The Borghese Gardens and The Sunday Papal Blessing

Alicia and I went in search of the Bocca Della Verita yesterday so we got on the Metro and got of at the Piazza del Popolo. There was a HUGE protest going on - I couldn't tell, but I saw a lot of anti-mafia banners and t-shirts.

Alicia and I made our way up some stairs to see the view - when we saw another set of stairs we walked up and found what we later learned were the Borghese Gardens. There were busts all over the HUGE park and we walked around for hours. It was such a beautiful day ( I FINALLY got a chance to wear my sandals!!! ) There was a small pond adorned with a Greek style monument with row-boat rentals, and the swans all around made it so picturesque.



We kept walking and found the Roman Globe Theatre, but it was closed!
From there we walked back to the Piazza di Spagna, and took the Metro home.
The Borghese Gardens go on my Top Ten Most Beautiful Places in Italy list - which seems to grow and grow every weekend that I go exploring!!

Then when I got home I took a shower and got ready - Anne's friend who is studying abroad in Spain came to Rome for the weekend, and we all went out to dinner in Trastevere. I had the Gnocci al Gargonzola - AMAZING.
The waiter brought us free Limoncello shots after dinner.

We went to a Pasticceria (bakery) and I found my favorite kind of Italian cookie! It was a great ending to a great night out.
We caught the bus back home where I studied for my midterm for a little while before falling asleep early.

I woke up this morning (Sunday) and decided to see the Pope, and receive the Papal Blessing! I got dressed, and brought Mom's rosary with me - she gave it to me to get it blessed by the Pope! And made my way to the Vatican.
When I got close I decided to stop at the little shops near the vatican to get a few various souvenirs to get blessed.
(Including a rosary for myself made out of crushed rose petals - it smells amazing)

I go to the Vatican almost every day. I sit, observe, watch, listen and soak it in. Its my favorite place to be. But today, there was a whole different feeling. Seeing the many thousands of people packed into the square, anxiously awaiting the Pope. As soon as I stepped foot into the Piazza, I started crying. It was just so amazing.



I waited about 20 minutes before the Pope came out and performed his blessing - I took a video of almost the whole thing! :)
It was truly an amazing experience, I felt so blessed to be there and experience it.
At that moment it hit me that many Pilgrims make that very trip, some only once in their lifetime and I have to opportunity to experience it 8 more times before I leave.



It brought a lot into perspective for me - including getting those extra couple hours of sleep. Some people will NEVER get to experience what I've been given the opportunity to experience. Its time to get out there and start experiencing it.

Taking it all in - the crowd going wild (as if at a goal at a tied soccer match) when the Pope came to the window - cheering when he blessed the individual nationalities - especially when he blessed the Italians - you would have thought AS Roma scored a winning goal against Lazio (their biggest rivals).
The nuns in their full habits, holding their rosaries in their hands, as they looked up to the pope.
The little girl next to me smiling and pointing " il Papa! il Papa!" (the Pope! the Pope!)

It was definitely an amazing experience that I'll cherish forever, and definitely do every Sunday after this.

Ciao!

Panchetta, Mozzarella and Basil Pizza Bites

I've become obsessed with cooking, and trying new recipes.
Last night I made an Italian style Goulash, and today it was Panchetta Mozzarella and Basil Pizza bites - those two recipes are thanks to http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/ - my new bible.
The recipes are all amazing, and totally easy to make!

I made the pizza bites as a late-lunch/mid-afternoon snack, and they were AMAZING. I adapted the recipe for the mozzarella and panchetta, you can really add anything you want to! I heated up some of my Basil pizza sauce to dip them in - BELLESSIMO!
It was so good. They were a perfect snack out on the terrace in this gorgeous spring weather.

