La spiaggia

Oh how I long for the days of walking out my front door on Oak St., in Laguna Beach to find the beautiful, glittering, hot beach right at my feet. Those days are long gone. The heat was so intense last weekend, we, along with everyone else living in Rome, decided to head to the beach, which was a much different experience. We woke up around noon, grabbed a quick cappuccino, picked up a bunch of fruit, bread and other goodies from the market and were on our way. The journey there was rather painless, we caught the bus, the train, and then another bus, standing the whole time since all the seats were taken, and about an hour later we arrived. The beach was packed with people - adorable, happy children frolicking with their towels wrapped around their necks like capes, and hot Italians wearing skimpy bikinis and tight, bright colored speedos sunbathing and tanning their olive skin. The snack bar was lively and full of people, having a gelato, café or a cold drink, or a big plate of pasta. I had to note that in California you would never find beach goers having a big plate of pasta in the middle of the day - too many carbs, and a bit too heavy of a meal for a day when wearing a swimsuit is required. For Italians, a day doesn’t go by without a plate of pasta. We laid out in the sun for hours, soaking up all the rays possible so our skin turned a little red, a little tan and tight and my hair turned tangled and salty as the day progressed. Sean played with the soccer ball and jumped in the ocean. As the sun began to set, we decided to call it a day and head back. The only problem was that every time the bus passed, it was so full, no other passengers would fit About 5 buses passed us that were too full for us to get on. I was getting a little worried we weren’t going to ever get home. So, we decided to walk a few stops back the opposite direction, so we could try to get on before everyone else. The further back we walked, the bigger the crowds were waiting for the bus. It was impossible, so we decided to just head to the beach and get some gelato. We were at a different part of the beach since we walked away from our original stop. We quickly and inevitably realized that we were at a very well-known gay beach. The bar was hoping with people and loud techno music. We got our ice cream at the bar and sat on the beach ready to kill some time as the sun began to set and a cool breeze glided over the sand and people, trying not to stand out too much as the only hetero couple there. We decided to try the buses again after a while, managed to hop onto one, and were packed in like sardines. I have never felt so close to strangers before...it wasn’t a very pleasant experience, everyone was stinky from the beach, and sandy and these obnoxious teens insisted on screaming the whole 5 mile journey to the train station. On the train home we accidentally got in the same cabin as the screaming teens, which made for an equally unpleasant experience. We got home and were worn out. It felt good to get to the coast, but in comparison to the easy access we had in Laguna, I actually missed it a little.

La notte de musei

Last weekend, Saturday night, every museum was opened for free access to the public and remained open until 2am. We left the house around 11pm, and walked to the famous museum, Musei Capitolini. The line was huge, and since it was so late the security guards cut off the line saying only a certain number of people were allowed in. While some dramatic Italians argued with the security guards, we saw their distraction as an opportunity to slide into the line of people still allowed in. We were literally the last people who were able to enter. I would normally think this was bad karma, but I can’t tell you how many times some old Maria has cut in front of me at the grocery store with a full cart, or some Italian business man has cut in front of me at the bar saying “Scusa eh?!” So, the museum was amazing. We saw the original “Lupa” statue, which describes the mythological story of how Rome was created. Romans are extremely proud of this statue, and story. Sean has formed an obsession with this (ugly) statue, and has even considered getting a tattoo of it, so seeing it in person was big deal. The story is of the twins, Romolo and Remo, who were ordered to be thrown into the river, but were rescued by a “she-wolf” (la lupa) who cared for them and fed them so they became strong enough to start building Rome. Romolo killed his brother after he insulted him and that became the birthday of Rome. Romolo is considered to be the first king of Rome. We also saw a few paintings by the famous Caravaggio and stayed in the museum until closing time at 2am.

Londra!

London and more...

