April Book

So I said I wanted to keep reading a book a month (at least) as my New Year's Resolution again this year. I read Little Women in January and then I was too distracted in February and March to accomplish reading a whole book. I bought The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo to read on the plane rides to and from Italy.

I didn't end up reading it on the plane. I was trying to sleep on the overnight flight there and on the way back I was too tempted to watch Black Swan and True Grit. Both were awesome. I was blown away by Black Swan. We recently watched 127 Hours. I had to pause it when the inevitable scene comes and take some deep breaths to avoid passing out. As far as the Oscar nominees for Best Picture I think all I have left to see is The Fighter. I'm really impressed by all the films that were nominated this year. Now I will return to my reason for writing this post.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a book that you can't put down once you get a couple hundred pages into it. Michael was feeling under the weather Easter weekend so I sat and read the second half of the book in one day. The subject material is definitely disturbing, but not enough for me to sit around and think about it. If that makes any sense... I watched the movie upon finishing the book. I think the movie would be more disturbing if it was in English (they're actually making an English version to come out in December). If I have to read subtitles I kind of lose focus on the creepiness of the film. For example, I saw the Japanese version of The Ring and it just wasn't that scary.

Anyway after watching the movie I decided that I'm most likely not going to continue reading the series. I feel that there are too many books that I want to read that are about more pleasant things than violent sexual assaults on women. My friend let me borrow E.M. Forster's A Room With a View which takes place in Florence. This is exactly what I wanted to read before my trip, but I am loving being able to picture the scenes in my head since I've been there!

Cashmere Kitty

When Michael's parents were here for Match Day his mom helped me start sewing a stuffed animal. I found a cashmere sweater at the SPCA Rummage for $3.50. The pattern called for wool felt but I figured the sweater would be fine. The sweater was a size large and I only used the sleeves so I'll be able to make another stuffed animal out of it. The kitty turned out so incredibly soft and snuggly. The pattern is from Wee Wonderfuls, a book that I got for Christmas and I cannot wait to make every cute little doll and animal in it.

Nothing else crafty has been going on. As the weather warms up I stop knitting. Now that I'll be living on the Gulf Coast I'll have to branch out and try other fibers besides wool. Since we're starting to pack up our apartment we've gone through closets and shelves and downsized. I was starting to pack of my craft supplies when I remembered that I wanted to get rid of some yarn by crocheting granny squares to send to Australia to Sarah London who is collecting them to make blankets for the flood victims. She is still collecting them so I sat down and made a square. This is a good project to have around while things are a bit hectic.

I also remembered that I'm supposed to be remaking my little brother's hat from two Christmas' ago. I remembered in time to take it to the knit night that I attend on Tuesdays.

Now to tell you what my fingers can't wait to start stitching. It's an ABC Sampler from my favorite blogger! (I don't know if it's ok to copy her photo to put on my blog so you'll have to go to the link.) She has been working on it and she finally posted the finished project. I immediately ordered the kit when I saw it was only $25. For $25 you get the screen printed cotton and all the wool yarn needed. I was expecting it to be like $40. Is it weird to have an ABC Sampler with no kid? Maybe I'll just keep holding out hope that Theo will talk one day.

Arrivederci Roma: Day 8

We took the metro to the Circo Massimo stop to see the Bocca della Verita, another must see for fans of Roman Holiday. We had to wait in line, but the line moved quickly. Neither of us lost our hands so that is good news. Men used to bring their wives to see if their wives were truthful. We wandered to Piazza Navona to have lunch at La Foccacia which I briefly mentioned in my first Rome post. We had a starter of fried zucchini and I had gnocchi with tomato sauce and buffalo mozzarella. It was here that I fell in love with gnocchi. Michael had a spicy salami pizza and we split a 1/2 liter of chianti, which we had learned makes the roaming around much more delightful.

We walked to the Vatican. Unfortunately you can't go into St. Peter's wearing shorts. Maybe my bermuda's would have been passable but we didn't try. I really would have liked to go in again. I wonder if they let you in on Sundays if you're just touring. Anyway we headed to Old Bridge gelateria which I heard was one of the best in Rome. It didn't open until 3 so we sat around and waited. When it did open there was a line. It's a tiny gelateria and people pack in to the counter. I made my way in but  couldn't really see all the flavors. I went with strawberry which was so yummy and French vanilla which was not really my cup of tea. We strolled back to the hotel along Via Cola di Rienzo. The trees had little purple flowers on them. There were a lot of stores along this street and it was pretty clean. I guess it is a nice part of town.