Enough raving about them, here's the recipe (the way I made them)

1 ball mozzarella cheese
1/2 container of refrigerated pre-made pizza dough
5-6 tufts of basil - chiffonade
1 small package of cubed panchetta

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (which I guessed was 375 degrees C)
Line a cake pan with tin foil and drip olive oil and spread with a paper towl - remove excess oil

Let pizza dough sit for 20 minutes out of fridge, then pull about a golf ball size and flatten it.
Rip into mozzarella and put as much as desired onto dough
sprinkle a few cubes of panchetta, and a bit of the chiffonaded basil.
fold everything into the dough - like a pillow - and place into cake pan - roll dough ball in oil to coat.
Make as many as desired
(I made 12 using the 1/2 container of pizza dough, 1/2 the container of pancetta, and the whole ball of mozzarella - I snacked on the mozzarella as I was making them ;])
Then cover with fresh black pepper and a little salt - to taste

Bake for about 20 minutes - or until the dough is golden.

I also had a little pizza sauce on the burner and it made for a great dipping sauce for the pizza bites!

Ciao!

Caravaggio!

So last night we went to the Scuderie del Quirinale for the Caravaggio exhibit.
The exhibit was to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of the great baroque artist (Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio) who has even been hailed as "the father of modern painting"! He was even considered "the most famous painter in Rome!
The exhibit featured showing 24 major works by Caravaggio - the most ever compiled in a single place!
It was so interesting to learn that he painted many of is works within MONTHS of eachother - they're all so beautiful it seems impossible.

I think his most famous paintings are Ragazzo con Canestro di Frutta (Boy with the Fruit Basket) and Canestra di Frutta (Fruit Basket). - What I found most amazing is that in Canestra di Frutta, the basket is meant to symbolize the wife of Jesus Christ, and the fruit - which is starting to decay (the leaves are dry and the apple is worm eaten" - that symbolizes that "all things decay" - scholars imply that the basket represents the Church, and that it represents its offer of humanity to all of mankind.
Pretty cool.

Some of my other favorites were Amor Vincit Omnia (Love Triumphant), and Conversione di Saulo (The Conversion of Saint Paul).
Its so amazing how he used light to portray emotion in his paintings.
I also learned that during a tennis match he accidentally killed his opponent and was given the death penalty!!
He then left Rome and travelled Napoli, Sicily, and even Malta!

The exhibit left me with a desire to learn much more about Caravaggio and his masterpieces.
It is one experience I would put on my Top Ten in Italy - it was only 7,50 E for the exhibit - one I will most likely attend again.

Brie Bruschetta

So, I'm becoming painfully aware that my study abroad experience/ travel blog has become more and more of a food blog, but this recipe is AMAZING!

Its for a Brie Bruschetta.

Heres the recipe (with my slight variations)
1 or 2 pieces of crusty bread. (I used one big piece cut in half)
7-8 cherry tomatoes (Quartered)
Brie
Pesto (The recipe didn't call for pesto, but it REALLY made a difference!)

First thing I did was put the Brie in the freezer for 30 minutes, to harden up so I could cut it.
Then, I put a little olive oil on the bottom of a pan and put the bread in with the flame high.
As they were toasting, I quartered the tomatoes, and took the rind off the Brie.
I flipped the bread so it could toast on the other side - when it was almost done, I added the Brie until it was slightly melted.
I spread the rest of it with a knife, then spread a little pesto over the Brie, and covered the entire piece of bread with the tomatoes.
(you could probably use less tomatoes, but I thought it was delicious!)



I hope you enjoy!

Ciao!

"La Nevicata!" ("The Snow!")

For the first time since 1986, snow fell in Rome. It was amazing. The flakes were HUGE and although it lasted only maybe an hour, (and was completely melted within maybe 25 minutes), it absolutely gorgeous to see the city covered in a thick white blanket of snow.

To see the palm and orange trees covered in snow was pretty crazy.

Anyway, I just thought that the first snowfall in 24 years was "blog worthy" :)

Ciao!

sea-monkey water is actually pretty good! salute!

