Ciao Massimo: January 2009

Patrick and Patrick just got cellphones

Piazza del Popolo
means 'of the people'. Questions of the origin of the name, however, due to the surrounding poplar trees around the piazza. The truth, we will not no for sure. This piazza greets the wall around the city and the many visitors that came from the north. It has a view of Via del Corso and Via di Ripetta at either end of the twin buildings. Roman city plans, I'm telling you... it gets better the longer you stay and you find more fun connections to make.

NOKIA

Max & I were surprised to find a very packed Burger King near Piazza del Popolo

Welcome to the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna

We went there for the De Chirico show. Watch out for that feature in the blog- coming soon.

06.53h
Thursday 22Jan09

You know when little children eat too many sweets they start to feel sick? The first bite only prompts the next and they grin with delight. Energy and sensory levels rise and there is no stopping them. As the sugar high descends an uncomfortable feeling sinks and settles in their stomach. That’s just how I feel with Rome. I packed the first four days with all I could! Here’s what I can recall in photographs and bite-size paragraphs!

Aunty Yusa and I spent some free time in Campo di Fiori

an open market just a 5 min walk away

I didn't know zuccini's blossomed! You can fry them like tempura (coating them in a flour water mix and deep frying)
Pomodoro tomato
Funghi mushroom

Melanzone eggplants

Quanto costa al chilo?

One of the three kitchens in the Cenci
I work in this one because it's the sunniest

NON PREOCCUPARE!

This is what Nadia told me when I apologised for my grammatical mistakes in Italian. She works here in the Cenci and I can practice Italiano with her every morning- no preoccupations- no worries! She is a strong, bold woman determined to learn everyone’s names and fills the marble kitchen with her volume. In the morning she comes in, takes off her coat to put on a pink one and applies make-up before sweeping the floors. She is generous with her words.

We have marble top tables and counters!!!!!!!!! (Ma, Da- marboro!)

Lenticchia ("lentikkiya")

Piazza San Pietro

How?

How was it made? How did they carry all that? How did they carve it? How did they lift it? How did they reach it? How did they think of it?

These questions are bound to flooooooood in and drown you if you ever visit Rome. The Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano, where this sketch was drawn from, seemed to hold all those questions back like a steady dam the day I was there. Sometimes the grandeur of churches and monuments mutes out the questions. Maybe because of the lack of blood flow while you are craning your neck the entire time to squint at the ceilings. You become small and quiet and concious of your echoing footsteps.

On the third day Alex and I bypassed the Roman bus system and took a free ride from our piazza to Termini and had to detour to find Piazza San Pietro. We drooled over the previously mentioned grandeur and drew until the sun got ready for bed and headed back to the Cenci by foot (trenta minuti). The ride helped me get my bearings and practice Italiano!

20Jan2009 18.00 GMT+1

Making Italian veggie vocab flash cards in our room

Auntie Yusa's Italian is so good!

Lois drew this out after yoga class!!!

Yoga class is the BEST too bad it will be at the same time we have Italian. Our instructor, Angela, spoke only in Italian. When you meet a new language you can only hear the sounds, the tones and especially the music. I wonder if my ears will ever notice what it did on the first day of yoga. Looking for hints by watching the other women in the class and listening to Angela's intonation was the only way I kept up.