More Market

The Campo di Fiori is so close to the Piazza Navona that I go there essentially everyday. Luckily it is now the best time for figs, and they are really wonderful. They are larger than I am used to and most are green, although today I bought some purpley-brown ones. I really like it when they are soft and sweet enough that it tastes and feels like jelly when you bite through it.

The italian broccoli was a purchase by Marda. It tastes just like the broccoli we buy in the US, only it has a spicy kick to it, particularly when raw. She made some gnocci that she tossed with some veggies, the broccoli included.

One thing I like about this market is that all of the fruit is meant to be consumed today. I left my figs for a day, and by evening they were almost too far gone. I have been disappointed with the peaches in the farmers market (and the tomatoes!) because they are being picked way too soon. The vegetables here are picked at a much riper point, and I think it makes a big difference in taste and texture. I ate a peach the other day that reminded me of a particularly good year in Oxford peaches a few years back. I just can't seem to get anything in New Orleans that isn't rock hard.

The Internet

One major downside to living in a 400 year old church is that the internet service is pretty bad. I would love to update the blog, but I am faced with an almost complete lack of internet. I hope that they will at least get it up in studio by tomorrow so that I can post.

Since my last update, I have been back to the beach and started class. I also have started to miss New Orleans a bit more than I thought I would. But, things are great, Rome is cooling off, and we go to Sicily in a week and a half.

Ciao¡

Ostia Lido

Yesterday was a very full day because we decided to take the metro and the train over to the beach at Ostia Lido. It was a fairly short ride, considering; it took us probably 45 minutes to get there. One great thing about the metro is that the closest station is at the Colosseum. It was the first glimpse of it that I got, however, the sun was directly behind it making it impossible to get a picture.

The beach was not touristy at all and was full of families who were on vacation, which was nice. The sand is very dark, almost black, so it burns your feet. There are a lot of sea-washed rocks at the shore line, and it is easy to find really neat pieces of old tile that have been washed smooth. I saw a restaurant that I really should have photographed, but I was so tired at that point I didn't. It was called the Old Wild West Steakhouse, and it had a giant menu with colorful images on it. One of the prominent ones was for Mississippi Beef. I am really unsure what that means.

Today has been sort of slow. We had our first orientation, and not much happened except for receiving our cell phones. I think the grad students and I are going to go on a big adventure to find....Ikea. Hah! It is an adventure because it is far away from old Rome where we are staying and there will definitely be fewer English speakers. We shall see how it goes.

Giolitti

Late this afternoon Kristy and I went and checked out another Fred Plotkin suggestion, Giolitti. It is an old gelato and pastry shop, and it is really pretty amazing. I love how old fashioned it is. I had a melon granita that was topped with some grapefruit. The grapefruit tasted very sour and was almost a bit much for me in that department. The melon was very sweet, but it was tempered by tiny cubes of candied orange rind that would give it some bite. It was a great experience all around. I can't wait to try the gelato, I was just so thirsty at the moment that the granita seemed best. Luckily, this shop is also by the Pantheon and the kick-ass coffee shop. And our studio! It will be visited frequently, I am sure.

Market

Today was all about grocery shopping. Us four grad students went to the early morning open market at the Campo de' Fiori. At first I was a little intimidated because of the language barrier, but an older woman called to me and forced me to try parmesan cheese and salami. I ended up buying both from her, and the cheese in particular was amazing. I bought a giant chunk of it that was 7 euro or so. I bet the same amount would be almost 30 dollars in the United States, and not nearly as tasty unless it was purchased at just the right place. At another stand, I bought some general cooking vegetables like onion and carrots and celery, and some lentils that are so tiny and wonderful looking. I really love tiny lentils. At that stand, I decided to buy a melon that seems very similar to cantaloupe, but with different color variation and texture. The stand owner asked if I was going to eat it today, and when I said yes he took his knife and cut me out a tiny sliver and handed it to me so that I could try it and make sure I liked it. Trying the fruits and vegetables at the stands is very much a part of the experience. I grabbed a small container of fruit to snack on, and the raspberries in particular were so sweet and wonderful.



After that, we went to a grocery store by the Pantheon (of course we visited my favorite coffee). The grocery stores here are a series of maze-like tiny rooms instead of one big room. I have been in two so far, and both were that way. It is interesting because in France, the large groceries were closer to what we have in the United States. I got some other staples and a bottle of rose for dinner. I know pretty close to nothing about Italian wine, other than the fact that they have a controlling body like in France. I just grabbed a bottle with the Denominazione di Origine Controllata label and hopefully it will be tasty.

I also got toilet paper and fizzy mineral water. Yes!

First Day

On our first full day we did a lot of walking around and did some sight seeing. The Pantheon was beautiful and huge and amazing, as was the river and the sprawling Vatican in the distance. We had to go find the supreme court building after all this discussion about it, and it was actually worth checking out.





One of the great finds of the day was courtesy of Fred Plotkin. This coffee shop is world famous and roasts their own beans on the premises. It is right beside the Pantheon and happens to be right by where we will be going to class and studio. It is an oddly shaped crooked-hallway of a building with a winding bar that has a constant changeover of people, both tourists and locals. I really love the place. It is only 1 euro for a cappuccino! I see myself there every day.

I have an answer!

Today Marda and I walked around and stumbled upon the building that I originally thought I could see out the window. It is, for sure, not that building. This building is so big and ostentatious, I thought it looked very French (haha) and not Italian at all. When we mentioned it to our architecture professor who came in today, she rolled her eyes and said "ugh." It is apparently a really hated building.

So, if you squint really hard, you can see that the building says "corte di cassazione" which apparently means supreme court. The building we can see is called the palace (or hall) of justice and was built around 1900. Now we know!