A day at the races!

I hope you are having a nice weekend!  I am!  I had a funny activity today.  My host, Edgardo, took me to the local racetrack (cars) to see some racing.  I am not really into car racing but...  he was eager to introduce me to some doctor friends of his.  They are a father & son & are plastic surgeons, the son specializes in giving men hair therapy (hair plugs) & plays rock & roll music during the procedures.  !  They took one look at me and said, the sun is your enemy!  I know, too late!  Apparently I've got some 'marionette lines', how gross. The father is in his 70's & has a strong passion for racing cars!  He's been doing it for ages.

these were all maseratis.  i guess you rent them from the owner to use in a race.

Jim Morrison!  I wanted to rent this one & got to sit inside it.

So, we went to the track & got to hang out behind the scenes.  Today was just a qualifying round of races.  It was me hanging out with a bunch of Italian men talking about Maseratis and Lamborghinis.  Most of you probably know me well enough to realize that I could care less about car racing.  Needless to say, I was fairly out of place.  I was the only lady around & these guys really got a kick out of me putting on the car helmet & clowning around.  They were all very nice.

I guess this one is worth 700,000 Euro!  Just the door is worth about 5,000.   All I could wonder was who the hell would spend that much money on a car????  One guy I was with told me at one point, "I have six porsches, three for summer & three for winter."  whoa.

Unfortunately, some of us decided to go out for a typical Italian long lunch (2.5h) & missed the race of the guy we had come to see.  Typical.  We were outside of town in the country & ate at a rustic place with charming atmosphere.  Here is what I had to eat:

appertivo:
battered & fried courgette (zucchini) & squash blossoms
eggplant parm
bruschetta
riccotta
buffalo mozzerella
foccacia, ciabatta & grissini (breadsticks)

then I had some fettucini with garlic & porcini mushrooms.  the other guys had meat pasta or gnocchi.

we also had a nice bottle of prosecco

then...  i had just a bite of some berry ricotta tart thing & a slice of cantaloupe.

and then some caffe'.  It is the custom to all have a yummy espresso after a meal.  i should have taken photos.  i will start taking some food photos for you guys.

It was a great day!

not too many folks there because it was just a speed trial.  after watching the cars go around three times i got bored.  i mean, you really just watch the cars go around & around???

Some have been wondering about the food here & my diet.  As you likely know, I'd been vegan for about 8 or 9 years.  I decided that, in order to experience Italy more fully & other reasons, I'd be less strict & just be vegetarian.  It has been going ok but honestly, my stomach & digestion are rebelling.  I have been eating cheese but, pretty minimal because I am concerned that over the years of vegan I became lactose intolerant.  So, I am having milk in my coffee, a bit of cheese, pasta (infrequently) that probably has egg in it and gelato (frequently).  I have yet to bring myself to eat something like a fried egg & likely won't.  My health has been good for the most part since being here for 3 weeks but my digestion has been... actually terrible.  I'm working on it.  Oh, I did get some greek yogurt for the probiotic qualities & have been having it with fruit for breakfast.  I wondered what all the hype was about with greek yogurt, turns out it is delicious.

In other news, BAD news about work.  I can't start now until November & I am not pleased.  Many aspects have continued to be somewhat uncertain.  I have voiced strong concern about this so my employers are putting together a NEW contract & giving it to me on Tuesday.  I had a contract before but, I actually never signed it & was continually told to not worry about it.  I was worried about it!

I am doing my very best to be patient & trust that things will work out but, Italians conduct business very differently.  They can drag things out for ages, can say one thing & do another or just never follow through.  It is not what I am used to & I think it is morally foul.  They are extremely nice to my face but I feel that when I leave the room they think I am very naive.  Not to generalize but, this has been my experience.  I can understand much more Italian now but, not when people are speaking very quickly or using verbs & tenses that I don't know.   At least it sounds like I'll be financially a bit better off with our newer agreement.  I have begun searching more seriously for a flat downtown to live in.  Things are HELLA expensive in Roma!  Italian language learning has been coming along.  My most used phrase is "io non so" meaning I don't know.

My dad has been reading my blog & wrote to me the other day, "do you know that your photos are limited by your camera?"  I do know this but, they are decent, right???  I hope you are enjoying them & I'm hoping to get a new camera.  My dad & stepmom are climbing half dome this week, wish them luck!  I am proud of them, it is a tough hike!!

Also, my mom had a big knee surgery last week in MN & it was hard for me to be so far away.  Please send her good wishes for a speedy recovery!  Grazie mille!  Here are some other photos from recently:

here is the Vittorio Emmanuel monument.  locals think it is an eyesore & call it " the wedding cake".   it is on a piazza that is busy with car traffic & i guess they have to clean it every couple of years to keep that marble white!  Victor Emmanuel was the first king of Italia after unification.

here's what a drinking fountain in Roma looks like.  there are lots of fontanellos around town, many just a constantly running faucet with a nice basin on the streetcorner coming out of a building.  it is tasty water!

Legend has it that Rome was founded by the twins Romulus & Remus.  These twins were raised by a she-wolf and all around town are sculptures on this theme.  Whenever you read about this legend they are always "suckled" by the wolf.  There is even a particular fig tree on the Capitoline hill that is supposedly the "suckling tree".  At some point Romulus committed fratricide & murdered Remus.

St. Peter's chains!  Legend has it that St. Peter was locked up in these chains & in some holy event was liberated by an angel or something.  These are apparently the actual chains & a whole church is built to honor them.  The story goes that the chains were separated, one part was in Jerusalem & the other in Egypt for a while.  When the two pieces of chain were reunited a miracle occurred & CA CHINK, they fused to form one chain!  magic!

this church was decorated with at least one hundred chandeliers.

nice view of the Tiber & St. Peters.  The Tiber used to be actively used for shipping but, not anymore.  High walls were built along it back in the old days to prevent seasonal flooding from damaging the city.

I got an Italian cell phone, finally.  I have received one phone call so far!
xoxo