VISITORS (continued) !

picnic!

Weekend weekend yayyyyy. Thursday was an awesome day. We woke up early for prepare for the day. India and Dad met us at my apartment around 9:30 and we headed to the market. Plan for the day: picnic in Villa Borghese. We got lots of yummy fruits, veggies, cheese, ham, and bread for our picnic! Everyone went back to the apartment to prepare for our meal, and I ran to Billa to grab some last minute additions (oil, vinegar, parmesan, and a Kinder chocolate sopresa egg for Indy). Last stop before heading to the park was the wine store. Perfecto.

india loved the fresh pomogranite!

We hopped on the metro and made our way to Villa Borghese. It's a beautiful walk from Piazza del Popolo. We passed a pretty view of Rome, a few parks in between, and picked out a nice picnic spot in Borghese. Eating time!! We unloaded everything from the various backpacks - fresh mozzarella cheese, prosciutto from Parma, freshly baked bread, a yummy salad Dad made before leaving the apartment with our new veggies, some apples, pomogranite, kiwi, olives, oil and vinegar, blood red oranges, strawberries, cherries, and topped it off with some white wine. YUM. It was one of my favorite Rome meals (and days) so far. We sat in a sunny spot on the grass and ate & ate. It was a beautiful day. India even ate so much that she burped - that's the first time she's stuffed her tummy with food other than plain pasta since she's been here. SUCCESS!!!!

helping india with a handstand

We relaxed in the sunshine to rest off our lunch. Dad took a little nap, and India and I did some yoga moves in the grass. Zach was relaxing, taking pictures of Innies and me from afar. I got out my big camera for photo class and got a few good shots of India and Zach as my models. I'll print them in the next few weeks and post them for you to see:)

After a couple hours of lunching and playing, we walked around the park to the ZOO! It was fun to see all the animals. India really liked the monkeys and the elephants. We watched the monkeys forever - they were so funny!! There were the cutest little babies. The baboon came right up to the glass and was looking right at us, it was awesome. We saw zebras, lions, monkeys, bunnies, wild dogs, giraffes, goats, these weird looking puff ball animals, and so so much more! It was nice to just mozy around the park all day.

monkeying around at the ZOO

Time for our afternoon rest. Dad headed back to the hotel, and the rest of us came back to the apartment. We rested up, I caught up on the blog a little, Zach thought about studying for his hydrology test on Monday, and India had some peanut butter crackers. Dad met us at our apartment for dinner time! We had made a reservation at a place near Piazza del Popolo, so we took the metro there and walked a little ways to Gusto - an Italian/Pacific Rim restaurant. It was wonderful! We got lots to eat (as always). I got the gnocchi, Dad got 2 courses (a pasta then fish), Zach got some pasta as well, and India tried the chicken stir fry. We got appetizers, a cheese platter of cheese from Lazio, and some yummy dessert as well. Veryyyy good. The seafood night was still my #1 though!

wetting the wall with designs

Dad and India grabbed a cab from the restaurant, and Zach and I walked home since it wasn't too far. Also, we needed to walk off all the food from the week haha. It was a chilly night, but by the time we got home we were nice and warm from our brisk walk. It was late, so we just hungout and relaxed together. Yay for a great day!

the Butlers frescoing!

On Friday, we reserved the morning for fresco painting. I had some frescoing to do and India was really excited to help me with it, so we all trekked over to the art building. I taught them all about the process and everyone joined in to help. The boys realized why they were invited along - the mixing is QUITE and arm workout! Dad helped me put on the sandcoat, Zach mixed and was an expert cleaner, and India helped with painting. It was a loooong morning - it took about 3 or 4 hours to finish everything. But we got it done, and now they know how to fresco! Yippeee!

zach's an awesome mixer :)

After frescoing everyone was pretty hungry. We walked around the corner and dropped in a little cafe. My hands were so dry I poured a little olive oil on them to help, but I went a little overboard and my hands were dripping with oil. Oops! After a quick lunch of pizzas and pastas, we decided to just wander around the area. India made a list of things she needed to do before she left: presents for people, chocolate egg every day, chocolate eggs to bring home, eat a crepe. I think we can handle that. We decided to get the crepe out of the way now, so we walked to Trastevere (tre-STEV-er-aye - Dad always pronounced it TRA-stev-AIR-aye haha). I showed them around where my 2 academic campuses were and we got India a crepe at one of the gelaterias nearby. Dad was excited because we got to walk on the 1 solely walking bridge in Rome (Ponte Sisto).

photo store!!