Anyone who knows me knows how picky I am about my water.
Well, I stayed late at school and didn't get home til 10 - the market was closed and I'm out of water...
oohh jeeze.. looks like tap water tonight...
I figured this would be photo worthy...
Enjoy.




I filled my glass with sea monkey water.. ohh jeeze.. here I go..



It smells alright...



Hey.. This isn't bad at all!!



Molto Bene! Salute!!
The sea monkey water here is pretty good! Its so good that I actually won't call it sea-monkey water!
Its tap water, and with my Sigg waterbottle, its an extra 1 euro a day I don't have to spend a day!
I'll drink to that!!

Ciao!

Venizia for Carnivale!

Carnivale!
It was an amazing experience. I woke up at 6:15 and took a quick shower, dried and straightened my hair, threw on some makeup and left the apartment by 7:00.
I walked to the Metro station, and took it all the way to Termini - the train station. There the whole group met up, checked in, and waited to board our buses and get going.
I met two girls who live in my neighborhood on the Metro and hung out with them all day.
I bought some chocolate and an overprices bottle of Coke - afterall, it was a 7 hour bus ride.
So at 8:30 we finally head toward the buses. Biggest fake-out of my life. These beautiful huge comfy looking buses were waiting.. behind two dinky buses.. siiigh.. here we go Venizia!

We finally start our voyage an hour and a half late, and I'm crammed between four people in the back of the bus - even the tour guide referred to my seat as "the bitch seat" - great.

An hour outside of Roma, a girl feels sick and decides she doesn't want to go.
"Can you turn the bus around??" - OMG WE'RE ALREADY RUNNING LATEEE!!
We pull off at a rest stop where she gets a taxi home.. - I can only IMAGINE what that ended up costing her!

We take off again, and drive about 4 hours before stopping again.
The sights were amazing - mountains everywhere! The fog was so thick as we climbed the mountains, then as we came down we saw amazing snow covered peaks.
When we stopped for lunch - I luckily still had some chocolate, so I just stood outside talking with my friends. It was surprisingly warm as I looked at the snow on the mountains.

Finally the last leg of our voyage. The last two hours were pretty uneventful - we watched My Best Friend's Girl - a HILARIOUS movie. I usually shutter when anything with Dane Cook comes on, but he was actually pretty funny in the movie.

So we get to Venice! (YAY!) and they tell us that since Venice is all canals and such, the bus cannot get us to the main island, San Marco, and that we needed to buy Waterbus Tickets for 16.50 - greeeaat. Good thing I didn't buy lunch after all.
We also bought our masks - mine was the most amazing green and gold mask with obnoxiously large green feathers :)

The Waterbus left right at sunset, and the view was INCREDIBLE. The setting sun cast the most amazing shadows on the water.

Finally we get to the island, put on our masks, and soak Carnivale in.
Like nothing I've ever seen. The party was HUGE.
We made it into the Square where a huge stage and lights were set up. There were masked people everywhere - the crowds were amazing.
The energy was explosive. There was a group banging drums, singing, chanting with banners, dancing in circles and making their way across the whole island.

We walked around for hours, I was amazed at Venizia's beauty. The canals with Gondala's lined up waiting to give the riders the romantic experience.

Venizia is like a maze of small alleys and canals. I would love to get lost in Venizia. Its so gorgeous.
So finally, we decide we're pretty cold and could sit down for a while. The nearest cafe we walk into looks perfect. I got a bowl of soup, expecting it to be MAYBE 3 euro. FALSOOO - it was 8 euro. RIDICULOUS.

After dinner we walked up and down the boardwalk again, stopping and looking at what every vendor had - the masks were amazing. So different and so breathtaking.

At 10 we decided the lines for the waterbus would be CRAZY and decided if we wanted to catch the midnight bus back to Roma, we should start heading back.
It was actually a lot quicker than we anticipated, so we walked around the market for about an hour, I bought Kacie a mask, and a fabulously tourist-y I <3 VENIZIA shotglass for her collection.