After a long day of teaching last Thursday, we rushed out to the airport (bus, metro, bus) where we waited for a delayed flight. After finally taking off, landing, getting grilled at customs, catching a huge coach bus where we were the only 2 passengers, and taking a funny little cab that drove on the left side of the road by a driver who called us "mate", we finally arrived at our hotel around 3am. The next morning we were greeted by some rain, but managed to get motivated for some sightseeing nice and early. London is awesome. Despite the rain, I loved everything about it. We saw Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park (where the flowers were in full bloom and a squirrel jumped on Sean's leg to get the granola bar out of his hand) and just as we reached the Big Ben, the sun came out and stayed with us the rest of the weekend. We walked the London Bridge, Tower Bridge and all the bridges and churches in between, China town, the posh Notting Hill and my personal favorite - Portobello Street, where outdoor vendors lined the street, live music played and every type of food imaginable was being sold outdoors on paper plates. I got in some some serious shopping (bought Diesel skinny jeans and some fun Indian scarves). To get the full "British" experience, we went to about a hundred pubs (watched Liverpool play), ate salt and vinegar "crisps", Cadbury chocolate, the best licorice ever, hot-crossed buns, some authentic, yummy Indian food, as well as fish and chips, "mushy peas", and some pie that consisted of meat and mashed potatoes. I couldn't resist going to Starbucks, but just couldn't get into it like I used to, having been spoilt by Italian espresso. I loved the modernity, diversity and cleanliness of the city - in fact the moment I finished my coffee in Trafalgar Square someone came to pick up the cup for me, cleaning crews were scattered across the city day and night, ensuring it stay immaculate. The people were polite, and I took full advantage of being able to speak the language. We had an amazing time, and were even little sad to leave on Sunday morning.

Sunday, my birthday, it felt like we traveled back in time about a hundred years to ancient Rome and HOT HOT HOT weather. Rome is back to the nitty gritty, hot, sweaty, dirty, suffocating-air feeling it had when we first arrived. I still adore this city, even in all it's...well, dirtiness. I don't get how Italians manage to be fully clothed in sweaters and long pants and not look like they are struggling in the heat. I have broken out my old tanks, capris and sandals and still feel like I am melting, and I probably look like I am melting too. By Sunday we were running on about 8 hours of sleep in 3 days, so a nice cool shower and a hot nap was necessary. After that we dragged ourselves outdoors to enjoy the heat and indulge in some afternoon pizza, red wine for me, espresso and gelato (with rainbow sprinkles for my birthday).

We have a few more weeks of teaching left, and school's out for summer! Yeah! The kids are restless as ever, and we have become more lenient than ever, which makes teaching a lot less stressful and more fun for everyone involved. The sun lifts everyone's spirits and all I can think about is where to travel to next...

Ieri Sera (last night) at Campo de Fiori

Musica!

Since living here, Sean and I have both fallen in love with Italian music. The artists below, I would consider some of the best in the world. It’s such a shame that Americans aren’t exposed to different types of artists like this (Jiovanotti and Malik Ayane are my personal favorites), because they are truly great.
Jiovanotti
Negramaro
Malik Ayane
Tiziano Ferro
Laura Pausini
Guisy Ferreri
Vasco Rossi

Settimana prima di Pasqua

All of our students were on their Easter break last week for “Settimana Santa” (holy week, before Easter) and so we hardly worked any hours. I am sure we will be complaining when we get paid, but we weren’t complaining having the free time, away from our restless students. Sean’s sister, Tiffany, and her boyfriend were visiting. The weather was amazingly warm, and sunny and we really enjoyed their company. Playing tour guides for a few days made us re-realize how incredible this city really is, and how proud we are to call it home.

Sean and I went to Firenze last weekend for literally 24 hours. It was really nice to get out of Rome for a bit and be someplace totally different. Florence is a beautiful city. It was Sean’s first time going, but my second, so I vowed not to take any photos to add to the 2000 I took on my last journey...except for photos of us of course. We arrived in the evening, and were feeling groggy from the train ride, which wasn’t so fast, since we opted for the low-priced train option that stops every 5 minutes. I had a caffé macchiato which is just shot of espresso and a drop of latte, and was ready to go. I was full of energy and dragged Sean to all the sites that I remembered. We walked the whole city in the evening since it is small enough, and it was just as I remembered - romantic, with a dream-like energy that comes from the small city tucked away in the Tuscan countryside. We even managed to go out and experience the nightlife at the popular Santa Croce, ending the night with some Italian karaoke. When we checked into our “quaint” hotel, the cutest, old Italian man, who reminded me of Giupetto from Pinocchio, greeted us. He spoke only Italian, and when we took out our American passports, he told us how impressed he was that we spoke Italian, since Americans can NEVER speak Italian. He called me out on being Italo-Americana because of my name and started having a conversation with me on where my family was from, where I was born and general information like that. Sean held his breath as I answered all his questions perfectly. The next day, we woke up bright and early and toured the city again. It was hot and bright in every piazza, and I got in some shopping (new, black, leather hand-bag!) We headed back to Rome on a 4-hour train ride, again, that stopped every 5 minutes. We were exhausted and ended up sleeping through Easter Sunday, besides waking up to watch mass on TV and eat chocolate bacci.