Next stop: Jewish Ghetto. Since I'd never been and Dad really loved it, we decided to head back. Zach told me about this amazing vintage photography shop that they'd spent a couple hours in earlier in the week, so we attempted to find it again. On the way to the ghetto, India found a nice Italian colorful leather wallet. Success! It was so cool to be in a completely different part of town for the first time. Dad and Zach found the photo shop from memory. It was incredible. There were probably hundreds (could I possibly say thousands? estimating numbers isn't my strong suite) of old photographs - landscapes, portraits...special moments in peoples' lives that they captured years and years ago. It was so cool. Every picture I saw was like flipping back through time and teleporting me into that moment. I'm for SURE coming back to this shop. Jada, you would die if I took you here!! It was so dangerous.. I could spend so much money in that store haha.

best.shop.ever.

Dad bought me 2 that I couldn't live without. They're really beautiful. One is a great shot of a buddhist monk bowing in front of an open door - the shadows and feelings evoked are amazing. The other is an Indian man sitting cross-legged with a beautiful landscape behind him and a huge clay pot, staring dead into the camera and laughing with all his heart. Ahhh. Absolutely incredible. I had to narrow down to those 2 from about 40 pictures that I'd pulled aside. India was a great helper. We found some silly pictures of cats too that she liked. Dad got a great shot of a man climbing beside an amazing looking tree. Zach had bought a climbing picture the last time he was in the shop, so he only stayed inside for about 20 minutes before going to sit outside. I wanted to make sure everything was alright, and when I asked he said "if I stay in there any longer I'm going to buy out the whole store." Understandable! He studied a little outside while we looked around for about an hour and made our decisions. New favorite shop? I think yes.

zach and me with an awesome grafitti saying
"ti amo da qui...alla fine del mundo...di nuovo qui...all'infinito"

After a successful shop we walked back over to Trastevere. We walked along the river a ways to check out the grafitti (aaaand because Zach wanted to see the flow of the river. oooh environmental science majors...), then wandered in and out of shops. Zach found a cool screen-print shirt shop and got a couple things. We saw all kinds of cool stuff. We even found a Nepal shop with prayer flags, awesome rugs, symbols, singing bowels, etc!! I got mala beads that I've been meaning to get for awhile for meditation. I haven't spent much time in this area other than just going to class, but it's really neat. Yay for visitors expanding my Rome knowledge!! We were getting a little hungry and it was starting to get dark, so we narrowed down a couple places for dinner. One of them was up on Janiculum Hill, which was supposed to be a beautiful view and wasn't too far. We settled on that.

grafitti by the river!

The walk was awesome - definitely a calf workout! It was a pretty steep climb to the top of the hill, but the view was fantastic. We got to the restaurant 30 minutes before it opened (Antico Arco is what it was called - looked yummy!), and India and Dad were tired so they hungout outside to wait for it to open. Zach and I walked around the Aurelian walls nearby trying to find the best view of the city. We found a cool fountain that we thought would have a great view, but when we got there the view was covered by construction material! BOO! Zach was tall enough to see over the top and I peeked through a hole in the screen until he lifted me up to see over the top. So gorgeous. Ahh, Romaa:) We walked back to the restaurant just in time for the opening. Perfecto!