We went back to the hotel to rest. Then we went to Piazzale Napoleone (I think) which overlooks Piazza del Popolo to see the sunset. The hotel has bikes that guests can use for free. I really wish we would have ridden bikes in the Villa Borghese. Alas we were too tired.

We headed to Gusto Pizzeria for dinner. The Gusto complex has an enoteca, a ristorante, and a pizzeria. I had read that it's best to stick with the Pizzeria. Maybe we didn't order the right pizza because I wasn't that impressed. I did enjoy the hip atmosphere.

The next morning we had our breakfast, hopped on the metro to Termini train station and navigated our way to the Leonardo Express which took us to the airport. This was very easy to do, and cost us 30 euros for the metro and the train tickets. Much cheaper than a car ride. We had bought our tickets the day before at a kiosk in Termini station. Just make sure you keep your train ticket on hand and get it validated in the little yellow box before you get on the train.

There were even pigeons in the airport to wish us well on our journey.

Rome on our own: Day 7

Our last hotel on the tour was much closer to the airport than our first one. It was about half a mile from the beginning of the Metro. We decided to walk with our luggage instead of trying to find a tabacchi to purchase a ticket for the bus (you can't buy a ticket on the bus). I had mapped out how to get to the Metro by car but I forgot to print it. Despite my innate sense of direction and the feeling that we were, in fact, going the right way I decided to be frazzled and complain the whole way. Then we saw the M sign for the metro and all was fine. The stop we needed to get to our hotel was very close to our hotel so this journey was no problem. We are pros at navigating subways.

We stayed at the Hotel Locarno Dependance Anahi . If you click on any link I ever post you should definitely click on that one and check out the Hotel Locarno. We stayed at the annex across the street which is cheaper and not as fancy but it was still really nice. We were able to enjoy all the amenities of the hotel. The staff were very nice and the cappuccinos for breakfast were delicious. It's definitely more expensive to stay in the center of Rome but it's definitely worth not having to use the transportation system. We were within walking distance of the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.



Since we got to the hotel really early our room wasn't ready so we checked our bags. We headed to Pizza ZaZa. I will dream about the perfect deliciousness of this pizza until the end of time. Seriously. Then we headed to the Pantheon. I knew the Christians had turned pretty much every pagan temple into a Christian church but I wasn't expecting the Pantheon to be set up for mass. There was an altar and pews.

After the Pantheon we headed to Gelateria Giolitti where Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant had gelato in Roman Holiday. We had eaten lunch early so we beat the crowd at Giolitti. I had chocolate fondant, amaretto, and coffee flavors with fresh whipped cream (panna) on top. Then I died and went to heaven.



After I came back to reality we walked to the Trevi Fountain and sat for a little while. We were waiting for two churches to open. The first was Chiesa di Santa Maria della Concezione. We went here to see the crypt where monks used the bones of their deceased brothers to decorate for lack of a better description. A donation of 1 euro was recommended. I couldn't take pictures so if you want to see it check out the link. It was definitely creepy.

The second church was Chiesa di Santa Maria della Vittoria which houses the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa  by Bernini. The church is small and easy to overlook. It's breathtaking on the inside.



We went back to Pizza ZaZa even though it was out of the way, but it was SO worth it. Then we went to the hotel to rest. I took a nap then got ready for dinner. We wanted to eat at La Buca di Ripetta but we hadn't made a reservation. The plan was to eat early in which case we wouldn't have needed one, but since we ate lunch twice and I napped we found ourselves on Italian time. We had to wait 30 minutes for a table so we walked to Piazza del Popolo a couple of blocks away and sat and watched a Michael Jackson impersonator.

I didn't take pictures of the food but I'll tell you the marvelous things we ate. We started with a fried buffalo mozzarella, tomato and basil sandwich. This sounds weird but let me assure you it was delicious. Michael's pasta dish was carbonara and I had pear ravioli with orange cream sauce and coriander. I am so happy I was feeling adventurous and ordered it because it was delightful. Michael's oven roasted lamb was wonderful. I had the grilled lamb and it didn't blow me away. Even though I was full I had to get the tiramisu. I had lost all faith in having good tiramisu on the trip. I had already had it twice and I was deeply disappointed. Fortunately their tiramisu was phenomenal. The layer of cream was a lot softer than mine usually is so I'm thinking I'll modify my recipe.