Around 11:20 the bus drivers pulled up, and we pleaded that they open the bus for us to sit for a while.
They obliged and let us on. I honestly fell asleep for a while, and as the bus filled, I was more and more ready to be back in my bed at home.

Finally we take off, with only a few annoyingly drunk people.
The tour guide put on Legally Blonde 2, then Legally Blond 1 (odd to play them out of order...)
and then no movie for the last 3 hours.

We finally pulled back to Termini at around 6 am.
Hopped on the first Metro back and was in bed by 6:30.

By then it was Valentine's Day!
I skyped Kacie to say Happy Valentine's day, and fell asleep.

The pictures I took in Venizia will NOT do it justice, but I will post them later tonight ( I haven't uploaded them yet)

Venizia definitely goes on my Top Ten most gorgeous places in Italy.

Ciao!

Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti, Fontana di Trevi e Sausage, Tortillini and Spinach Soup!

On a cold and rainy Thursday, Molly, Alicia and I decided to adventure out to the Spanish Steps.
We took the Metro (subway) which got us there in literally 5 minutes.
Breathtaking.
Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti (The Spanish Steps) is the longest and widest staircase in Europe!!
When you arrive at the top, there is an Egyptian Obelisk, and a beautiful Baroque church.
I felt just like Adurey Heburn in Roman Holiday!


The church on top the steps is truly amazing. I lit a candle inside, and we left the church and were back out in the rain.
Got back on the Metro and this time ventured out again to the Trevi Fountain.



It is so gorgeous. Much more beautiful than any picture taken. I drank from the side fountain, then threw in my coin.
I shall return to Rome!
The Trevi Fountain is MUCH bigger and MUCH more beautiful than I expected. The sculptures are enormous, and the water is the most amazing crystal blue I've ever seen.

I said my prayer over my coin, kissed it for extra luck, then threw it in the fountain.

When we got home from our adventure in the cold and rain, I decided to make some soup that Kacie sent me the recipe for.
It was a sausage and spinach Tortellini soup. YUMMMMM

Heres the Recipe:

Sausage and Tortellini Soup with Spinach

½ tbs olive oil
½ lb hot Italian sausage
½ medium onion finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
3 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 pkg. fresh cheese tortellini
1 ½ cups baby spinach

Cook the sausages in a pot with hot oil – KEEP TURNING THEM.
Take sausage out and place in a bowl. IN SAME OIL, sauté onions, add garlic – for about 30 seconds.
Add broth and bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Cut sausage and add to pot. Stir in tortellini. Cook until tender.
Stir in spinach until just wilted (About 1 minute)
Season with salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf.

Thats it for now!
Ciao Ciao!

Laundry that smells like Roman Rain

Theres always something about rain in a city that gets me. Call me a romantic, but I'll never get tired of this Roman Rain.
So my clothes are hanging out to dry (under a roofed part of the terrace) and it starts to rain. This is the most fresh Roman Rain I've seen. I smell my clothes, and they are just everything Roman Rain should smell like.
I love the rain in my city.

Its true, Italian dogs speak Italian.

I was walking home from school last night, and as I was about to cross the street (on a red!) a man and his dog came up behind me. The dog started to walk - but the man wasn't about to dart through cars, so he says "ASPATA!" (wait).
The dog looks back. Looks at me, then sits.
Amazing.
So there you have it.
Italian dogs speak Italian.

Ciao!

Sofficini a la Hillary!

After a long day in class, and a far walk home, I decided I would treat myself to a nice meal.
But wait... I forgot to go grocery shopping. :(
I've never been able to make a "mom-meal" - mostly everyone who is reading this knows the definition, but I'll explain what a "mom-meal" is anyway..