pretty rome

This restaurant slowly made its way to #1 as the night went on. We started out with fresh, homemade (that day) bread. Some were stuffed with olives, others with onions, sesame seeds, of walnuts. SO GOOD. We tried an incredible white wine called Le Case or something like that. I'm going to have to give you a play-by-play because it was just too good. We started with appetizers: onion pie with a light cheese fondue and squid in a mint/lemon sauce. They were gone in a matter of seconds, after lots of ooohing and aaahing. They also brought us a free little appetizer called a croquette (different than the paris croquettes). They're little fried balls filled with different things - tonight they were potatoes. We tried some the other night that were stuffed with fish and India liked those a lot. We went all out this meal and each got a first course AND a second course (my stomach was hating on me later, but it was just too good to pass up). India got her signature plain pasta and nibbled on some of mine.

squid soup thing appetizer

My first course was one of the best foods I've ever tasted: risotto with a sharp cheese that came with a red wine/cinnamon/other seasonings sauce that you poured on overtop. It. was. amazing. Zach got lasagna stuffed with squid with this yummy yummy sauce on top. Dad got a seafood-y pasta that was also great. It was cool because they brought little mini bowls of each of the dishes so that we could all test eachothers. Nice technique! (especially because I was reluctant to share mine!) Second course: I got lambchops with some potato-y thing underneath, Zach got a sirloin steak that was TO DIE FOR, and Dad got some fish. I'm just going to let you all imagine the most amazing taste you could ever think of, and know that this was at least 3 times better. I was in awe. YUM!! I'm so thankful for my Dad coming so that I can get a taste of the best of Roma! :)

SUPERmousse!

Dessert was wonderful. Our tummies were so so full, so Dad and India got strawberry sorbet, but Zach and I couldn't resist the "supermousse"! We split the supermousse - chocolate mousse with malt balls and white chocolate - and a mandarin sorbet. MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Dessert wine came with that, followed by shots of expresso to help with digestion - that was MUCH needed. Zach took pictures of everything we ate because it was just THAT good haha. I'm going on and on, but I just can't explain it! Sooo I'll move on now.

Dad and Indy grabbed a cab home. It was a little walk back to the apartment (about an hour), but Zach and I were up for it. I'm so glad that we did - it was a gorgeous walk! The views of the city walking down the hall was ridiculous. The hour walk turned into about a 2 hour walk because we kept stopping to absorb the beautiful city. We decided on another detour after we got to the bottom of the hill. Vatican City was right near us, so we walked over to St. Peter's square. I'd never actually been in the square although I've walked by it every day on the way to school. We sat on the ground and took everything in. It was such a pretty building!! I couldn't believe that tomorrow would be the last full day with India, Dad, and Zach for 2 months. Yes, I love Rome, but seeing them makes me remember how much I love being with my family and friends, too. Goodbyes are always hard! BUT one more day of fun left before we have to think about that.

st. peter's basilica at night

We made it back to the apartment after a long day of exploring. What a day! My stomach was hurting alot, so I took some digestion meds and we went to sleep. I need to work on my proportions here, it's too hard to control yourself when you're at restaurants like the one that we went to!!

Saturday we decided to do another day of wandering since that was so successful on Friday. Zach and I met Dad and India at their hotel around 11. The goal for the day was to get gifts for people back home, so we wandered up and down Via Nazionale for awhile. We checked out some cool shops and were quite successful in our gift-picking-out-age (thanks to Zach's tallness - he could see everything in the store right away!). We were getting hungry, so I took everyone to the Kebab place by my house. I know I've told you about this before - the mystery meat (lamb perhaps?) in tortillas with sauce etc that is SO SO GOOD. India got a pizza and the rest of us ate our kebabs happily. Dad and Zach were loving it! I'm glad I could show them a little local eating:)

fam in front of Old Bridge Gelateria!

