Last night, before dinner Carlo took me to to look out over the city. It was amazing to see Rome from up high, and incredible how much Carlo knows about his city. He pointed out monuments, churches, and many more places which I cannot pronounce. I wonder if I should be embarassed because I am barely soaking in all of this information, but I am taking in what I can. And of course, I have beautifulo scenes to capture with my vision... and my camera.
So dinner was great mostly because of the company. Although I couldn't understand a great portion of what was being said, there lots of smiles and tons of warmth. I also got to talk with a few folks about visiting School Lake and Camp Walden. Plus, the meal was delicious. Mirella suggested the linguine with mushrooms. So good. I am guessing it was a butter sauce with a hint of garlic and hot pepper.
Right after coffee came (Mirella had ordered decaf for me) Carlo said that it was time to go. It felt so abrubt, probably because the 5 minute warning had come in Italian), so I stood up, but Cralo told me I could finish me coffee first. Since the cups are only the size you mihgt give to a doll, it didn't take long. I said my good byes with a kiss on each cheek, and we crossed the street to go the ballet, Casanova.
As we approached, I realized that the stage was standing in the middle of the park. It was a small area with seats, stadium style, uncovered, and small. The ballet itself left something to be desired, but I made subtitles in my head for what might be happening to entertain myself and that definately worked. This is not only my lack of taste speaking either- Carlo said he didn't like it as much as others he had seen there.
We drove back home and shortly went to bed, but first I gave Mirella the thank you gift that my mom (Pam) had pickjed out. Mirella asked if she should wait until Carlo came back from the parking the car, and we agreed that it would be nice to wait. However she changed her mine and opened it anyway. She really loved it. She was smiling and repeated thank you over and over. And I thanked her for letting me stay and showing me around Rome, and she said "I wish you wouldn't leave... so soon." We agreed that next time I should stay longer, and I went to sleep with a melting heart.
But not mealting from the heat! I got an AC upgrade! woohooo. I guess there had been a portable AC, so when Carlo offered it yesterday, I jumped at the chance to have a cool sleep.
I set my alarm, and felt ready to wake up at 9:30. I stretched in my cool room, took a cold shower, and headed into the kitchen for breakfast. The maid, who only speaks Italian had gotten pluots, apricots, cherries, cantalope, and biscotti all ready for me, since I said that fruit was my usual. It was all very good, although the pluot tasted sour after brushing my teeth and especially after that very sweet cantalope.
Then Mirella took me to send a letter. We passed her friend at a cafe, and they schmoozed something about the womans hurt shoulder, we continued on to buy a stamp and send off my note. Then we passed an open air market full of produce, knick knacks, and tourists. Mirella knew some of the people at the market from going there once a week for the past 20 years she explained with a chuckle.
Then I cooled off in my room, had some lunch- more of the yummy same. And now I am waiting either for Nadia to call and tell me to meet her somewhere or for Carlo to get a phone call he is waiting for and take me to the hotel she is at. Whichever comes first. And then it will be a whole other adventure.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
when in rome
I figure while I have such easy access to internet, I might as well use it.
So, Ill start where I left off, with lunch. Mmmm. Mirella made pasta salad with rigfatoni, mozeralla cheese, tomatos, capers, and olives. It was so delicious. Im not sure that everyone knows this, but I do not like olives. I very carefully spooned out my serving trying to avoid them, without looking like I was trying to avoid them. There was one scoop that had an olive right in the middle, so I decided to be a big kid and try it. I still do not like olioves, but I made it through. I even had another that camoflouged itself in my second helping. There was also a bread/ craker with rosemary that was very tastey. After that there was the juciest sweetest cantalope Ive ever tasted, and a couple dark cherries too.
As I helped clear the dishes Mirella asked if I wanted ice cream, but there was absolutely no room. She did insist on making me coffe, and decaf was not a problem. She was quite a stash of all kinds of coffee, and it only took seconds to make in her little espresso machine. I was glad that she offered milk and sugar, because Im not sure if thats the real Italian way, but it was also very very good.
Over lunch, to make conversation and think towards the future of my trip, I asked about the bus system, which Mirella took and generously manipulated into us taking one after lunch... even though it was the hottest part of the day. After we finished, and she changed into a lovely dress, we set off on my first Roma Adventure. It was beautiful.
