A Big Decision

You have heard us rave in praise about the wonderful little cottage we were so lucky to find and the wonderful friends we have made in Dante and Mariella, and so the following news may come as a bit of a shock to you, but bear with us.

We have officially decided to move. Don't freak out just yet, because we aren't abandoning our dreams and heading home to fall slave to real jobs, not yet anyway. We are simply planning to move to a more central location.

Trust us, this was not an easy decision. Zagarolo is a great place, with peace and quiet, and all the free wine we can drink, but it does have its drawbacks, which unfortunately have begun to outweigh the benefits for us. One drawback, which we are forced to endure day after day, is the commute. In the mornings it's a rare occasion that we can find a seat on the train into Rome, and so we have to start our day off with standing for a 40 minute train ride (after the long walk to the station). It also requires us to wake up much earlier than we otherwise would have to, in order to get into Rome for our morning lessons. To give you an idea, we have to leave the house at 6:45 am to catch the train we need every morning! I wish this upon no one!

Truth be told, the commute is tiresome and exhausting, but it's not the whole reason we have decided to move. The biggest factor in our decision is our lack of a social life. Because the last train for Zagarolo leaves Rome at midnight, we have become the Cinderellas of Italy, always rushing for our ride before it's too late and we turn into pumpkins. And not only that, but if we do stay until midnight we have to face the long walk home in the cold dark night, since the busses don't run past 9 in the country. To sum it up, it sucks.

The last straw came a couple of weeks back when a colleague invited everyone to watch him perform at an open-mic night at a local pub. We really wanted to go, but we knew that the performances probably wouldn't start until 9:30 or 10, and if our friend didn't perform first we might not even get to see his act. Needless to say, we didn't go, and the next day everyone was raving about how awesome he was and how much fun they had. We were really bummed that we couldn't be there.

Since then we have been invited to see films, grab beers, go to parties, etc., but we know that we just can't do it because of where we live. We just can't live with the idea of going home in two years not having made any friends! What a waste that would be. We also knew that this wouldn't be much fun for those of you planning to come see us, since nights in Rome can be wonderful and exciting, and many of the monuments look spectacular lit up in the evening. So, we made a decision, and we are set to start looking for new places starting next week. We sadly informed Dante and Mariella of our choice, and they were very understanding. We plan to be out of Zagarolo by the first of April.

Our Hero

This was a small news story we happened upon yesterday while wasting time at the school. Lately we've been spending a lot of time there so as not to have to use our electricity, heat, or internet. It's more convenient to just suck off of the resources of our work!!

Anyway, we were wasting time there Friday afternoon after we had a wonderfully pleasant sack-lunch in front of the Fontana di Trevi (sorry, we didn't have the camera with us, but we will get pics of the fountain soon!). After lunch we were surfing the net when we came across this story and it tugged at our heart strings for reasons you'll find very obvious once you give it a read.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17284416/

Venice-The Finale

As the long weekend was coming to an end, we were both exhausted. We were physically sore from all the walking, and not excited that we had to get up at 5 am to catch our plane home.

We headed downstairs to check-out, and we had the clerk check the bus schedule to see if one would be heading to the train station soon. Unfortunately, since it was Sunday, the buses were on a limited schedule, and there wouldn't be a bus until it was too late for us. We would have to catch a cab to take to the train station if we were to catch our bus to the airport on time.

The clerk called a cab for us, and informed us that it would be 30 euro for the 6 minute ride to the station. We were shocked and appalled, but we had no choice if we wanted to make it to the airport in time for our flight. When the cab arrived, Allie was immediately suspicious. This wasn't a normal white cab with the typical taxi signs that help tourists recognize genuine taxis so they won't be ripped off. We asked the driver if he had a meter, and he said no, it was a fixed price to the station.
We went back into the hotel and asked the clerk what was going on. He said this was the only type of taxi that would come out to the hotel, and it was perfectly normal. We argued for a while, asking why he didn't call the white taxi, and why it would cost so much to go such a short distance. His English was not very good, but he kept insisting we would be fine, and that this was the type of cab they usually use, and a white taxi would cost not much less. We were unconvinced, but being unable to call a taxi for ourselves, we had little choice but to pay the outrageous fee for this short ride.
After arriving at the airport, we were checked very thoroughly at the entrance to the gates, and Charles was reprimanded by a security guard for having a small pair of scissors in his carry-on. We had actually taken those scissors on several flights (actually unknowingly) and had yet to find trouble, but the guard gave him a stern look at said, "Not possible." That careful and meticulous guard surely thwarted a terrorist attack by throwing out our scissors, but whatever.
The flight went off without a hitch, and in fact, we landed a whopping 20 minutes ahead of schedule! Unfortunately, when we landed and everyone was preparing to deboard the plane, the captain made an announcement that there was a bomb threat on the airport and we would not be allowed to leave until it was secured. So we waited. As it turned out, it was not really a threat, but someone had left a bag unattended, and so the airport security had to blow up the bag before anyone would be allowed to come or go. Finally, we were free.
Of course, we weren't home yet. Outside of the airport we had to wait for a bus to take us to the Ciampino train station so we could get to Zagarolo. And as I said before, it was Sunday. We waited, and waited. Finally we were able to get to the station and get home. Luckily Dante had agreed to pick us up at the station, so we didn't have to walk home or wait for yet another bus.

