Thu, Jan 11

Well, I am leaving to go back to DC tomorrow. I must get out and go shopping today. Unfortunately, it is raining again, so many of the outdoor vendors have left. Maybe it will clear up later and I can find some nice bargains. The rain can't keep me out of the spiffy boutiques, though!!

Sign outside of Massimo's Enoteca (I drank a little too much there last night. Oops. That also happened at Massimo's last year. Don't I learn??)


Very cool table inside Massimo's - inlaid with wood from beautiful wine boxes.


Here's my Dollie with a funny picture in the background. This was at Macaroni - the yummy place that Dave, Lisa, and I went to lunch on Sunday.


This is a picture, looking northeast, out of the university studio. The swirlie-whirlie upside-down ice cream cone-looking thing in the distance, is actually the top of a church on Piazza Sant'Eustachio - home of the most delicious coffee in the world.

Very important note regarding coffee - you should have a cappuccino in the morning, first thing, on your way to work. You may not have a cappuccino in the afternoon - get it out of your system in the morning, please. The afternoon is the time for a macchiato, thank you very much... (Well, to be honest, you can have a cappuccino in the afternoon, but you will look like a tourist.) You know what they say "When in Rome...". Now, you know your order of coffees!!

p.s. You could be like Dave, who has been drinking 3-4 coffees of various types each day. No wonder he has been running about with so much energy!!


This is a picture, looking west, out of the university studio. The dome in the distance is St. Peter's at the Vatican. It is not very far at all!!


And this is a picture, looking down onto Campo, from the west-facing window. Look at all of that wonderous fruit. Dave brought me a banana from the market this morning, when he was running some errands.

Wed, Jan 10

The Christmas lights are still up here in Roma. It is very beautiful to see old buildings decorated with wreaths and lights. Bella!!

Tue, Jan 9

Beautiful day in Roma today. It is in the 60s - this is not the normal January weather here!!

Today, the students went to the Pantheon to do some sketching. My job was to take pictures of all of the students. There are 24 of them - plus 2 professors - so this was a big task. I think that I still need to get a few more of the students...

Here is a sampling of some of my handiwork from the day. I am quite the photographer, no?

Mon, Jan 8

So, there was nasty rain today. I could hear the rain on the roof of our back porch - wow, was it coming down!! So, I made myself some Italian coffee. There really is nothing better than Italian coffee in the morning. This is absolutely not Starbucks, people!!

The coffee pot is quite something!! You unscrew the bottom section of the coffee pot and fill it with water (there is a little node to mark where you stop filling the water). Next, you put the metal section that holds the coffee grinds into the bottom and spoon your coffee grinds in. Then you screw the top back on the pot and put the whole thing on the stove. The coffee percolates up into the top section. You can hear it boiling and when you can't hear the boiling anymore, all of the water is now coffee in the upper section!! Remove from heat, grab a demitasse cup (not a big cup - this drinkie-drink is strong), and enjoy with a little sugar and milk. Molto bene!!

Here is the first pot of coffee that I made in our apartment - in process!!


Once I had my coffee and the rain slowed down, I took another walk up and down the Tibre. I didn't bring the camera (in case it started to pour again - don't want to get it wet)...

Oh - one more very important thing - lest I forget... The Director of the University of Washington's Honors Program, Lisa Schultz, shared her list of five rules that you must follow, if you are planning to eat a big Italian dinner. Some rules are logical, some don't seem so logical!! Lisa has many years of experience in Italy, so I trust her on these rules. I will list them here and if you would like to test them out, let me know. We can test them together!!

Here they are:
1. Pace yourself.
2. Eat a big lunch.
3. Drink plenty of water.
4. Oops - Lisa can't remember this one... She'll get back to us.
5. Don't fill up on bread.

Mmmmmmmm... Who's hungry??

We had a wonderful dinner at Stanley and Judy's apartment, near Campo de' Fiori. Stanley is the other - very fun - architecture professor, here for the semester. Judy is his fabulous wife. Stanley and Judy have 2 friends, who are visiting - Fred and Susan from VA. They are great. Judy and Susan were very busy making a delicious dinner for all of us!! We had a wonderful antipasti, followed by a scrumptious minestrone soup. Dave brought a torte di nutella to the dinner - delicious torte, filled with Nutella (a chocolate/hazelnut spread), and finished with an orange liqueur. Wow!!

I had better walk a lot on this trip or I will be gaining weight with all of this yumminess...

Sun, Jan 7

Buon Natale! I tried to go to mass yesterday, but it was the Ephiphany, when La Befana (the witch) comes to Italian households and brings presents to all of the good children. Thus, the Pantheon was not having mass at its regularly scheduled time.

Here are the lyrics to La Befana's song:

La Befana
Viene viene la Befana,
vien dai monti a notte fonda.
Come è stanca! La circonda
neve, gelo e tramontana.
Viene viene la Befana.