We took the bus to Villa Burgheese, walked around the tall trees and monuments until we landed at a small cafe. She ordered in Italian and asked me in English what I wanted and propmtly suggest iced tea, which sounded perfect for such a hot day. Then in italian she just ordered two of the same. She pulled out a look cigarette from her bag and said with a smile "I know in America this would be a scandal, but I have a cigarette every once in a while," and we laughed as she lit it.
From there we strolled through different Piazzas and landmarks. Most of which I can not remember because her pronounciation is not something I can say back correctly. However there are some pictures, and I know I saw the famous fountain thats in lots of movies. Plus some catherdrals and lots of government mansions.
We also passed a ton of tourist shops, which were fun to look into. Maybe Ill grab some schwag with fellow tourists later in the trip.
Now is some down time, before dinner and the ballet. Plus Ill be taking another shower. This might not be such an important marker for some, but for me that could tell just as much as a thermometer. Yes, I might even shower 3 times today. Who knows!
all for now and all my love,
Amy
So, Ill start where I left off, with lunch. Mmmm. Mirella made pasta salad with rigfatoni, mozeralla cheese, tomatos, capers, and olives. It was so delicious. Im not sure that everyone knows this, but I do not like olives. I very carefully spooned out my serving trying to avoid them, without looking like I was trying to avoid them. There was one scoop that had an olive right in the middle, so I decided to be a big kid and try it. I still do not like olioves, but I made it through. I even had another that camoflouged itself in my second helping. There was also a bread/ craker with rosemary that was very tastey. After that there was the juciest sweetest cantalope Ive ever tasted, and a couple dark cherries too.
As I helped clear the dishes Mirella asked if I wanted ice cream, but there was absolutely no room. She did insist on making me coffe, and decaf was not a problem. She was quite a stash of all kinds of coffee, and it only took seconds to make in her little espresso machine. I was glad that she offered milk and sugar, because Im not sure if thats the real Italian way, but it was also very very good.
Over lunch, to make conversation and think towards the future of my trip, I asked about the bus system, which Mirella took and generously manipulated into us taking one after lunch... even though it was the hottest part of the day. After we finished, and she changed into a lovely dress, we set off on my first Roma Adventure. It was beautiful.
We took the bus to Villa Burgheese, walked around the tall trees and monuments until we landed at a small cafe. She ordered in Italian and asked me in English what I wanted and propmtly suggest iced tea, which sounded perfect for such a hot day. Then in italian she just ordered two of the same. She pulled out a look cigarette from her bag and said with a smile "I know in America this would be a scandal, but I have a cigarette every once in a while," and we laughed as she lit it.
From there we strolled through different Piazzas and landmarks. Most of which I can not remember because her pronounciation is not something I can say back correctly. However there are some pictures, and I know I saw the famous fountain thats in lots of movies. Plus some catherdrals and lots of government mansions.
We also passed a ton of tourist shops, which were fun to look into. Maybe Ill grab some schwag with fellow tourists later in the trip.
Now is some down time, before dinner and the ballet. Plus Ill be taking another shower. This might not be such an important marker for some, but for me that could tell just as much as a thermometer. Yes, I might even shower 3 times today. Who knows!
all for now and all my love,
Amy
buongiorno
Hello loved ones,
I would love to write and write and write about my miniadventures and hiccups along the way thus far, but Mirella (Pams dads first cousins wife) is waiting for me to have lunch. And I already skipped breakfast, and I already skipped meeting the maid who apparently wants to meet me and already knows Savta. Now dont worry, I wast being rude or neglectful... on purpose. But I woke up a bit after noon.
But in brief: Yesterday I look a long walk around Dusseldorf, Germany. I was looking for Old Town, because Sam looked it up and its supposed to be the best part of the city. However the roads are very loopy and too small to get their name on the map (plus my awful sense of direction was working against me). I did stumble upon a beautiful park with lots of shade, so I walked around there and sat to stop from sweating so much for a while which was nice. It was quite an event getting back to the airport because I couldnt figure out how to buy a ticket... again, but this time the nice German gentleman trying to assist me didnt speak any english. It was pretty funny, and I eventually got back to the airport, where I wished the air conditioning was stronger. I was able to get a nap in before leaving for Rome.
