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It's a slow
starting morning. We got in late last night, my room was very warm and
stuffy so I didn't sleep so well, and i'm am still stuffed from dinner
at Maureen and Franco's. I'm ready for a relaxing day.
We head out for a walk...we walk through the Ghetto, stopping in at a
Jewish bookstore. Mom's looking for another Italian Hagaddah (the prayer
book used at Passover). Seth entertains the woman at the bookstore with
his Italian rendition of the four questions (always a seder highlight).
She's highly amused. We walk thru most of the Roman highlights: obelisks,
Trajan's theater, pantheon, campodoglio, forum, and past the colliseum.
It's pretty hot out to be walking so much, but it's hard to not be impressed.
There ris a church service going on in the Pantheon (it is Sunday, after
all), but for some reason it seems to be in German...I have been around
the forum, but never down into it. It's pretty impressive, but I think
I am more in awe being up above and looking down on these kinds of ruins...then
you get more of a sense of the layout and the vastness. We chack out several
arches and the remains of the huge church on the forum grounds (the name
escapes me) that inspired the renaissance greats to build grand duomos.
It is absolutely gargantuan. And we are only looking at on e of the side
aisles. We end up at the Colliseum. I am still amazed, even after several
visits.
Then a leisurely stroll back thru town for some lunch near the apartment.
I'm still not hungry (shocking to all, I know) so I put in a load of laundry
(we have a machine, but not a dryer). I stay back at the apartment, napping,
reading, writing and laundering, while further afternoon walks are taken.
Tonight we are going back to the Ghetto for dinner at a place specializing
in artichokes (it is the season). They serve them whole, flattened and
fried. They are pretty delicious, although mine could have had less choke...it
was a little tough and spiny on the outside. We also start with fried
cod (the best 'fish and chips' fish ever), fried zucchini flowers (terrific...light
and sweet), and suppili (balls of rice, filled witih mozzarella, and fried).
The appetizers are all outstanding and we probably could have just stopped
there. but no. We havea full dinner after that. I had fava beans with
a type of pancetta, sautteed. It's good, but very salty (exactly how Seth
had had it in a previous visit) and then cicericchie with artichokes (the
beans I had tried in Sansepolcro) which is good but not great. Luckily
the plates are small, because I've ordered too much. We also have oxtail
which is excellent , some pasta and lamb. All in all it's way too much
food and we are stuffed. We sat outside at a sidewalk table; once the
sun set, the weather was perfect. there was an excellent selection for
people watching. I have even started to see some of the same people twice.
Rome is very crowded with tourists this weekend. There are some Americans,
but mostly French and Brits, with a good amount of Australians and Germans
thrown in. But, interestingly there are lots of Italian tourists. This
is a long weekend, due to May Day and I think the Italians have taken
advantage.
We walk back to Piazza Navona to go to Tre Scalini and have a tartuffo
for dessert, but the bar portion is closed, and we aren't interested in
sitting in the restaurant. Mom and I get gelato (chocolate and strawberry...the
strawberry is weak, the chocolate is great) and we wonder the 3 blocks
back to home.
Tomorrow: San Pietro....
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