Dad picked up his slick jacket that he got tailored a few days ago from a Roman suit shop. He looked so sharp! He put it on right away and wore it for the rest of the day. Perfecto! We walked to Vatican City afterwards. We weren't feeling like waiting in line and going on a 3 hour tour of the whole thing, so we just hung out in the square and looked around at everything. I'm definitely seeing the Sistine chapel at some point, but I'm hoping Father Charles can take me so I can skip the 3+ hours line. FINALLY we went by Old Bridge Gelateria - the best gelato in Rome! My roommates were teasing me for not having gone yet since it's so amazing, and now I understand why. The rumors are true..it was the best gelato EVER EVER! I got blood red orange, chocolate, and ricotta/cinnamon flavors. Yum. Definitely hitting that up again. Alot.

Innies and Dad were tired, so I gave them the keys to my apartment since we were nearby and Zach and I finished the gift search. Dad wanted some nice olive oil, so we went to a shop we saw near the Spanish Steps. On the way we ran into Ashley with her visitors - how exciting! We grabbed a capuccino then were on our way. We found the store, picked out some olive oil, then searched for some of the wines we'd tried over the past week. We were semi-successful. We found Zach's dessert wine from the night before (Mufatta) and the famous wine of Italy (Brunello di Montalcino), but left with no wine - too expensive for our budget.

long day, but st. peter's is gorgeous!!

We were exhausted from the long few days, so we wandered to the Spanish steps, got some soda (2 sodas for 8 euro IS THAT A JOKE), and sat on the steps people watching. There were sooo many people out. I guess because it was a gorgeous day (60s, blud skies) and the weekend, and spring breaks are starting up. We laughed at the selling strategies of the vendors, shooed some of them off (one actually came up to me when Zach and I were mid-conversation and poked me with a rose "miss? miss? rose for you?", which didn't end up well for him haha. Zach's "new york roots" as he called it came out. SINS.

Around sunset we headed back to the apartment to check up on India and Dad. They were relaxing and resting up for dinner, but had a few more errands to run before heading back home in the morning. I gave them directions to places nearby for their needs and they ran out while Zach packed up and I took a baby nap. We decided on dinner near India and Dad's hotel tonight. There was a wine bar that sounded good, so we went there. It was very gourmet-like, but they still managed a special plain dish for India! I was still full from the week of incredible eating, so I just got a light gnocchi that Zach shared with me. Dad got some swordfish that was incredible, and Zach got sirlion! We had a couple good appetizers as well - a cheese platter, salami platter, and something else that was really good but I don't know exactly what it was haha. The wine was really great - we tried 2 different reds and a dessert wine.

India was worried that Zach would forget the flash drive that I was importing pictures from the week onto for her, so she wrote out a VERY descriptive plan for him of ways to reach her. She's crazy crazy! Haha she gave him her class schedule, drew a map of st. catherines and the neighborhood with her friends' houses listed, facebook name, emails, etc etc. Hopefully he'll be able to follow those directions to get it to her! She also played a couple games of MASH with us that turned out with interesting results. Silly silly girl:)

After dinner, we walked Dad and India back towards their hotel. At our bus stop, we said our goodbyes. Their plane left early Sunday morning, so I wouldn't be seeing them again until I come home in May. So sad! The week went by too fast!! Lots of hugs and kisses, then they were off. Zach and I caught our bus back to the apartment, with a few tears shed on the way.

The apartment was hopping when we got home with visitors and everyone staying in tonight, but we still got to talk some and chat about the week. It was nice. We were both exhausted (as always), so we went to bed. Zach's flight was at 10:30am, so we left the apartment at 7. It was a sad metro then train ride to the airport! Two months is too long, but my experience here is definitely worth it. It's just hard being so far! BUT I'm loving every minute and in no way regret studying abroad - it's such a great, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That doesn't make saying goodbye any harder though! I stayed on the train back to Termini and Zach headed towards his plane home. Sighhhh.

It was so wonderful to be able to spend time with my family and Zach here in Rome. I loved that I could show them around and teach them everything I know, but at the same time they introduced me to new places and encouraged me to try new things and explore Rome even MORE! It was such an amazing week. Definitely worth the pounds gained and exhaustion. More than worth it.