A "mom-meal" is a meal that only mom could make. She would go through the cupboards, get the most random ingredients (that we always seemed to overlook) and have a delicious meal made in no time, to satisfy our stomaches.
So thats a "mom-meal", and now back to my dilemma.
All I have is 2 frozen sofficini, a box of frozen peas, a bunch of tomatoes, a head of garlic, about 1/4 of a red pepper, the last little bit of my jar of barilla basil pasta sauce (which lasted quite a while!) and olive oil.

Ok.. I roll up my sleeves, its "mom-meal" time.

I heat up the oil in a small frying pan and add the sofficini (basically a fried dough with spinach and mozzarella filling).
While those are browning on both sides, I cut up 5-6 small tomatoes, the red pepper, and a clove of garlic.
When the sofficini are brown on both side, and cooked through (no longer frozen in the middle), I took them out and put them in my bowl.
I threw out the olive oil, and coated the bottom of the pan with fresh oil (not too much). I added the tomatoes, garlic, red peppers, and frozen peas and reduced the heat. I kept tossing them until the garlic was done, and the peas were no longer frozen.
While that was happening, I cut the sofficini into quarters.
Next, I spooned the vegetables on top of the quartered sofficini and added the basil pasta sauce on top of the whole thing!
So delicious.

I asked my chef Kacie for ideas on how to make it better. It was just so good! Maybe some more fresh mozarella? Maybe some sort of bean? I'll try MANY variations on the meal and keep you posted!
MY first "mom-meal" was a success!

I was so good that I looked up a recipe for Sofficini (as it is ONLY sold in Italy) AND FOUND ONE!
I can't wait to try my hand at home-made Sofficini!
Anyway, here is the recipe:

Ingredients: 1cup flour - 1cup milk - 1tbs butter- 1 pinch of salt - 1 egg - breadcrumbs - oil for frying

In a saucepan place milk, butter and salt and bring to boil. Tip the flour in - all in one go - and stir well with a wooden spoon till you obtain a ball of paste that has left the sides of the saucepan clean. Cook again for few minutes then take off heat. Roll out the pastry then cut circles with a cup or a glass, place the filling, then close the circle and press the pastry edges together to seal. Coat them one by one, first in beaten egg and then in the breadcrumbs. Fry the sofficini into a deep frying pan (you'll need few minutes until they have turned a nice brown colour) and serve hot.

I washed down my dinner with some Panettone (YUM) and am just getting ready for bed.

Ciao!

Open Air Market!

HOW COULD I FORGET THE MARKET!!

We went to the market on the first day. Its the largest open air market in Palermo.

It was so amazing.

The fishermen calling to all the people in the market to come buy their fresh catch (most of it still alive),
all the vibrant colors of all the fresh fruit and vegetables, the meat hanging up over their booths.

I got the most fresh and delicious strawberries (fragola) for only 60 euro cents.

We were followed around by stray dogs all day - I named the three that were around the most.
Pal - because I was a tough looking boy dog (and we were in Palermo)
Bella - A pretty dog that barked at traffic to make sure we crossed ok
Best - The most horrifying and gross looking dog that kept sniffing the garbage on the streets, looking for food.

Ok,
Ciao

"You won't keep yourself away from here for long"

Sicilia.
BREATH-TAKING.
The best weekend I've had in a LONG LONG LONG LONG time.
This blog post will do the weekend no justice, but I'll sure try. It was the kind of weekend that will be a memory for life.

I "woke-up" at 3:45 am on Friday morning (I say "wake-up" because I never actually slept) and walked to the Vatican to meet up with Mor. She and I walked from there to school, and met up with Yu and Rola at the Piazza Trilussa. From there we split at taxi to the airport and made out way to our gate. We got there like 2 hours early, but so was everyone else in our class.
We went to the cafe in the airport for a little breakfast - I got a bottle of water and a croissant.

