Markets and m...vineyards

I was going for alliteration, but alas there are no synonyms for vineyard that start with an 'm'. We met up with our Italian counterparts yesterday morning to go to an area of Rome that Americans generally never go to called Trionfale Market. It was just a simple market, but it was quite large in size and there was not an American in sight. It was very daunting observing a true Italian marketplace experience. There was typical stands there for fruits and vegetables, along with an extensive and rank-smelling seafood sections (with no less than 6 severed swordfish heads...awesome) and meat stands. 

The meat stands had meats hanging from the ceiling as well as 'fresh options' (the squeamish should not look at the picture you've inevitably already looked at to the right). Our Roman compatriots told us that we couldn't leave the market without trying something. This something was Pizza Bianca (Pizza dough cut through the middle glazed with olive oil) with Mortadella (Italian sausage cold cut) sandwiched between it. They called it "Le Morte Sua" which translates to "It's own death"; however, in Italian its a phrase used to describe the best food you could have. They weren't kidding around as it was one of the best Italian snacks I've had since I've been here.

Today out whole program went on an excursion to a vineyard on the outskirts of Lazio, the region Rome is in, in a place called Umbria. The vineyard is named "Castello delle Regine" (Castle of the Queens) and with 10000 acres in its possession is one of the biggest vineyards in the area. We toured the vineyards themselves, although we are out of season so the plants themselves were bare. We continued on to the rows and rows of vats that they store and ferment the ten different kinds of wines produced in the vineyard. Finally we found ourselves in a classy downstairs hall where we found the cellar in which is housed the finest wines that Castello delle Regine produces. We had a taste test, trying to identify the differences between Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Sangiovese...I wasn't that successful. The more I practice though, the better I'll get (I promise to practice a lot).

We ended our trip with a luncheon at the vineyards country house, where we had a real wine tasting: Two Poggio delle Regine, one red and one white. We also had a red wine from 2002 (almost 10 years old if you weren't already doing the math). Both Poggio delle Regine were delicious, while 2002 was a bit strong and mineral tasting for me. We enjoyed a delightful apertivo (take a guess) and penne 
arrabbiata. I proceded to slip into a food coma and fall pleasantly asleep on the bus ride home.

I'm leaving for Siena, San Gimignano, and Pisa tomorrow morning at 630am...good thing I took that nap. Next update to come after my (hopefully) fantastic journey. Ciao!   

Im officially cultured

The above refers to today's happenings; however, let's cover yesterday briefly as well. Our Layers of Rome class led me to the Basilico di San Clemente, a 13th century church that is built upon the ruins of a 6th century church, which in turn is built upon the roads of ancient Rome. As we entered the church, a gypsy tried to take something out of a girl's bag...quite a scary moment for all of us, but we got past her harm free. The atrium of the church surrounded a natural spring that spurted up from a moderately lackluster fountain-pipe thing. We then walked into the church, and found it looked like many of Rome's multitude of church, with the exception of the staircase leading to a centuries-old excavation site where the old church used to stand. It was fascinating walking through the hallways and chambers buried underground, as well as seeing the frescos and other lasting decorations of the time. After we left the church, I ate my unsatisfying turkey wrap I made that morning and proceded to buy a roll from a premier bakery in Rome. Yummy.

Back to today. Hi (just thought I'd side note with a greeting). Our wine unit followed up with a trip to a place called Ketumbar, located in the late night club district known as Testaccio, where we met our professor, a writer for Gamboro Rosso (famous Italian food critique), as well as the staff of the establishment. We were treated to a hands-on lecture about the process of cultured wine tasting and how to have an educated drinking experience. Until this moment I didn't actually understand what the phrase "educated drinking experience" could possibly mean, but I can assure you that my appreciation for the art has increased exponentially over the course of an afternoon. We tried four different wines; two white wines (one called Muller Thurgau and the other escapes me), a chianti, and a sparkling wine called Moscato. The chef also treated us to fresh focaccia bread, which I also didn't appreciate until this excursion. With much appreciation we thanked both the staff and our professor for this amazing experience.

