I get back Daddy will be here!

Santorini

I'll start out with a few blanket statements that sum up my 2 1/2 days in Santorini:
1. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been too.
2. The people were extremely nice
3. I will go there for my honeymoon
4. I could have stayed there forever

We didn't do anything specific that was really the highlight of Santorini (aka ATV's in Corfu), But we stayed in an adorable hotel, watched the sunset both nights (once in the area by our hotel and the other night in Ia) I had tons of tzatziki, looked at the adorable jewelry shops, saw Red and Black sand beaches and did a wine tasting for 2.50 euro.

The people also loved us, which is nice after lots of people not liking that we're form the US in different parts of Europe. At every meal we got something free. At breakfast it was a delicious traditional Greek pastry, but of course I don't know the name. One of the nights we went to dinner at "Mama's House" which was absolutely delicious. I got a stuffed eggplant, filled with meat and vegetables and topped with feta then baked. A few of us shared some wine, and as we finished it "Papa" the owener, brought another on the house. He then goes "Want to know why I'm giving all the tables free alcohol tonight?" We asked why and in a very loud, sing song voice and huge smile across his face he goes "Cause I got divorced todayyyy!" and cackles as he walked away smiling. He had no wedding ring on so it could be true.

I was definitely bummed to leave Santorini. My pictures will never do it justice, but I know I will make it back there one day.

Athens

Athens was nothing like I thought it would be. I don't know what exactly I was expecting, but anything I imagined wouldn't be exactly what I saw. We got in around 8, got the free french toast and eggs for breakfast and then left for a 3 1/2 hour walking tour with the leaders. We covered all the main sites, including the Parliament building, Royal Gardens, Temple of Zeus and the Acropolis. They ended the tour in one of the main squares to have the rest of the afternoon to adventure on our own.

We opted to beat the crowd and get custom made sandals first, then eat. This is despite feeling my stomach eating itself. I got a cute pair of gladiators for 29 euro, which he fitted perfectly to my feet. He looked like Hagrid and was one of the nicest men ever. He had gone to Parson's School of Design in NYC, but was 3rd generation sandal making. He also asked if we came on one of those hippie buses, when we tried to explain we came with a group on a bus. We asked him for lunch suggestions, and ended up back in the main square eating 2 euro gyros in the sun, as we recommended. Hagrid really knew his stuff.

Then we shopped around. There was a flea market and a bunch of cute shops. I got my dad a small birthday present, but held back from buying too much. We also went to get strawberries from a fruit stand and he gave us each 1 kilo (about 2.2 lbs) each for 2 euro. Best strawberries and they are huge, but that hasn't stopped me from eating over half the back already. We then went back to the hostel and passed out till dinner.

Dinner was delicious. We did the group dinner, so it was with 140ish other people. They gave us unlimited wine and water, bread, we shared 4 different appetizers (greek salad, meatballs, calamari and fried mozzarella), then got to pick an entree, which I got Musaka. I'd never had musaka but it was really good. It was kind of like a casserole with layered potato, meat and eggplant. So good. Then there was fruit for dessert.

Now it's time to pass out, not only due to my food coma, but because it's almost midnight and we have to wake up at 5 for a boat to Santorini. Woooo!