Then Carlo (Mirellas husband) picked me up from the airport after I finally got my bag. His English is probably perfect but his accent is like each word has been dipped in molasses, and they stick together to form new sweeet ItalianEnglish words that dont actually exist in either of our native languages. This lead to him telling me that Mirella has been retired for 5 years, and then me asking a few minutes later if Mirella was still working. But besides that I smiled and agreed with him on details about the family and the city.
When I got back to their beautiful apartment in the heart of the Capital, Mirella showed me my room and bathroom, and kitchen, where we had a conversation when she convinced me I should go to bed right away because I was too tired. I was then surprised to see a fully set dining room table complete with a delicious vegetarian meal, that Im pretty sure is being converted to lunch right now.
Before I went to sleep I took the coldest shower I could in preparation for a hot and sticky night with no AC. I dozed off 2 pages into a new book, but woke up at 230 feeling suffocated by heat. I went to see if there was another room with AC, I went to see if there were ice cubes, but I was out of luck. I went back to bed with a coolish glass of water, but couldnt sleep. I called Sam and he suggested that I get a damn cloth, because thats what Say (nickname for Sarah, Sams mom) used to do when he had a fever. So I have to thank the Landenwitsches because it worked! I slept from about 1030 to 1230 with a one and a half hour interruption to sweat.
Now its lunch time. Im not sure what Ill do after that because Mirella said it might be too hot for sight seeing (which might mean that I get suckered into doing whatever she thinks is best) and this evening we are going to see their child and grandchild... I think, for dinner. Then Im going to the ballet.
Nadia gets to town late tonight, and Im supposed to meet her at her hotel early tomorrow. So, thats the plan and I just got paged for lunch.
Love you all,
Amy
ps No apostrophes on the Italian key board, or at least none that I could find.
I would love to write and write and write about my miniadventures and hiccups along the way thus far, but Mirella (Pams dads first cousins wife) is waiting for me to have lunch. And I already skipped breakfast, and I already skipped meeting the maid who apparently wants to meet me and already knows Savta. Now dont worry, I wast being rude or neglectful... on purpose. But I woke up a bit after noon.
But in brief: Yesterday I look a long walk around Dusseldorf, Germany. I was looking for Old Town, because Sam looked it up and its supposed to be the best part of the city. However the roads are very loopy and too small to get their name on the map (plus my awful sense of direction was working against me). I did stumble upon a beautiful park with lots of shade, so I walked around there and sat to stop from sweating so much for a while which was nice. It was quite an event getting back to the airport because I couldnt figure out how to buy a ticket... again, but this time the nice German gentleman trying to assist me didnt speak any english. It was pretty funny, and I eventually got back to the airport, where I wished the air conditioning was stronger. I was able to get a nap in before leaving for Rome.
Then Carlo (Mirellas husband) picked me up from the airport after I finally got my bag. His English is probably perfect but his accent is like each word has been dipped in molasses, and they stick together to form new sweeet ItalianEnglish words that dont actually exist in either of our native languages. This lead to him telling me that Mirella has been retired for 5 years, and then me asking a few minutes later if Mirella was still working. But besides that I smiled and agreed with him on details about the family and the city.
When I got back to their beautiful apartment in the heart of the Capital, Mirella showed me my room and bathroom, and kitchen, where we had a conversation when she convinced me I should go to bed right away because I was too tired. I was then surprised to see a fully set dining room table complete with a delicious vegetarian meal, that Im pretty sure is being converted to lunch right now.
Before I went to sleep I took the coldest shower I could in preparation for a hot and sticky night with no AC. I dozed off 2 pages into a new book, but woke up at 230 feeling suffocated by heat. I went to see if there was another room with AC, I went to see if there were ice cubes, but I was out of luck. I went back to bed with a coolish glass of water, but couldnt sleep. I called Sam and he suggested that I get a damn cloth, because thats what Say (nickname for Sarah, Sams mom) used to do when he had a fever. So I have to thank the Landenwitsches because it worked! I slept from about 1030 to 1230 with a one and a half hour interruption to sweat.
Now its lunch time. Im not sure what Ill do after that because Mirella said it might be too hot for sight seeing (which might mean that I get suckered into doing whatever she thinks is best) and this evening we are going to see their child and grandchild... I think, for dinner. Then Im going to the ballet.
Nadia gets to town late tonight, and Im supposed to meet her at her hotel early tomorrow. So, thats the plan and I just got paged for lunch.
Love you all,
Amy
ps No apostrophes on the Italian key board, or at least none that I could find.
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