June 27, 2009 - Colosseum and Roman Forum

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Today we spent some time at the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Presently there is an exhibit on Vespasian, Roman Emperor around 60-79AD. In the last few years new archeaological digs in the Roman Forum area have yielded many great finds of his era.

Some of the photos in the Roman Forum show bright white figures, those are part of another exhibit by Jimenez Deredia, a Costa Rican modern sculptor. His show, "The Symbol of Birth", shows in great contrast with Rome of ancient times.

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June 26, 2009 - Visit to Campidoglio Museum

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This link (I hope) should take you to my photos of yesterday. June 26, 2009.

June 25, 2009 - Vatican Museum Visit

I posted some photos in the following link:

http://s639.photobucket.com/albums/uu116/maria12956/

You need to cut and paste to reach it.

I'm experimenting with different ways of posting my photos.
Feel free to let me know which way you find to be the best.

Panino e Panelle

The other day I finally made it to the Sicilian Pastry Shop. It was early evening and asked them if they had "panelle", they were all gone for the day, but they told me that I could order them for the next day. That made me very happy.

WHAT ARE PANELLE? They are fritters of sorts made out of chick peas flour. It is something that was originally made only in Palermo. Something that one must have if they visit Palermo. It is a flavor like nothing else. They are fried, thus they are rather heavy, something one should not make a habit of eating. But something I had to have. They are always eaten in a panino (panino = small bread - a roll).

When I picked up my panino e panelle I also picked up an "arancina" (small orange) which is a rice ball with a savory stuffing. This one was a "pistachio arancina". I have never had one that flavor, I always get the meat stuffing ones. There is a place in the North End of Boston that has real good ones.

So you can see in the picture the panino e panelle and the arancina cut in 1/2. The pear was added for effect.

I truly enjoyed eating them, but it never fails, once I eat one or the other I always get an upset stomach. Must have some TUMS handy. It was always this way for me, but the flavor is worth the upset stomach.

Morning walk

My hotel is in a residential area, and the buildings you see here are all condo-like appartments, gated communities of sorts. I love seeing all of the hanging flowering plants, it sure makes my walk a lot more pleasant. Of course on this particular route, the fact that I can see the Cupola of St. Peter's of the Vatican, is not too shabby. Denise, if you are reading this: Who walks in the morning with a view of the Vatican? I do!!!

Gelsomino

Monday morning around 5:30 I went for a walk around the hotel. It is a residential area of Rome, south-west of Vatican City. It is about a 35-40 minute walk to the walls of the Vatican.

A came back with some "gelsomino" - jasmine. Jasmine is a great smelling flower, but has some unique features. It blooms at night, and as the morning sun begins to hit the plant, the flower begins to die.

As a child it was my job to go out to pick the jasmine before the sun rose enough to hit that side of the house, that was before 8:00am. I would pick just the buds, put them in little dishes in different rooms, and the fresh smell will fill the air.

In my morning walk, I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I was to find the jasmine in my path. I did not notice much else. In the last two days, I have discovered a few other things that make Italian city life different than other places, in the USA specifically.

Home away from home

My room for the next few weeks until we are off to Florence.

Here are the standard facilities in an Italian bathroom. Toilet and a bidet.

The toilet we all know what it is used for, a bidet, for an Italian is used for washing one's privates. For a tourist, an American tourist, it has many other functions: soaking tired feet, chilling a bottle of wine, beer or soda with some ice, washing small laundry items, and for washing one's privates once we have stopped laughing.