I'm excited now about my trip this upcoming weekend to the gorgeous city of Siena and neighboring it, the purportedly equally beautiful San Gimignano...and to drink Chianti in its region of origin (properly). I anticipate it being a blast and a half.

My week in a nutshell, sorry it took so long

Whew. What a week. Although I've certainly had the time to post, I definitely have not had the energy. Enough with the small talk on my end, let's get into the good stuff.

Tuesday I went with my class to the National Museum of Rome where remnants of ancient Roman villas have been put on display after being dug up. Both fragments of beautiful mosaics and whole panels decorated the walls of the museum. These frescos, or paintings on hardened plaster typically covered the inside of many homes of ancient Rome's emperors and senators. I found myself taking my second trip to McDonalds abroad, which was extremely satisfying and to be a little more technical, yummy. We later met our Italian companion students, who we are working with on a project about bruschetta (i think). We are going to the market with them this week to get shown around parts of Rome that tourists/abroad students don't usually see, so I can't wait for that.

Wednesday took me on an adventure around to places of Rome I had never seen before. I decided that I could no longer go on after seeing the Villa Borghese Gardens without having a frisbee to throw around when it gets really nice out. I found out to my dismay that the closest place that sold frisbees in Rome was two buses and an hour away in a mall called Porta di Roma. Needless to say, as I'm telling you this story, I made the trek (well, ride) out. It turned out to be a really nice, Northbrook Courtesque mall; however, as I went in between classes I had no time to dilly...or dally for that matter. I found what I believe to be the only frisbee in Rome and a basketball for a friend, and wasted no time. Another hour and another two buses later I found myself on time for class by minutes. I wasted no time in getting my money's worth, as right after class I found myself playing catch as opposed to buying unnecessary food for the first time.

Thursday nothing happened. Nothing.


Friday something amazing happened. Matthew Miotti arrived in Rome and spent the weekend here. We met him and and my roommates friends Ben and Jacob at the Pantheon and spent the afternoon walking them around the city, and Matt and I picked up tickets to the Rome vs. Naples (Roma-Napoli) soccer match. That night we went out to dinner with Jeff (our friend from home whose living across the street from me). I got Gnocchi Ragu and went to heaven. We spent the night back in Testaccio and had a great time at a club called "Akab" where they had Rock Night and played a fantastic selection of classic and modern rock music.

Saturday I showed Miotti around the center of Rome and went into the Colosseum again. We read up on the some more of its history and spent a lot of time just hanging out there after running into a few of his trip mates. Afterward we went to an AS Roma store and each bought an official Roma scarf. It's definitely going up on the wall of my room next year. We got home fairly early in order to get ready for the soccer game and after a few drinks we left for Olympic Stadium. The Roma side of the stadium was packed with fans who weren't quiet for one second of the match. The atmosphere is totally different, as no matter how far back you sat, fans were still unruly...the back row were kicking the backs of the stadium and the security were fairy supportive. As fun as the game was, Roma ended up losing 0-2 so that was a downer; however, we wouldn't let it get us too down. We followed up the game with an adventure to a bar called Brasserie 420, where they had a selection of over a hundred different types of imported beer. They also had an amazing rooftop where they grilled food and had picnic tables filled with Italian socialites. It was a really fun time, especially since they played Queen all night.

Sunday (woo made it!) we went to the Vatican City and walked around St. Peter's Basilica. It was equally as massive as it was when i went a month ago (I can't believe it's already been a month!) While they walked to the top, my roommates and I started on our venture to the international food store, only to find out that it was closed on Sundays. Poop. We went home dejected and I proceded to watch an episode of Smallville to get over it. When everyone else finally got home we went out to a final dinner to this wonderfully, simultaneously cheap and delicious restaurant called Casetta di Trastevere where I got an awesome and surprisingly rare Minestrone soup, as well as some bruschetta and lasagna. It was the perfect end to a perfect week.

As the title explains, sorry it took so long. Now everything is back in order and I should post more regularly. Hopefully things stay interesting around these parts, but I suppose that is up to me, ain't it?