I think I'll be nice and schedule this post for the afternoon so that you've hopefully already had lunch. One more day and then it's back to reality.

Siena and the end of the tour in Rome: Day 6

We stopped about halfway back to Rome in Siena . On our walk from the bus to the Piazza del Campo where they have a famous horse race, the Palio di Siena , Michael spotted a yarn shop! After reading about yarn shops in Italy I didn't really want to go in. As is what I observed to be the custom in a lot of shops, you aren't supposed to touch anything. This is probably a good policy for most stores but in a yarn shop it's kind of strange.

Anyway, we sampled ricciarelli then headed to the Duomo di Siena. The cathedral was indeed beautiful. There were a lot of repairs going on in here as well. The art work on the floor is amazing. Also, check out the pulpit. We slipped into a library within the church to find this beautifully painted room housing huge books of what I guess are gregorian chants. Again, tourists with their flashes. This is so harmful!

After the Duomo we headed back to the Piazza del Campo and split a pizza at a pretty touristy kind of place. Then I went back to the enoteca where we sampled the ricciarelli, which had a crumbly texture and a yummy almond flavor, so I could buy a couple pieces. Yum.

We went straight to the restaurant where we would have our farewell dinner in Rome. It was very near Castel Sant'Angelo. An accordian player and an opera singer entertained us. Here's a photo of us and our tour guide, Alberto.



This was the end of the tour, but as I mentioned in the beginning we added two extra days onto our trip. Our adventures in Rome continue in the next post.

Venice: Day 5

We arrived in Venice after 3 1/2 hours on the bus. The bus rotation system had us in the front of the bus this time. We went straight to our private motor launch. This took us a few bridges from Piazza San Marco. We toured a glass blowing facility and storeroom. 

I was pretty tired, it was a little warm, and it was crowded. I don't really know what I was expecting. Maybe some kind of chic James Bond type stuff. There was no option of going to the hotel to rest since it was on the mainland. We skipped the optional tour which seemed pricey for a ride down the Grand Canal to the Rialto Bridge and then some walking around. We wandered by ourselves to the Rialto Bridge which was a lot like the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

Then we wandered around to find food. I was really grumpy because I was really hungry. Make sure you know where to eat- away from the tourist traps. We found a little restaurant called Zorzi (I think). Our waitress didn't speak much English but I was able to communicate with her and I even understood when she was explaining to Michael that they make their own gnocchi. Thanks again, Rosetta Stone! I had tagliatelle with  asparagus and my world was complete at that moment. Michael's gnocchi was the bomb. I think this was the first time either of us have had it. Our main courses weren't much to speak of, but our bellies were full. We also ordered 1/2 liter of chianti. So that made the rest of the walking and waiting much more bearable.

We went inside St. Mark's Basilica. There were a lot of repairs being done and ignorant tourists snapping pictures with their flashes on. That drives me crazy. Anyway, the church was very impressive and worth seeing, plus it's free. Be warned that you cannot bring in bags the size of a backpack.

We found some neat etchings from an artist on the sidewalk. Then we waited around and watched people until our optional tour gondola ride. The price for this one ended up being cut in half since we didn't have time to do the whole tour. I wanted to ride in the gondola as cheesy as it might be, but the optional tour was originally a bit much and doing it on your own would have been about the same. Something like 60 euros each! So we got a sweet deal and I really enjoyed floating along and sipping Prosecco after a hot day of walking and waiting.

I fell asleep as soon as we got to the hotel. We went down for our dinner at the hotel. It was certainly not as good as the previous night's meal, but what can you expect of mass prepared hotel food? I will also say for anyone who may be reading this and planning a trip that there were ants on the floor in the dining area and the carpet in the room was quite worn and dingy. The bed was clean and I slept like a baby.

The next day we had to go all the way back to Rome.

Florence: Day 4, Part 2

We went on the optional tour to San Gimignano . It was a lovely ride through Tuscany. Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed there. It's very well taken care of and it was cool to see. The actual tour didn't last too long. We had a caffe at the bar like the locals do. I bought a super cute leather purse. That was about all. I think this optional tour was worth it, but I also think I would have loved to see more in Florence that I left without seeing.