After we had finished eating a frozen pizza lunch, we calculated the time it actually took us to get home, a mere 5 hours. That is approximately the same time a train ride from Rome to Venice takes, and you can bring scissors the size of your head onto a train and nobody cares! We decided that we are done with the hassles of flying, despite the cheap cost, and we will be utilizing the trains for all of our trips within the country from now on.

Venice-Part III

This morning started with a trip to the Guggenheim Museum to experience a little modern art. We have seen countless churches, basilicas, cathedrals (we still don't really know the difference), and all contain fascinating and beautiful works of ancient art-mostly depicting Christ or Mary in some form or another. Sorry, no pictures because Charles forgot the camera! As you can guess, we've grown somewhat tired of this same old routine, and we thought that some modern art would do us good. It wasn't as wonderful as we had hoped, and it costs us 20 euro (10 euro each for admission) to see three good paintings; A Dali and two Picassos. The museum was also full of a tour group of American teenagers who were touching priceless works of art with their grubby little fingers! It was a somewhat disappointing experience.

After this, we headed to the small island of Murano, where famous glass-blowing has been its main export since the beginning of time. At one point in history you could be charged with treason if you left the island with the secrets of their techniques. We wandered around the small island and decided to try another museum (obviously of glass) hoping to see some unique modern glass creations. Boy were we wrong! This museum was more about the history of glass-blowing, and did have some interesting and very ancient specimens of glass, but it just wasn't what we were hoping for. Where does a person have to go to find something modern in this country??
We did get to stop into a real glass-blowing shop and watch a master at work, but this grew tiresome quickly when we realized he was a one-man assembly line, making dozens of the same small glass horses to be sold to tourists. Not exactly genius at work. We did leave with a few small souvenirs (a necklace and pair of earrings for Allie) and set out to find some lunch.

Back on the main island we began our search for a restaurant Charles had read about on one of his favorite internet food forums. We found it without too much trouble, and hoped that the full-house was a sign that this place would be better than the last we ate at. That is an understatment! After we could stuff no more into our greedy mouths, we happily declared that we had found the best restaurant in Italy (that we've tried, thus far)! We liked it so much that we actually waited for the chef to pass by so we could compliment his work. He very graciously accepted our praise and in response he said, "Now I turn all red!"
Since you are probably curious about the food itself, let me get your tastebuds working. We started with an antipasto of tiny octopi, served very simply, in oil with parsley. It was strange to eat the little bodies, but once you closed your eyes and put it into your mouth, the problem was overcome! Next, we each had a pasta dish, one was a spaghetti with prawns, which was good, but the sauce was a bit lacking. The other was the dish of the day, and unfortunately we didn't get the name of it. It was delicious! It contained a buttery sauce with fresh fish pieces on top of spaghetti. Divine.
For our main courses, we had a platter of fried seafood, containing more tiny octopi, calamari, prawns, etc. The fry batter was light and airy, and perfectly salty, no tartar sauce needed. The other main dish was a whole fish, grilled to perfection! This fish was so fresh and tasty that it didn't need any sauce or even lemon to be added to it. It was perfect as it was. Charles even ate the eyeballs!

