And now, an update from mom…
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Today was the day for our tour of the Vatican. We got up at 8:15 and were excited to have coffee and cereal available after finding the grocery store yesterday. Cynthia put the coffee on and soon we heard, “Fire, I’ve got fire!!” She had turned the flame too high and caught the handle on fire!! The coffee was good but a little hard to pour with the abbreviated handle. Needless to say we have a coffee pot to buy! The coffee pot is neat, though; it is called a moka pot and is used to make espresso—we just add more hot water to our cup to make it American coffee.

our moka pot with the newly melted handle

We have a tour booked to Tuscany for tomorrow. Since the bus leaves at 7:30 tomorrow morning, we decided we needed to make sure we knew where to meet the tour bus. This turned out to be a perfect decision because we found the most awesome place for lunch! The menu was completely in Italian so we knew we had found authentic Italian food. I recognized ribolitta on the menu and quickly decided this would be my menu choice –this was one of three dishes I planned to have while in Rome. Ribolitta is an Italian soup that I frequently make at home. Emily told the server that she had questions about the menu choices so she summoned Carlos, the owner, who was awesome!!

with Carlos, the owner

It turns out his restaurant has been open only five days although he has several restaurants in Florence. Carlos offered to bring me some ribolitta as his gift. Since he was bringing this as a gift, I chose osso bucco (called Oscar after too much wine!!) for my entrée—this is the second dish I promised myself while in Italy. Carlos, however, said I needed to try the pork with sauce from France, and I could choose between it and Oscar. Cynthia decided on the meatballs and Emily (once Carlos interpreted) chose the turkey rollatini. We were happy diners, enjoying our wine and bread. Shortly our ribollita, my pork dish, Emily’s turkey, and Cynthia’s meatballs arrived. The ribollita was delicious (according to Em much better than what I cook!!); the pork was AWESOME and I had to fight Cynthia and Emily away! Emily’s turkey was so-so—good but clearly no comparison to my dishes which explained her wanting my pork! Cynthia’s meatballs were most unusual—nothing like meatballs we’ve had before. These were much meatier (not ground meat) and with a bone in them. Soon the server comes out with another dish, and we asked, “What is that?” She said, “Your meatballs.” Surprisingly, what we thought were the meatballs was osso bucco!! Now, osso bucco is made with veal and Cynthia had said she does not like veal but she was chomping down on it!!

We had our picture taken with Carlos and Em is going to write a good review on Tripadvisor for him. While we were waiting on the check, two more ladies came up and were looking at the menu. I gave them a thumbs-up and said they needed to try this place. They are from California and this was there first day in Italy. Already we are recruiting business for wonderful Carlos! It turns out that he even has his own dishes (plates, platters, bowls, etc.) that we absolutely loved. He gave us the website but told us to email him if we want to order and he will give us a better price. We are going back tomorrow night after our Tuscany tour to get the third dish I promised myself while in Rome—Tiramisu!!

Our wonderful meal!

We left wonderful Carlos and headed toward the Vatican. On the way we met a Mom and daughter from Chicago—the daughter is teaching Kindergarten in Prague, and her mom is visiting. We had a wonderful talk with them; their situation is so similar to mine and Emily’s—the daughter had been everywhere and this was the mom’s first trip out of the states!!

I know today was the Vatican tour and, yes, we did go. The Sistine chapel was absolutely beautiful –I cannot imagine how Michelangelo created this beautiful work all by himself in only 4 years! It was truly amazing and the huge crowd was so very respectful of the holiness of the place. The chapel was much smaller than we expected, but only because the rest of the Vatican is so huge!

Next we planned to have dinner in Monti, a neighborhood where Woody Allen filmed To Rome with Love. Now keep in mind that our walk from our apartment to wonderful Carlos was at least 3 miles so we are starting back on our 3 mile return trip. Well, once we realized that Monti was too far across the Tiber River in the opposite direction, we hailed a cab who took us to Monti. Cynthia and I have no trouble letting Emily sit upfront with the cab driver who more frequently than not speaks no English. We know that when Emily says, “Got it!” she is politely saying, “I don’t understand but don’t want to try any longer!”

Once in Monti, Emily and I found a wonderful spot for a glass of wine but Cynthia quickly spotted the pigeons amongst the diners and said (with no real remorse), that she was sorry but no—no drinking there!! We settled on a neat little out-door trattoria(our requirement) for a meat and cheese tray. It was a very pleasant afternoon watching the people and the cars pass by right in front of us!

Breaking news!! We have a bidet in our apartment bathroom—I thought it was a urinal but Cynthia tells me otherwise!!!

Ok…..back to our day.

Everybody has been extremely nice! We left the trattoria and headed back toward the Colesseum to our apartment. We rested for awhile (while I worked on the blog) and then went to a small Pizzeria for some authentic Italian pizza. We have to be up at 5:00 in the morning to catch the bus for Tuscany. Tomorrow will be a pleasant bus tour—we will be back around 7:00. On Thursday we plan to go to the Catacombs, the aqueduct park, and to eat gnocchi (a traditional Thursday meal).

Needless to say, we are having a wonderful time. Hoping Masters’ week is treating you equally well.

P.S. Cynthia says she is not going home.

Apple/Gorgonzola and Salmon/Brie Pizza – delicious!

Monti

Vines on building in Monti

Me and mom in front of St. Peter’s Basillica

Taking in the Vatican!

Rowing on the Tiber River

Sitting right on the edge of traffic while eating

Carlos trying to explain via Google the Roman vegetable that goes into the ribolitta

Our wonderful meal!

Mom, that ribolitta doesn’t look like yours!

Carlos’ restaurant

No sodas or chips available at this gas station!

Love the Roman pine trees!

An opportunist’s parking spot

Our moka pot with the melted handle