We boarded our TINY plane and departed for Sicily, Palermo with the sun still resting under the horizon.
As soon as the run rose, all I could see was the sea. Soon, the mountains came into view on the other side of the plane. They were so amazing. So tall, up into the clouds.

We landed and got the train from Punta Raisi (the Airport) into Palermo Centrale Station. On the train we met Andriae, a hilarious, and kind native Sicilian on his way home for the weekend from the military. We spoke as much as we could with him and he taught us some Sicilian dialect! He showed us the way from the station to our hotel, and left.

We got in at 8 am and check in wasn't until 12, so we all piled into one room and slept. 5 girls on the futon, 6 people in the bed. We waited for our professor, and some other people who landed later than us.

After that, we walked around for a bit, and got a family style dinner at an amazing local restaurant. We all wanted to try the local sea-food (which is AMAZING) and some of the dishes included Squid Ink pasta, fresh swordfish, Spaghetti with Mussles, Zhuccini and Prawns, and delicious grilled calamari.

From there we went out for a few beers with the professor! He even took a shot with a couple of us!!
The shots were amazing - "Rum e Perra" (bacardi rum with a pear juice chaser) for 1 Euro.
We left the bar and went looking for somewhere else to have a few drinks and dance - it ended up being this awesome club in a cave underground. We made our way home, hung out for a while longer, then a couple of us went out again at 4 am in search of food - we ended up in the same area as all the bars, got some delicious 1 euro sandwiches, and went back to the hotel.

The next morning we woke up and got ready to walk around. We walked to the catacombs, which were closed, and so we walked to the Castel Zisa. It started pouring, but the castel was AMAZING.

Castel Zisa was built around 1150, and still represents Paradise in Palermo. You look out one window you see the mountains, you look out the other window, you see the ocean. "La Montana e il Mare"

Then we went to an AMAZINGLY beautiful Norman Cathedral. It was so gorgeous, and I was thinking about Sicily and how gorgeous it is, I was looking at a statue of The Virgin Mary, and all I heard when I asked her about Sicily was,
"You'll be back - you can't keep yourself away for long". It was so amazing to hear, and I also knew it was true.

We walked back to the hotel, and got ready for... THE OPERA.

We went to the Opera, Nabucco. It was so gorgeous. It was on my list of things to do in Italy - see an Italian Opera.
Our seats were on the very top of the Teatro, and the view was incredible. It was a two hour opera, and then we went to dinner with the professore again.
Another family style dinner, and we tried a little bit of everything, Christina got the sardine balls, and they were pretty delicious! I also tried artichoke blossoms, and the Panelle - fried chickpea and parsley. SO GOOD!

We made our way back to the hotel in the pouring rain and decided to go to bed - we were in the restaurant until 12:30!

We woke up early again and got ready to go. Our first thing we wanted to see was the ocean. I walked along the beach and picked up a shell and a piece of sea-glass. (So that I could return the shell to the same spot one day). Then we took a train up into the mountains to get a view of all of Palermo. It was so amazing, even though it was pouring rain.

Up on the mountains, I got amazing food, and great pastries. We tried Lobster tails (a great pastry) and then caught the bus back down to Palermo.

We got pizza in a great pizzeria, and walked back to the hotel. We got our stuff and decided to get to the airport early. So we took the train into Punto Raisi, and hung out in the airport for about an hour and a half, two hours.

I got an amazing Sicilian Cuisine cookbook, and flipped through it as I ate some delicious milk chocolate, and waited for the plane. We boarded and soon we were back in the air on the way home.

The turbulence was so bad, that the pilot had to fly in the opposite direction, and we flew over Napoli!
We made it home, took a train into Trastevere, Mor and I took the tram over the Tiber, and waited (for a half hour) for the 23. One of the guys from my apartment was waiting for the 23 as well, so we all talked and walked back from the 23.

I got home at 12:30 and took a shower and went to bed.

Sicilia. The most amazing place I've EVER seen.

Ciao.