That night we had a "Be Our Guest" dinner where Trafalgar sets up a dinner at a vineyard or someone's house that might also be a Bed and Breakfast. I can't seem to find a site for the place where we went. I wrote it down after quite a few glasses of chianti. Agriturismo means that you are vacationing on a farm and the food you are eating is produced by that farm. We had a welcome drink of prosecco in the garden and enjoyed the view of the Tuscan countryside. Then we toured the house. It is a villa that's been in the family for many generations. The first woman in the house was Austrian and wanted one room to be traditional. This was the dining room with it's colored glass chandelier and leather on the walls.



I shamelessly took pictures of the food. We started with a sampling of bruschetta. Then we had pasta with a bolognese sauce. Next was salad and chicken cooked in chianti. For dessert we had a fruit torte. it was the best meal that we had with the group.



The next post takes us to Venice.

Florence: Day 4, Part 1

Today was scheduled as a day completely at leisure, but our tour guide wanted to show us a really amazing view of Florence from Piazzale Michaelangelo. The sky was still a little pink from the sunset and there were low clouds lingering before the heat of the day would burn them off.

Before our trip I tried to book tickets for the Uffizi gallery which I had to see. Mostly it was Boticelli's The Birth of Venus and Primavera that I couldn't leave without seeing. I had read that the line can be insane and the only way to get in easily is to reserve tickets. I waited too late to do this and the only reservations I could make would be in the afternoon. I couldn't do that because we were scheduled to have dinner with the tour. I was happy to learn from our tour guide on our first day in Florence that around 4pm there isn't really anyone in line anymore. (This is probably only true around the time of year that we were there. Peak season is probably insane and I would book a reservation far in advance.) So i figured that after we went on the optional tour to see David we could go to the Uffizi. However by a stroke of luck and maybe good karma we got reserved tickets for 10:15 on the following morning (the free day). In summary of that painfully long explanation- if you want to get into really popular museums in Italy and you can commit to a day and time then just go ahead and reserve the tickets. 

Upon return from Piazalle Michaelangelo we headed to the Uffizi gallery. We were a little early so we sat again in the Loggia dei Lanzi and watched the early morning tourists trying to touch the statues and promptly getting reprimanded and directed to the sign with the rules. Why would you think it's ok to touch a priceless work of art? Anyway we ended up getting into the Uffizi around 10. We lingered in the Boticelli and Leonardo da Vinci rooms. We saw da Vinci's Adoration of the Magi and Annunciation, which was breathtaking. Every piece of work is really a masterpiece. I really loved the portraits. We needed to be at our meeting place to go to San Gimignano at 12:30 so we went through the rest of the museum quickly- there was a panino place that we had to try. I somehow missed Michaelangelo's Doni Tondo so we backtracked to see it.

Who needs the Uffizi? Check out this graffiti!

We followed The Lonely Planet's Florence Encounter book to 'ino . If you've visited us here then we've probably taken you to Feast. 'ino is undoubtedly the Italian equivalent. The bread was unbelievable. I didn't learn as many ingredients as I would have liked so I generally stuck to being able to recognize the meat on the sandwich. Oh the prosciutto! The cheese! 'ino is a hip little place and if you are in Florene and want an incredible panino experience this is the place. (Not like I'm now an expert but I'm a creature of habit and I really wouldn't go searching for something better.)



On our way to the meeting place by Santa Croce we conveniently happened upon Gelateria dei Neri, one of the oldest gelaterias in Florence, I believe. I thought I'd be adventurous and try the ricotta with fig gelato. Turns out I'm not a huge fan of fig. This was a sad moment for me. However the old gelateria was very cute with some interesting seats along the wall.

This post is bursting with my ramblings so I'll leave the rest of the day for another post. I'm blogging when I have a break during the day while subbing because as I mentioned I killed the fan on my laptop and then I managed to kill Michael's cooling pad that sits under the laptop.  That might be a run-on sentence. Anyway, Michael says I have the "electronics kiss of death."

Small Changes

Hey everyone,

We made a small change to the blog. Anyone now has the ability to comment on the blog. We would love to hear more of your thoughts. Previously you needed an account to post. Hopefully this will give more of you a chance to let us know that you enjoy all of our wonderful cooking and adventures.

Michael and Marie

PS: Theo has threatened to bite anyone who is caught viewing the blog without ever commenting.

