Auguri!

Torrone is a typical holiday candy!  Full of nuts & sugar!  I think you could compare it to the mysterious substance... "nougat".  It comes with different nuts (typically hazlenut or almond, hard & brittle, soft & chewy or crumbly) & at best, covered in chocolate!

Ciao tutti!  I've missed you!  I've been wrapped up in the much anticipated visit from Elysia & christmas & such.  Wow, over the past two weeks we did an amazing amount of touring & eating!  It was so awesome to have my buddy here to share in the Italian experience.  We had a fantastic time touring & observing culture, fashion, hairstyles and pizzas.

here's Elysh observing some marzipan candies @ the christmas market in P. Navona

Bernini's neptune fountain @ P. Navona

 Usually I don't do too much eating out.  Mostly because I like to cook & also because I don't want to get fat.  Not too fat at least.  I don't really like pasta & I don't eat meat but...  I sure do love me some PIZZA!  I have found several places in town that make absolutely fantastic pizza.  My favorites have thicker, chewy crust (Napolitan style) Vs. thin & crisp Roman style crust.  The pizza doesn't always have tomato sauce, sometimes just cheese.  My favorite cheese is the mozzarella di buffala!  And, it's always best to wash it down with a nice half liter of vino.

grilled vegetable pizza, straight from heaven

roasting chestnuts (castagne) on the street corners.  really tasty!

Via Condotti, a high fashion corridor

Via Condotti from atop the spanish steps

The weather had been positively balmy up until the week before christmas.  I had told Elysia that it would be pretty warm but, surprise!  The day she arrived a cold snap hit.  She had brought some cute new flats that she never got to wear due to the freddo.  It turns out that we had been having some unseasonably warm winter weather.  And here I had been thinking that Rome never gets cold!  Since we are both from Minnesota the coldness helped us to get into the christmas spirit.  Legend has it that if you throw a coin over your left shoulder into the Trevi fountain that you are destined to return to Roma!

here we go!

Having been here for...  4 MONTHS now, I have visited most sights in Rome.  However, they are so fascinating I definitely don't mind doing a repeat.  I have tried to pick only some of the best photos to put in here so I don't bore you to death.  One of my most favorite return visits is to the Capitoline Museums.

the giant foot of constantine

girl with a dove

the campdoglio is looking particularly festive & pretty for Natale

We steered clear of the touristy ristoranti & tried to hit the cozy trattorias & osterias (trats & osts).  Oh man, I did so much feeding I am going to have to diet for the entire year 2012 as a new years resolution.  I am definitely going to swear off cheese platters like this one!

too much!

penne alla arrabiata e cicoria

 One day we tried to visit the Colloseum but got denied by a "general strike"closure.  So, we decided to take a religious pilgrims tour through some of the various churches of Roma.  Elysia lives in the mountains & the urban culture tour hike is a little different than the hiking & touring of the Sierras that she is used to.  After tramping around Roma for a bit she adapted to the change and began noting sights like the belted puffy jackets, wedge heeled tennis shoes & the "ro-mo" hairstyle (trendy roman mohawk peak) and "the Roman stare".  I was playing Rome tour guide & teaching her about some of my favorites...  Hadrian, Bernini, Ganymede, Il Papa, gelato, etc.

great bronze doors of San Giovanni

said to contain remnants of christ's actual manger!

stained glass dome of S. Maria degli Angeli

piazza della Repubblica

We also went to the Vatican Museums, third time's the charm for me!  It continues to amaze!  Around christmas is a nice time to visit Rome, all the holiday decorations are lovely & the tourist sights are not too crowded.

Raphael's la disputa del sacramento

Raphael's "school of athens"  one of my faves

this time, i snapped a couple of decent pics of the sistine chapel.  it is glorious!  you can see the famous touch of god finger ping in the lower middle of the photo.

the chapel ceiling & the last judgement on the wall

the quintessential italian pick me up.  a little macchiato.

a fabulous greek salad.  

I will write again soon.  I am dying to update you about the day trip to Tivoli, the Italian Christmas, and our venture to Tuscany.  Too bad speaking so much english has caused me to forget how to speak Italian.  For New Years Eve tonight I'm planning to hang out with some expatriate buddies for a food fest & some bubbly.  I'm going to make this raw artichoke with lemon & parmesan over arugula salad that I have been really loving lately.  Tomorrow the diet begins!  Yours too, right?  Italians typically shoot off a bunch of fireworks @ midnight so that should be A BLAST!

Buon Anno!!  Happy New Years, have fun tonight!! xoxo

Saluti Tutti!

when life gives you lemons...  yum!  be happy!

Ciao tutti!  

Niente di speciale to report but, lots of nice photos to show you!!  I have been feeling extra happy lately & enjoying life in Roma!  I went to a particularly awesome meditation class last night that helped relieve some of my life stress.  I didn't think of my work crap for 1.5 hours & then when the class was over, that stuff didn't seem very important anymore.  Great!  We had a discussion afterward & while it was all in Italian I seemed to understand most of it.  And really, it didn't matter, I got what I needed out of it!  

Also, over the past week I have been doing my own yoga practice at least for a bit every day, it is amazing to see how much better I feel.  Spirits have been boosted my friends!

So, last week I biked out to the catacombs to try for a visit.  This is the second try.  Dang, again they were closed!  I still managed to check some stuff out & get a nice ride in.  Such as the church of St. Sebastian.

st. sebastian himself, pierced by arrows

a nice rendition of J.C. by Bernini

a nice spot to park Franchi (my bike)

 The other day I visited Villa Farnesina.  It is an old estate of a wealthy Roman, Agostino Chirgi, banker & treasurer to Pope Julius II.  Raphael & some other guys were commissioned to fresco it all up & the place is well preserved as a museum.  It was gorgeous!  A story goes that Farnese kidnapped Raphael's milkmaid girlfriend so that he'd get to work on painting the villa but, he became sullen & depressed.  The girlfriend was released & Raphael went eagerly back to work using a lot of suggestive themes, nudity, imagery, etc.

luscious lemons!

gardens

my favorite & probably the most famous piece here.  Raphael's  Triumph of Galatea.  

some detail of Galatea & the "lusty centaurs"

not by raphael but, still nice.

beautiful rooms

This the theme of this room was the marriage of Psyche & Eros.  By Raphael. 

here you see Eros (Cupid, with the wings) & Psyche getting married in front of Zeus & the other gods.

ornateness on the ceiling!

a view of the villa

 It being a nice day for a walk I went up the Gianicolo to view some churches & such.

the tiny Cappela di Bramante

Sycamores & busts

here are the stairs by my house that I chug up & down sometimes for "exercise"  (sometimes...)  Nothing like Orbit Fit booty camp but you know, when in rome...  you must make due.  :)

here's my cute elevator in my building.  super old timey.

close the gate without slamming please! :)

 I told you about the fun christmas lights around town, right?  Well these are the most impressive.  A million bazillion red, white & green lights going all the way down via del corso.  It is spectacular!  I can't imagine how they put this all up without ending in a big tangle!

tasteful nativity & tree by the vittoriano in piazza venezia

angels going up to the campidoglio

the street i walk up & down most days.

There you have it folks.  I hope you are all well!  Stay tuned for updates on the visit from the friend!

By the way, I stopped in @ my language school today to say hi to my teacher & to check if I passed my final exam from my last class....  I did!  Seriously, it was hard.  woo hoo!

buona notte! xx