Vacation in Rome continued...kinda

Let me start this post off where my post about Saturday let off. Me and the others that remained in Rome whilst everyone else was in Florence went to the jazz club I was talking about before...for about 15 seconds. The show was letting out just as we got there; however, my first experience with jazz in Rome would not elude me much longer (I will explain this in a little bit; don't worry intrepid reader).

Sunday morning started a little earlier, but not without its share of hinderances (a splitting headache that was the result of the night prior's activities and 100% my fault). As soon as it subsided, my compatriots and I left Trastevere where we live for the area of San Lorenzo. We read that it was a very interesting part of Rome filled with a thriving ethnic area as well as the majority of the younger population in Rome, so we wanted to check that out as part of our self-guided tour around the bustling city. We took a different route there than our guidebook told us to go, mainly because we forgot to bring the guidebook. The way we went showed off the less than beautiful side of San Lorenzo, bordering the Termini train tracks and graffiti-covered pseudoslums. After about ten minutes of increasing concern we finally reached the more central and thriving part of San Lorenzo, more specifically an urban park area populated with native Romans sitting on park benches and lounging casually about. We encountered in the center of the park the ruins of the old Trophies of Marius, which served centuries upon centuries ago as a large fountain with two sculptures adorning it, representing the triumphs of an ancient Roman Caius Marius over barbarian invasions. We were also greeted by the oft-stereotyped presence of cats littered about the city of Rome. There were probably nine or ten residing within the ruins picking at leftovers left for them. 

Looking up from epic grooming session (as you can see) right as I took this

We continued to walk around, and stumbled upon a church that we proceded to enter and mildly interrupt the service going on within it. Still, it was a beautiful church, as most churches in Rome end up being. As we continued on our journey around San Lorenzo we bumped into something rather un-Italian. On the street we were walking was an Egyptian protest rallying against Mubarek and the Egyptian government. It was very daunting; however, once we noticed the non-violent nature of it we embraced what was occurring in front of us and realized its historic value. Very few times can I or will I be able to say I have seen a product of a country overthrowing it's government. We left as it continued on past us, as we did not want to become too engulfed in the fiasco. 

Having walked around the whole day, we decided to bus it back to our tram stop. We didn't end up boarding the tram though, as outside the tram stop were a group of Italians dressed in black and pink playing brass instruments (the return of my Italian jazz experience) who called themselves the Pink Puffers. We couldn't helped but get swept up in their music. For street musicians, the were very good (and even managed to convince me to buy a CD!) This is a video of the last song we stayed for, which consequently ended up being the best one. Fast forward to about 3:20 for some sweet percussion.

The rest of my sunday was spent sleeping and preparing for what would end up being one of the greatest nights of my life (you can guess why). After hopping around two irish pubs filled with Americans packed like rats, a friend and I ended up at a small, pretty empty Italian restaurant called "Miscellanea" that was showing a game. The owner offered us bow-tie pasta in a spicy tomato sauce...on the house. We delightfully accepted. We met a few Americans from another study abroad program who were dumb Steelers fans, but very nice nonetheless. Over the course of a fantastic football game, around 3 liters of beer, and a lovely conversation with the family over skype following, I found myself submitting the previous post to you all. 

Green and Yellow

That's about it for now. It's 5am here and I'm spent.

The other side of Rome

So not much new has been going on here. I've had a bunch of school and and learning quite a bit about the history of Italian food and the culture it is apart of and creates. I had six hours of lecture on it in two days! I don't know if I've digested all of it (no pun intended, although I have to admit that is quite funny) but we have a test already next week so wish me luck.

This weekend everyone went to Florence to explore...except me. And a few others. I woke up late today as opposed to the 4am everyone else did to catch the train. I met up with the other couple of us who stayed back to save a bit of euro and went walking around Rome, looking for an intracity tour type deal. We ended up at the Spanish Steps where I had never been and had a delightful panini. We decided to walk a little deeper into Rome than any of us had until this point, and explore the Villa Borghese Gardens. None of us knew what to expect, but it turned into quite an adventure and a place I will definitely return to again.