Ha le mani al petto in croce,
e la neve è il suo mantello
ed il gelo il suo pannello
ed il vento la sua voce.
Ha le mani al petto in croce.

E s’accosta piano piano
alla villa, al casolare,
a guardare, ad ascoltare
or più presso or più lontano.
Piano piano, piano piano.

Che c’è dentro questa villa?
Uno stropiccìo leggero.
Tutto è cheto, tutto è nero.
Un lumino passa e brilla.
Che c’è dentro questa villa?

Guarda e guarda...tre lettini
con tre bimbi a nanna, buoni.
guarda e guarda...ai capitoni
c’è tre calze lunghe e fini.
Oh! tre calze e tre lettini.

Il lumino brilla e scende,
e ne scricchiolan le scale;
il lumino brilla e sale,
e ne palpitan le tende.
Chi mai sale? Chi mai scende?

Co’ suoi doni mamma è scesa,
sale con il suo sorriso.
Il lumino le arde in viso
come lampada di chiesa.
Co’ suoi doni mamma è scesa.

La Befana alla finestra
sente e vede, e s’allontana.
Passa con la tramontana,
passa per la via maestra,
trema ogni uscio, ogni finestra.

E che c’è nel casolare?
Un sospiro lungo e fioco.
Qualche lucciola di fuoco
brilla ancor nel focolare.
Ma che c’è nel casolare?

Guarda e guarda... tre strapunti
con tre bimbi a nanna, buoni.
Tra la cenere e i carboni
c’è tre zoccoli consunti.
Oh! tre scarpe e tre strapunti...

E la mamma veglia e fila
sospirando e singhiozzando,
e rimira a quando a quando
oh! quei tre zoccoli in fila...
Veglia e piange, piange e fila.

La Befana vede e sente;
fugge al monte, ch’è l’aurora.
Quella mamma piange ancora
su quei bimbi senza niente.
La Befana vede e sente.

La Befana sta sul monte.
Ciò che vede è ciò che vide:
c’è chi piange e c’è chi ride;
essa ha nuvoli alla fronte,
mentre sta sull’aspro monte.

—Giovanni Pascoli (1855-1912)

Whew!! That's a long song. All that to say, that I went to church today (Sunday) at the Pantheon.

History Lesson: The Pantheon was not originally created as a Catholic church - actually, it couldn't have been any further removed from the Catholic church, when it was created... It was originally built as a temple, honoring the seven deities of the seven planets in the state religion of Rome - ancient Rome, actually, since this still-standing Pantheon dates back to 125AD. (The original Pantheon - built in 27BC - was destroyed in a fire.)

OK, enough history.

It is absolutely my favorite building in the world. It is magical - you are walking down nice, winding narrow roads, lined with chic boutiques and then you turn the corner and BANG - suddenly there is this unbeliveable, old, gianormous building in front of you. I will try to recreate it for you here, but you really should come visit and experience it for yourself...

So, here you are walking down the nice road...

Holy Moly!! What is THAT??


It is the most fantastic building of all!! THE PANTHEON!!


And here are some lovely statues outside... Well, really they look like angry offspring of a fish and a duck, but I love them anyway...





We had a very nice lunch and did some significant window shopping. (David won't admit it, but he loves when we go shopping together - don't let him tell you otherwise...)

At 7PM, we went to The Abbey Theatre - an Irish pub - to watch the 1pm EST game: Patriots v. Jets. Very fun time. The Patriots won, which made for a very sad Jets fan (John - see last picture)...













Poor John!! He is so sad.

Sat, Jan 6

Today, the students have their Introduction to Roma with Daniella, a wonderful instructor from Italiaidea. The students will be continuing their study of the Italian language through the Italiaidea school throughout the next few months.

After the day-long introduction, we all gather for a group dinner at Trattoria Der Pallaro. Delizioso!!

Thu+Fri, Jan 4+5

Dave has plopped himself at the students apartments, waiting for everyone to arrive. This will be an all-day task. I am a lazy bones and sleep in. I take a very lovely walk down the Tibre, passing many beautiful bridges, the Castel Sant'Angelo, and the Vatican. Then, I turn myself around and walk back.

I saw quite the argument between two motorists!! One was driving a car - the other a motorino. Apparently, the motorino hit the car and the car's driver was none too happy about that!! He jumped out of the car and he pushed the motorino driver backwards, over the hood of an oncoming taxi. Then the taxi driver had to jump out of his car and get into the middle of the fuss. Note to self: Do not make italian drivers mad.

Back to the apartment I went. I cleaned up and wandered over to see Dave. The students were still arriving in small groups. Everyone looks pretty tired, but excited!!

Tonight, dinner at Buffetto's (The Mustache). Yummy pizza and wine for everyone!!