Finally, we had dessert. One tiramisu, and one truffle ice-cream. Nothing we have tasted before can compare to either of these dishes! The ice-cream was earthy and sweet all at once, and the tiramisu was untouchable. The cream was so light and airy, and the chocolate was perfectly bitter. It wasn't overly boozy or doused with espresso like many American versions. Since tiramisu was invented in Venice, it's no wonder the Venecians know how to do it right.
All of this, with water, wine, coffees, and bread was only 20 euro more than the lunch we had the day before. So worth the extra few bucks! We spent the rest of the evening wandering the streets and talking about how delicious our meal was. We made a pact that we would go back to Venice, if only to eat there again.

Venice-Part II

Early Friday morning we set out for Venice because Charles really wanted to see the famous fish market before all of the good seafood was gone. We found the fish market with relative ease (surpised?) Some of the coolest, strangest and freshest fish were on display pulled straight out of the Adriatic Sea. This is probably one of the best fish markets in the world and it was amazing and enlightening to discover there are more than three types of fish in the sea and people actually eat them! After the fish market we floated down the Grand Canal in the "waterbus" and enjoyed the blue skies and sun on our backs. Since Carnevale was in full swing there were many people dressed in many elaborate and amazing costumes. We took a few pictures and Allie got to pose next to George Washington!
After wandering around, we found our way to a place for lunch. Unfortunately, it was was expensive (everything in Venice is expensive), quite mediocre and left us in desperate need of some mouthwash! We settled on some overpriced gum though. Basically, we spent the day wandering aimlessly through the labrynth that is Venice. The city is built on many islands so you can be walking down a "street" and all of a sudden you come to a dead end. At this point you have two choices: the first is two find a pole and vault across the divide. The second is to back track and find a bridge to cross over. We always chose the latter.
Around 8 o'clock we decided to head back to our hotel in Mestre, which is about 30 minutes via bus. We waited forever for the bus that would drop us off in front of our hotel but that one never came. So we caught another bus that would take us to the train station in Mestre where we could take another bus back to the hotel. While we waited for over 30 minutes for that elusive bus that would drop us off at our hotel we noticed a college aged guy wearing a "Gonzaga in Florence" t-shirt. Being more friendly than usual, I asked him where he was from. Turns out he was a Gonzaga student and he was from Snohomish, so of course we became fast friends. Apparently Gonzaga has a school in Florence and also one in Paris. So now we at least had some friends to chat with while we waited for the bus (they were waiting for the same bus). Finally another 30 minutes later the bus arrived. Happily, we all got on.
Allie and I quickly noticed that this bus was taking a different route than it had the night before. We figured everything would be ok, afterall, this was the same number bus, right? Somewhere down the road, the driver finished his route and told everyone to get off the bus! Apparently, there are three Number 11 buses in Mestre! He was a tleast kind enough to point us in the right direction to wait for another number 11 bus that would finally deliver us to our hotel's doorstep. After another 30 minutes, the correct Number 11 bus picked us up and took us out of the hooker filled area we were in.
Total time to get home was about two and a half hours! We did have a good time and we made some new friends who promised to show us around Florence provided we can make it out of Rome for a weekend.

Venice-Part I

After nearly seven months of using Italy's public transportation systems, we figured we had it down. On Thursday afternoon we were packed and ready, everything had been checked and double checked. We knew which was the last train we could take to make to the airport on time and Dante was giving us a ride to the train station so everything was covered. We were feeling pretty excited and ready to enjoy our little weekend trip. We even had time to have a coffee with Dante. Everthing was going smoothly, we made it to the station right on time, the train was actually on time (big shock) and we were totally prepared (another big shock).

About 10 minutes into the train ride, Allie had a dreadful thought, "Does this train stop at Ciampino Airport or does it go directly to Rome?" We both kind of shrugged it off and thought it must stop at Ciampino. The train was passing stations left and right then it stopped at the station right before Ciampino so we were relieved and we figured that if it stopped there it must stop at the airport station. With our fears mostly allieviated we began to talk about how great this trip would be. About five minutes later, the train slowed prior to the airport station and then sped up and blew right by it! "HOLY [explative deleted]" We screamed as we watched the station grow smaller and smaller. Hepped up on caffeine, our minds raced with thoughts of an already ruined trip and how much a train ticket would cost us and a million other negative thoughts, all because we didn't check the schedule at the train station! We knew/thought/hoped that there would be a train leaving Rome and heading back to Ciampino at 3:20, the only problem was if our train would make it to Rome with enough time to run to catch the 3:20. We thought would have have a chance if all went well and our train didn't stop or slow for unknown reasons. Of course it did though.