PPS: just playing

PPPS: no, really

Florence: Day 3, Part 2

We opted out of the optional tour which was dinner at a winery. Apparently everyone got smashed. I was just way too tired. We couldn't stay in the hotel room because I would have fallen asleep. We ventured out from our hotel to the Gelateria Santa Trinita. I had peach with brandy. I'm just going to take a moment to dream about it. We sat on the Ponte Santa Trinita while we ate our gelato.

It was still too early to eat dinner (most places don't open until 7) so we walked to Piazza Santo Spirito and sat on the steps of the church for a bit. We should have gone into the church. I was in some kind of sleepy stupor, I guess. Sitting got old since the sun was baking us so we walked to the Ponte Vecchio and then to Piazza della Signoria where we sat in the Loggia dei Lanzi and looked at the sculptures (because you really can't get enough of them) and watched people.

When it was finally dinner time we followed the advice of The Lonely Planet and ate at Il Cernacchino. I had the pasta del giorno which was penne with tomato sauce and zucchini and capers. It was delicious. Michael had beef stew with onions in a bread bowl. The meat was tender and the flavor was wonderful. We both had chianti and we shared a slice of ricotta cheesecake. I think we ate for about 20 euros. Not only was it a great deal, but the woman behind the counter (who I believe is probably one of the owners) was extremely nice and appreciative of my limited Italian. You have to respect the eateries that don't translate their menus.

Since we were so close to GROM we (read: I) had to have more gelato. I got Crema di Grom, which is vanilla with cookies and chocolate pieces, and coffee. This was a match made in gelato heaven. (See above collage for photos.)

After our gelato we walked back to the Ponte Santa Trinita to enjoy the sunset. This was also recommended by The Lonely Planet.

The sunset is reflected in the windows on the Ponte Vecchio

We headed back to the hotel (Alder Cavalieri) and I fell asleep before I could even think about changing into my pj's. Check out how cute our room was with the doors opening up to the little courtyard. Also check out the freaky bathroom with the super high toilet.

Needless to say I was well rested for the awesomeness of Florence: Day 4, Part 1, for which you'll have to wait until tomorrow. For now we'll have to say goodbye or as Brad Pitt says in Inglorious Basterds...

Florence: Day 3, Part 1

I made it a point to write down what we did every day in order to make blogging easier. Let me tell you, the lists look short but man there is a lot to say. So now you know how much I love you.

Oh, and a little side note, you can click on the photos to make them bigger and then click on them again to magnify. They will look clearer if you do this.

After 3 1/2 motion sick hours in the back of the bus we started our tour in Florence at Santa Croce. Darth Vader greeted us on our walk to the church. The amount of graffiti is really unfortunate. 

The church is made of bricks. The marble facade you see is just decoration on top of the bricks. At first I wasn't sure about the Italian's use of color on the outside of the churches we saw. I guess that's because it's new to me. 

Tombs in Santa Croce. Clockwise from top left: Galileo, Michaelangelo, Machiavelli, and Dante (which is actually an empty tomb). Check out the frescoes in the picture of Galileo's tomb. The tour guide said that the whole church (or much of it) was painted like this but they plastered over it at some point.  I just couldn't get over them plastering over it. So some of the frescoes have been uncovered. I thought the "plain" walls were beautiful in a way. I mean, every church we went into was completely covered on the inside with statues, marble, and frescoes. 

Then we walked to Piazza della Signoria after passing the building where Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa. That's a normal everyday thing for some people. Isn't that wild? In Piazza della Signoria there is the town hall which looks like a castle, 

as well as a copy of Michaelangelo's David (top left) and an open air museum of statues including The Rape of the Sabine Women  (bottom right) (and rape meaning abduction), which blows me away with the motion depicted in the marble. Perseus with the Head of Medusa (bottom left) and Hercules and Nessus were also impressive. 

Next we walked to the Duomo which features Brunelleschi's dome and the Baptistery. You can check out the pictures on those links because I really didn't get good pictures of them since I thought we'd have time to go back. I am very very sad to say that we didn't make it inside of either. We also didn't make it to the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo which houses the Gates of Paradise. I was really hoping to see those. We went on the optional tour to see the real David (which you can't photograph) at the Accademia. David is incredible. We couldn't imagine how anyone could pass up seeing it. The two copies are nothing like seeing the real thing. It was also awesome to see Michaelangelo's unfinished statues. Here's a great article about David and the unfinished sculptures.

