May 13, 2010

Playing catch up, city walk through Rome, first authentic dinner, first day of classes

Ciao tutti bella! (a homeless man said this to us as we were passing, I think it sounds very pretty) Come va? I am doing well. :) I am back and ready to stay on track! Here we go:

This is a snapshot of the Santa Maria in Cappella (our apartment)
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After group introduction and orientation we took a walk around the city of Rome with our nutrition professor, Dr. Claudia Probart
Here are just some candid shots that I took as we were strolling along:







The water here in Italy is supposed to be the purest around. It is very safe to drink from the tap and from surrounding fountains throughout the city. You can taste the freshness and crispness of the water, Italians do not add chemicals and such like we do. It is very refreshing!



Mid-way through our stroll, we stopped for a bite to eat in a local pizzaria. Dr. Probart bought us all 2 slices, and it was delicious! We got the plain cheese with just tomato sauce and mozzarella. You can taste the freshness of the pizza and the homemade tomato sauce.

This was the outside of the pizzaria.

Next we walked to Piazza Navona, it was very beautiful.

The fountain in Piazza Navona.


Just pretty.

This is part of the nutrition group across the street. They are debating, should I go? Or should I wait? The scooter drivers are crazy here! They definitely do not obey the laws, or maybe there is no law for them? Just a few days ago, one of the boys in my program got hit by a scooter (details about this later, he is doing fine if anyone was wondering). We are told by the professors to walk out in the street and put our hands out to our sides and stare directly at the oncoming driver, they should stop. Well, not so much. :) I think I will wait for the green light.

Human sized hunk of meat, and can you believe I ate some? And really enjoyed it?



Here is Dr. Probart showing us around a local market.

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Next is some pictures of our apartment:

This is the front entrance gate that we walk through to get into our apartments.

Our little common area where most studying and assignments get accomplished. It is very spacious, right?



Our kitchen, where tasty things will be created very soon! Dr. Probart is actually going to have a cooking class with us in our kitchen, possibly on Saturday? She is going to take us to the market to purchase tomato, mozzarella, basil, and olive oil to create? Caprese! yum.





This is just lovely, isn't it?











This is my bed, sorry it is messy but it was the best shot I could take. There are also 3 other beds that share the same room.

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cute.

On our way to the market for the first time, going to buy groceries the europian way.

The group carrying their groceries back to the apartment. (yes, that is toilet paper you see in the bags, we stocked up!)

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Here are a few pictures of our first authentic Italian meal. We found a little mom and pop restaurante and boy was it a good find. We had a bit of a communication problem, but in the end everything was fantastic! The mother was telling our table about the evening's specials and we were all just nodding our heads. She eventually walked away, grabbed a handful of homemade dried pasta out the basket and took it to the kitchen. We didn't realize till later that she took our nodding for a yes and she ordered the special for everyone. It was a good thing she did because this was the best darn pasta I have ever had! She ordered four of each of the two specials and we split our meals with the person sitting next to us.

We also got wine. :)

This gentleman was a surprise, he came in and played beautiful music for us...it would be very nice if I had it recorded. Obviously he wanted some euro when he was all said and done. I gave him 10cent euro. good, right?

1 dish

2 dish

This was the inside decor of the restaurante.

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Then we went back to the apartment after dinner and the other half of the group wanted to join us and go out and get some drinks. Don't worry, I was the sober one. It was only a teensy glass. :)

This was Paolo! The bartender.

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First day of class, half with Professor Romolo Martemucci (Arch) and the rest of the day with Dr. Probart.



This is Professor Martemucci telling us about some of the historical facts and architecture in Rome.



The Forum.







A few cutesy Roman Empires I found.

Little Italiana kids. It is so lovely to here them speak the Italian language.

The flowers are beautiful here in Rome. I love the stucko of the buildings and all of the window pots, they always just look so perfect. Lots more of these types of pictures to come!

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On our way to Dr. Probart's apartment for an Olive Oil and Wine Lesson

Here are just a few photos off of Dr. Probart's balcony. You could see almost all of ROME.







First wine to taste. We needed to determine color, legs, olfactory, taste, and we learned the history of each wine that we tasted.

Cheese, meats, breads (the pinkish lighter colored meat is part of the human sized log of meat that I showed previously).

The hard cheese, parmigiano reggiana, my favorite.

Later that evening, some of us whipped up a delicious and quick pasta meal with what we had left in the fridge.

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Just a few extra random pictures:

Here is my Pantheon Institute student ID card.

And my lovely dirty, dirty socks. This is what the bottom of my feet look like even with sneakers on!

Coming up: Pictures and details of our day trip to Cori, olive oil frantoio and local food. Tomorrow, we are leaving bright and early for Villa Adriana.

Talk to you soon! xoxo.

Ciao! :)

2 comments:

The High Family said...

I LOVE all the pictures! It looks like you are having a fabulous time. I want to go to Italy now! ;)

Thanks for calling us tonight...it was so nice to hear your voice. I promise we will get a webcam this weekend so we can skype the rest of your trip.

Keep up the great work...the blog looks AWESOME!

ps- I made a few changes for you. Hope you don't mind...xoxoxoxoxo

Pack 40 ~ Candler, NC said...

great job on your blogging so far.....i love all the pics....i hope you are enjoying this awesome experience! The food looks all sooooo good! :)