The part of the Villa Borghese Gardens that we explored was essentially a large park district within the confines of Rome that borders its center and takes up a good amount of space. When you walk into it, you almost forget you're in Rome. Surrounded by trees, park benches, and nearly all native Romans on this 60 degree sunny afternoon, we felt for the first time that we were truly inhabitants of the city. There was a rollerblade demo going on with young Romans doing various tricks, giant balloon play structures, and open grass where we found the youth of Rome playing and enjoying a lovely weekend with friends. It was certainly a sight to behold as we absorb Roman tranquility for the first time. The Gardens are elevated so we could see the horizon of the whole city as the sun set behind it. It was truly awe-inspiring as the cool breeze rushed past us (certainly not as brisk as the subzero breezes at home though. Jealous...maybe). I'm off to a highly reputable restaurant in Trastevere that will hopefully be a place of future dining experiences, and then off to a jazz club. Maybe this is turning into a little Roman vacation after all.

Falafelosseum

...that would be a portmanteau; that is, the combination of two words (falafel and colosseum) to create one awesome word. Why would I create such an amazing word? Well I'll tell you very shortly. Right about now. After class on Monday, my friend Marisa and I decided to walk home instead of take the tram as we usually do. Right as we were about to cross the Tiber river, Marisa had the lovely suggestion of going on a quest. This quest was to find the infamous Jewish quarter, known for its...well, Jews. It didn't take us very long, as it was about 5 minutes away from where we started. A giant menorah in front of an even larger synagogue was the dead giveaway. We asked a kind looking elderly man outside the temple where the actual Jewish quarter was (and subsequent cuisine) and he pointed us in the right direction. I replied with a simple B'vakasha (Thank you in hebrew) and he replied in kind. As we walked along the street the contains the bulk of commerce in the area, we saw familiar hebrew letters and foods...as you guessed from the title of this post Falafel was one of them. Like a magnet I was pulled into the store, unable to help myself from buying a falafel sandwich. It was as fresh and delicious as I had hoped it would be. We also stopped into a kosher deli that had amazing looking meat that was overpriced...same as home. But again I was drawn by otherworldy forces and bought a tub of hummus. We left the quarter shortly after, but I'm very positive it is not the last time I cross its path.

Tuesday I woke up at 730am (pretty harsh on a college kid) to go to my lovely Layers of Rome class. Today's lesson took place first in the Forum Romana, and halfway through took us to the, drumroll please...COLOSSEUM (the backend of my favorite new word). We got a little lost on our way to the meeting point, but after a stern warning via phone that we'd be left behind, we sprinted around the perimeter of the Forum and found our group. We discussed the history of the forum as the bustling civic center of ancient Roman life. Banks (as they knew them), temples, courthouses, and markets of trade adorned this plaza which stretched the span of two arches, the Arch of Titus and the Arch of Severus. It was not very big considering how many people (the entirety of Rome) had to fit inside it at given times. It was decorated with the ruins of numerous ancient temple and monuments, including the House of the Vestil Virgins (where modern nunneries are based off of) and the Basilica Julia, named for Julius Caesar and used for various public events. There are holes carved in the stone there as an ancient game when Roman citizens would grow tired of the lengthy public addresses given there. The goal was to throw a pebble into the carved cups. I lost.

We then moved on to the epic Colosseum. The Colosseum we found out is just a nickname given to it due to the colossal statue of Emperor Nero that once stood before it. Its real name is the Flavian Amphitheater. As you may or may not know, the Colosseum is not totally intact anymore. This is because it was dismantled by idiots who didn't know I was coming to see it hundreds and hundreds of years later so they could build other stupid stuff. As we climbed higher and higher I began to truly appreciate the amazing events that had taken place thousands of years before. Besides gladiator battles, there were bullfights and circus events held there as well and during the inaugural performances over a two month span, nine thousand animals died. Learning more and more about the terrible atrocities that went on here, I couldn't help but want to watch Gladiator really really bad. Our professor let us go early to explore the rest of the Colosseum on our own. We circumvented the whole arena, on all levels. I stood in the same spot on the main floor that an immeasurable number of lives were taken. I have to admit this feeling was quite unexpected, and thus even more powerful. After spending some time taking pictures and getting lost, we left the Colosseum area. As with the Jewish quarter, I don't think this will be my last trip there, although I may find myself in the quarter a tad more frequently.