I am going to end this post here because I am hungry and I need to go to the store for some Greek yogurt. It's been 12 days since I've had a frozen chocolate chip cookie dough ball and I am phening. Really, there's just so much more to say about Florence and you are probably on Italy overload right about now.

Can we still be friends?

While my sister did point out that our April Fool's blog post is the gift that keeps on giving, I have to tell you that we did not eat squirrel. We were looking through old Cajun cookbooks and laughing at the wild game recipes. But we did not cook it. I will never eat squirrel. Just like I will never eat frog or alligator or wild boar.

I'm usually pretty terrible at April Fool's jokes. So if I got you with this one, thanks for taking one for the team.

Or did you not notice that I said we cooked squirrel?

Rome: Day 2

We met our local tour guide, Ulysse, who took us to the Vatican Museums. Being with a guide enabled us to skip the super long line and get in before everyone else.

We saw the pope's garden,

An ancient mullet,

Some tapestries depicting the Massacre of The Innocents,

the inspiration for Dan Brown's Angels and Demons,

And the Sistine Chapel, which you can't photograph, and is more incredible and beautiful than words can describe. We exited the chapel on the stairs that the pope uses to get there.

Then we headed to St. Peter's Basilica. We stood in awe of Michaelangelo's Pieta. We also stood on the huge red circle where the holy roman emperors knelt for their coronations. It's also the spot where the pope starts his procession.

The church is immense. There weren't many people in the church yet, and there was a procession with incense and the organ playing and Gregorian chanting when we made it to the altar. Pretty cool.

Here are some sights from the bus. Clockwise from the top left is the Isola Tiberina- on the left of the island is an ancient Roman pedestrian bridge. Next is Mussolini's balcony. Then Largo di Torre Argentina where Julius Caesar was killed. Bottom right is Ponte Sant'Angelo. Bottom left is the Baths of Caracalla. The last one is Il Vittoriano. 




Next we went to the Coliseum. No big deal, you know. The arch is the Arch of Constantine. The white stripes in the top right picture show where the emperor sat.


Roman soldiers on a smoke break.

We should have stayed and seen more of the Roman Forums (since our Coliseum ticket included entrance into the Roman Forum, but we went back to the hotel and I took a nap. There was an optional tour to the Pantheon and the Catacombs that we skipped since we planned to see the Pantheon on our extra days in Rome and it's free to get in anyway. Then we went on another optional tour which included a massive dinner. It also included walking down the Spanish Steps, keeping my hands away from gypsies trying to put roses in them and trying to take a picture while fending off more roses.

Throwing coins in the Trevi Fountain to ensure our return to Rome. (Throwing 2 coins = meeting or falling in love with an Italian and 3 coins = marrying an Italian). Michael kept his eye on me. My first photo of throwing  my coin (in my right hand and over my left shoulder as per Alberto's instructions) was blurry so I had to do a retake. However I couldn't throw in a second coin, because that could get awkward.

Then we saw the Triton fountain in Piazza Barberini and headed to Ristorante Al Giardino. Umberto serenaded us with neapolitan songs. I made the mistake of having a cappuccino at our waiter's insistence (actually, Italians don't drink cappuccino after 11 am) and I couldn't fall asleep which made me completely exhausted for our next day which would take us to Florence.

Rome: Day 1

We arrived in Rome completely exhausted since neither one of us were able to sleep on the overnight flight. Our hotel was not very convenient to exploring the city by walking. However I think we could have easily walked to a Metro stop. But Rome is big and we were totally overwhelmed.

Trafalgar offers "optional tours" which are necessary if you are completely unaware of how to get around because otherwise you are stuck in the hotel. Being too tired and intimidated to explore we went on the first optional tour. A guide took us to the Campidoglio to see an amazing view of the Roman Forum.

We walked down Via Giulia where we saw this 17th century hippy fountain (as The Lonely Planet called it).

We walked to Piazza Farnese, Campo di Fiori, and then to Piazza Navona where we got a bite to eat on the Piazza (usually a no-no since these restaurants are usually really pricey and touristy). In hindsight we should have followed The Lonely Planet to La Foccacia which was super close to the Piazza Navona and so amazingly delicious, but we'll get to that on Day 8. The Fountain of the Four Rivers in the middle of Piazza Navona is easily one of my favorites.

