Italy I

14 May 2008 12:26 pm


Here's an excerpt from an email to our parents:

We took a 50 Euro trip from the airport to our B&B, then got checked in. It was raining cats and dogs when we got here (the taxi driver got a kick out of that colloquialism). We pumped the taxi dude for info on the best places to eat in Rome and he was quite happy to fill us in. He complimented us on how well we speak Italian.

The rain didn't stop us after we got our bags up the 3 flights of stairs to our ALL BLUE room; we headed right back out on the soaked street and cruised around our neighborhood. The Coliseum is literally 3 blocks from our B&B! We found a restaurant and ordered Lasagna and Pizza Cardinale. Despite being complimented on our Italian by the waiter, they got my Pizza order wrong...no Salami! So the waiter brought me some Salami on the side and I was appeased. The restaurant was not that great...the 1st warning sign was that the menu listed everything in 4 languages.

Circle started falling asleep while eating, so we decided it was time to call it a day. Walking back to our place, we passed an indian-run market where they had bottles of water laid out to tempt thirsty tourists. We moved all the single bottles out of the way so we could get at the pedestal they were set on...24-pack packages of bottled water. The store proprieters laughed at us as we lugged the huge pack up to the counter (apparently he's never dealt with savvy tourists). He did, however, give us a discount for buying in bulk. :)

I slept from 8:00 pm to 8:00 am (Italy time), but Circle was not so lucky. She slept from 8:00 pm to 3:00 am. Then she got up and read her Italian BoM.

When I finally got up, we headed down to the Breakfast part of our B&B, some nice cream/chocolate filled pastries, a peach juice drink for me, and hot milk for circle. Then we cruised out to the super market reccomended by our B&B proprieters (they complimented us on our Italian too). At the supermarket we bought some of our Italian favorites, some individually wrapped cheeses for Circle, a nice Italian Salami for me, and a block of Parmiggiano and some REAL Fanta for us both. We also got batteries for our camera.

TOURIST TIP: Remember to pack a knife...getting the salami and cheese onto the bread is hard with just your teeth and hands.

After hauling our picnic up the 3 flights of stairs to our B&B we were hungry enough to eat it.

When we recovered, we went to the Coliseum and the surrounding sites. It was awe inspiring. We also bought tickets to go to the Roman Forum and INSIDE the Coliseum tomorrow morning.

P.C. (post Coliseum) we made our way back to our B&B and stopped into a leather jacket shop next door. The people that run the shop actually MAKE all the jackets themselves. After complimenting us on our Italian, they told us we could order any style and/or color and they'd have it made in 24 hours. Circle's eyes were really wide as she looked at herself in a motorcycle-collar black leather number, but my eyes were even wider when I looked at the price tag (350 Euro ~ $500)

After making a hasty retreat from the leather shop, we ate lunch at the Bar under our B&B. We ordered some pasta dishes that, despite being Italy's version of hamburger helper (we discovered later) were actually quite yummy. We topped lunch off with real italian gelato. I got Pistachio and Circle got something with chocolate.

Finally we headed over to a shop called "ELECTRICITY" and got an adapter for my laptop. Now I'm hooked back into the web and feel so good. While I've been checking in on work, Circle nobly tried to read some more, but has been sleeping for the past hour or so...I guess the BoM really brings out the jet lag in her.

We plan to go out to a pizzeria tonight that was recommended by our taxi driver.