Our train made it to Rome at 3:18 and we jumped off the train as soon as the doors opened and sprinted to the platform where it would be leaving from. I saw out of my periphery that Allie had bowled some guy over with her suitcase and just kept going! Hilarious! Despite our best efforts as we ran to the platform, the train was pulling away! We quickly regrouped and found another train leaving 20 minutes later that would hopefully get us to Ciampino on time. Fortunately, everything worked out and we made our flight right on time!

Moral of the story: Always check the train schedule! It's a good thing that we make so many mistakes, otherwise how would we learn from them. Or is a bad thing that we make so many mistakes because one of these times it will cost us dearly?

Watch Out for Escalators!

If you know anything about Italy, you know that the women of this country love fashion. There is nothing more true about this country, and Rome in particular. Women of all ages love to wear the newest fashions, the chicest clothes, and the hottest accessories.

One particular trend this season has been the long and puffy coats. These are coats that go at least to the knees, sometimes longer, and generally look like a sleeping bag. They are not attractive to our American eyes, but they are extremely popular. And if you recall us saying that this has been an unusually warm winter, you can imagine how silly they look.

Today we were shown firsthand just how dangerous fashion can be. A very chic woman was wearing one of these coats, and it was of the variety that extends to the ankle. We were walking behind her in Termini train station, headed for the metro when she faced her death. As she boarded the escalator to head downstairs, her coat flapped open and the zipper caught on the escalator mechanism. She was already on the steps and was jerked back by her zipper as the stairs began to descend. She tried to free herself, but her coat wouldn't budge, and she nearly fell backwards trying to backup on the moving escalator stairs.

Finally, another woman was able to reach down and free her coat from the mechanism, and she escaped with her life. It was a lesson learned in fashion safety for us, and all I can say is that I will always be wary of long coats and escalators for the rest of my life!

Coffee Competition

Yesterday we had some free time so we decided it would be a good day to taste the famed coffee of Tazzo d'Oro so we could give you our verdict regarding the great rivalry as promised.

The weather was not so great yesterday, but during a break in the rain we hustled over to the Pantheon and into the open doors of this famous coffee bar. The smell of roasting coffee beans hits your nose before you can even see the bar, and once inside it's sensory overload. Not only are you overwhelmed with the smells of the place, but there is the chaos of steamers hissing, plates and clups clanging, and people chatting as they sip their brew.

This time we decided to evaluate the place on their most basic of coffees, so Charles got a plan shot of espresso, and I got a caffee macchiato (espresso with just a drop of milk). Charles prefers his coffee armaro (or without sugar), and he enjoyed the flavors of Tazzo d'Oro because of the bitter and rich coffee taste it had. I, on the other hand, was not so impressed. I needed quite a bit of sugar to be able to handle my drink, and the flavor lingered in my mouth for much longer than I deem appropriate.

So, what does this tell us about who serves Italy's best coffee? Well, it tells us one of two things:

1) If you like your coffee sweet, go to Sant'Eustacchio, and if you like your coffee bitter, go to Tazzo d'Oro.

2) If you like your coffee cheap go to Tazzo d'Oro (70 cents for an espresso), and if you like to pay a bit more for a slightly more elegant ambiance go to Sant'Eustacchio (1 euro for an espresso). Italians have said to us that Tazzo d'Oro is considered more of the working-class coffee bar, but Sant'Eustacchio is certainly not an exclusive place.

Basically, both places do coffee well, they just do it differently, which makes sense when you think about how two places so near each other can survive the competition of the other. I'm sure that each place has it's devoted customers, and unfortunately for Charles and I, we disagree in this matter, and we'll probably have to take our coffee seperately from now on! At least the places are close to each other and we can meet in the middle when we finish our drinks.

After our experiementation we headed to the same gelateria we went to the other week in order to get rid of the lingering coffee taste that was in our mouths. We ended up getting the same flavors as the last time as well, chocolate and cappriccio (I might be spelling it wrong). It was again delicious and satisfying.

Galleria Borghese

As you may remember we had reservations for a Friday afternoon visit to the Galleria Borghese, one of Rome's most treasured art galleries. While most galleries don't require reservations, there is a reason this one does. It is extremely popular, and rightly so. We were nothing less than stunned as we wandered through the gorgeous villa that houses the works of some of Italy's most famous artists.