We drove by the sights at night. This optional tour was worth it since it acquainted us with the city.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye

So we're back from Italy. I don't like to announce when I'm going to be away from home for 11 days on the blog or Facebook. You know, because of websites like this one. Anyway, we booked an 8 day tour with Trafalgar (2 days were travel days) and then we added on 2 extra days in Rome at the end of the trip. I prepared by doing lots of research on getting around, eating, blending in, and by learning some Italian with the help of Rosetta Stone. Rosetta Stone is awesome and it makes me want to learn lots of languages.

I felt pretty prepared going into the trip. So I'll list some of the resources that were super helpful in planning in this post. Then I'll take it day by day so you don't get overwhelmed.

Slow Travel Italy has information and pictures from transportation to telephones to restaurant bills to ordering gelato. This site was super helpful. Actually I think it was the most helpful because it's the only one I bookmarked. I did a lot of surfing around the internet but I think this site has it all.

I bought The Lonely Planet's Rome and Florence Encounter books. Both of which guided us around the cities like pros.

I wish I would have looked into places to eat in Venice and Siena. Both of which we visited only for a few hours, but we were often directed to touristy places to eat. A little knowledge and a map would have been helpful. Looking into it was actually on my to do list but somehow I forgot.

Hopefully my computer will be able to handle the blogging that is about to go down.

As our tour director, Alberto would say- andiamo!

Mutant

I somehow generate a lot of static electricity in our living room. I shock my husband and I shock poor Theo. Maybe I am developing my mutant (X Men) superpower? Anyway, while cleaning a couple days ago I shocked Michael's speakers and then I super shocked my computer at which point my screen went black. I closed the screen and the lights on the computer went out then they came back on. It seemed to be working as normal.

In the evening I was cramming as much Italiano into my brain as possible with Rosetta Stone (which is super fun and awesome by the way.) when my computer shut off. It was super hot. That's when I realized that the internal fan had died when I shocked it. That's how powerful my superpower has become. So I let my computer take a breather and when I turned it back on it made this really crazy noise and 1/6 of my screen is black and my task bar is stretched upward.

This morning I copied all my photos and documents to my external hard drive. Just in case. Blogging might be a little hairy for a while until I can sort this out.

Meanwhile I'll be waiting on my call from Marvel comics.

From the Kitchen

It took me way too long to learn how to make real French vinaigrette. It's so simple, it requires ingredients you probably have on hand, and you can make just enough for one serving.

I can't remember where I found the recipe but I think they are all pretty much the same.

1 T of Dijon Mustard

1 T of Red wine vinegar

(Whisk these together until blended)

2-3 T of olive oil

(Whisk this in slowly)

Add minced onion, garlic, salt, and pepper to your tastes

It's super yummy and it ensures that I finish off the lettuce in the fridge. 

We had this salad with the roast chicken that we often make and this phenomenal mushroom risotto. I half the recipe and I only use 10 oz of Baby Bellas instead of the crimini and the porcini.  

I like sweet potatoes. So when I saw this recipe for baked sweet potato fries on Joy the Baker's wonderful blog I decided to try it out. This was a stretch for me since I normally am scared of anything with "curry" in the description. My fries didn't get too crunchy but they were tasty. I wasn't a huge fan of the dip. When I first made the dip and tasted it, the only thing I could taste was frozen chocolate chip cookie dough balls (since greek yogurt is an ingredient). I am thinking I'm going to have to start going to meetings for those things.

Martha Stewart Living's Texas Red Chili. I've been wanting to try chili with big pieces of meat. Like... not ground meat. This was awesome. We didn't use the dried chilies. The magazine article told us to substitute 1/2 cup chili powder for the dried chilies, oregano, and cumin. You add the powder in with the onions and cook for 1 minute. This chili was awesome. It was way too spicy for me so next time I'll modify the spice and probably cut down the amount of chili powder. We'll also add beans.

Michael prepared this dinner when I was out with the Significant Other Support group. He wanted you to see how a man fixes his plate since our food photos are usually of my plate.

McSuperfluff

We started calling him Goosie Bear because we bought him a little bear toy in the 99 cent bin at Target. The name stuck since he was starting to look like a fluffy bear. However it was time to shed the winter fur. Here's his Before and After shots.