We decided to rent the audio guides that are available, because although we are trying to become more cultured, we aren't there yet, and the audio guides provide very interesting information about the author, the works, and the history behind both. We were truly in awe over the sculptures of Bernini, most notably "Pluto and Proserpina", and "Apollo and Daphne". The way an arist is able to take a slab of rock and create human emotions and tiny lifelike details is nothing less than extraordinary.

We were also quite taken with the paintings of Caravaggio, inparticular "David with the Head of Goliath". This painting is a portrait of a young David holding the bloodied decapitated head of the giant Goliath, and one secret we learned from our audio guide is that the portrait of Goliath's head is actually a self-portrait of Caravaggio. This is only part of the story, it gets more distrubing. He painted this portrait as an admission and an apology to the government for a murder he had committed and was currently fleeing from. He wanted to be granted a pardon and allowed to return home. He was granted the pardon, but unfortunately he died before he was given the good news that his "apology" had worked.

Not only was the Borghese Villa filled with wonderful, priceless works of art, but the villa itself is a spectacular sight, wonderfully decorated with stunning frescoes and statues that compliment the featured art pieces. It was very interesting to learn how the Borghese family was able to use their power and influence to basically steal or blackmail people into giving up their art. They were, unfortunately for the Italians, beaten at their own game by Napoleon, and so many of the pieces that were originally in the collection now reside at the Louvre in Paris.

After our trip to the gallery we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather we were blessed with, and to do some more sightseeing. We had already been to the Pantheon, but at the time we weren't armed with our camera, so this time we were ready. The Pantheon is one of Rome's most well-preserved pieces of architecture, and it is amazing. There are a couple of pictures under "Scenery" for you to check out.

Near the Pantheon there are two coffee bars that are very famous, and they have an even more famous rivalry with one another. Charles read an article about this recently and has wanted to investigate for himself for some time. Now, if you know Allie, you know that she hates anything related to coffee, even things with the slightest hint of coffee flavor repulse her. Well, this has begun to change. Coffee is very much a part of the culture here, and students often offer us coffees as a gesture of friendship, so you can imagine how rude she feels trying to explain (to uncomprehending and unbelieving ears) that she doesn't drink coffee. So lately she's been downing the thimble sized shots of espresso and chasing them with water or tictacs to remove the flavor. All of this forced coffee ingestion has begun to wear on her tastebuds, and she has developed a small taste for the bitter treat that is so important here.

So, needless to say, she agreed to the coffee tasting. We decided to choose only one of the coffee bars for this day, being as two shots of espresso in a short time would keep us up all night. We chose Sant'Eustacchio. Their rival, Tazzo d'Oro (translation: Golden Cup) claims that they blend their beans with additives such as cream or chocolate, and that this practice means their roast is inferior, because it is impure. Well, we tasted two versions of their coffee; the house special, Gran Caffe, and a plain old shot of espresso. Both were surprisingly sweet (we later learned that they add sugar unless you request it otherwise), but quite good. We will update you when we have tasted the flavors of Tazzo d'Oro.

After our coffee tasting we wanted to find a gelato shop to clean our palates, and there is no shortage of gelateria in the area of the Pantheon. We found a small shop off the beaten path and shared a cup of half chocolate, half heaven. I can't remember the name of the other flavor, but it had ribbons of Nutella in it, and it was so delicious. We inhaled our little cup in no time and were left wishing for more.

After this it was time to head home for a nice dinner and some good sleep to start our weekend. In summary, we highly recommend Galleria Borghese, in fact, when you come visit us we'll get your reservations all taken care of for you! Notice I said "when" you come visit, not "if"!!

Plans for the Weekend

We've decided that we need to get out and see more of Roma while we're here instead of travelling all over the country and missing what's in our backyard (plus it's a lot cheaper). On Friday we're heading to Villa Borghese to the museum that's housed there. We've actually learned a few lessons so we've already booked our time slot at the museum. We tried to go to this place a few months ago but since we didn't reserve a time slot we got rolled eyes, exaggerated sighs and the boot out the door for being idiot American tourists! We're looking forward to the Bernini sculptures and the Raphael and Caravaggio paintings too.

http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/edefault.htm (copy and paste)

As for Sunday, we're meeting with one of our students (born and raised in Roma) and she's going to take us on a little tour of Roma in her car. We'll be able to check out a few spots that would otherwise be impossible to reach via bus so that ought to be pretty cool too. Hopefully, we'll get some cool photos and see some cool places that we'll be able to show you all when you come out!