CityMama™

Postcard from Rome No. 5

The dinner table at my aunt's house. Words cannot describe.

Postcard From Rome No. 4

We're not quite stuck in Rome yet due to the volcanic ASScloud.  Our return flight is supposed to be on Friday but instead of being confirmed, we are wait-listed since that flight connects through Heathrow (The Western world's worst airport for making connections, asscloud or no. Seriously, hate.). We have confirmed flights that route through Washington DC for three days later so we'll see what happens as the end of the week draws near.

In the mean time, there are worse place to be stuck. Or to run out of clothes and shoes. Speaking of clothes and shoes, if Italian store windows are any indication, paper bag-waisted pants will be making a huge comeback this summer. Unfortunately, they are everywhere. Also everywhere? Cute ankle socks (especially lace and fishnet) with strappy sandals, a look I (a funky Italian grandmother at heart) can totally get behind and have--my suitcase is loaded with patterned, cut-out socks.

Rome is beautiful in the spring. We've been having a delightful time. Look, I'll show you.

Cobblestones with a little green peaking through. This is what I've been running on. My knees say, "Ow."

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You cannot beat the colosseum for capturing a kid's imagination. If you get there right when it opens, you pretty much have the whole place to yourself. It's the best site to see in all of Rome for kids (it's relatively small and there's a great bookstore), but be prepared to talk about gladiators and lions for the next 574 hours.

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Bunny now has the same bad ass custom turf shoes as all the pro soccer players, pro soccer players like AS Roma's Francesco Totti. I got them personalized at the Nike Roma store. She'll be the fastest kid at summer soccer camp!

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Have to throw in some pictures of the pizza. People always ask me why I don't like pizza. It's not that I don't like pizza, I don't like American pizza.

Dear America, If your pizza looked like this, I would eat it. It doesn't, so I don't. :

In other news, my diet has been shot to hell.

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In Via Margutta, near the Piazza di Spagna, the cutest street in all of Rome.

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The girls' favorite fountain. We pass it every day, and every day they stop for a drink.

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The view of Rome from Villa Borghese. As they stop and look at these gorgeous vistas, I hope they are soaking in the "differentness" and the sheer beauty of this city. I don't say anything, though. I just let them look.

And look.

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Bun and Wallie on my cousin's scooter. They are real Roman girls now!

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Wallie with her tonarelli cacio e pepe, a real Roman pasta.

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Bunny steering our carriage to the Coliseum. The smile says it all. We're having an amazing time.

Ciao!!

Postcard from Rome No. 3

Dear Iceland,

We are having a great time in Rome, but would really like to be able to leave when we are finished. Our sweet little hotel has already received 14 cancellations this week and I didn't think there were even 14 rooms here. Without guests, who is going to eat all those cornetti every morning?

We have five days until we leave, and there isn't enough X@n@x in the world that will make me feel at ease enough to get on an ashcloud-bound plane, so can you please calm your volcano down so that people—people like us, for example— can get home to their loved ones?

You win at world domination, at least for the foreseeable future. Point taken.

Respectfully yours,

Stefania

P.S. Photos of delicious food and cute little girls standing in front of old stuff resume tomorrow.

photo from Huffington Post

Postcard from Rome No. 2

This one is mainly about the food. Like:

 

The grilled prawns and crayfish I had for lunch two days ago.

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Wallie's spinach- and ricotta-stuffed ravioli with tomato sauce. (I think she likes it!)

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The girls outside of one of my mom's favorite restaurants. I came here for the first time when I was about Bunny's age.

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Pasta alla carbonara at Antica Pesa. Extra carbonara sauce comes in the shell. Wallie got a huge kick out of that.

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Okay, we are seeing SOME sights. Like the incredible Pantheon, which blows me away every time I am here.

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But then, we stopped for lunch:

 

Antipasti di mare at Tre Scalini on Piazza Navona.

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Bunny and her tartufo. Basically, it's chocolate and whipped cream and more chocolate. Sugar overload, but when in Rome...parents have to deal with a sugar high and crash, just like at home.

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Drinking from a fountain like a real Roman.

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Antipasti at my aunt's house.  Our second dinner there.  She made the bread ring (and it's stuffed with pancetta). In the foreground is lardo, my mom's favorite which we ate with honey and pecorino cheese. In San Francisco you can get lardo in the Ferry Building at Boccalone, but no way, no how does it compare to what you can get in Italy which is smooth as silk and light as a cloud.

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My cousin Pierluigi filling cannoli with fresh ricotta. He brought the cannoli, ricotta, and candied orange peel from Sicily where his father is from and where he has a house.  It was amazing x 1000. He asked if he would see his picture on Facebook and said, "Si certo!" So, if you are reading this on Facebook, say hi to Pierluigi!

We're having a great time. More to come!

Postcard from Rome No. 1

When Bunny found out we were going to Rome, the first thing she said was, "I want to see the church with the drawings on the ceiling!" When Wallie found out we were going to Rome, the first thing she said was, "I'm going to eat 100 pieces of prosciutto!" (They really couldn't be more different, could they?)  And here she is, as we arrive at the salumeria, about to make a dent in that hundred:

We'll get to the Sistine Chapel, Bunny. Promise.

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The girls have been having a wonderful time. Rome—and places like the forum—inspires the imagination and they can't stop chattering about what ancient times must have been like.

Wallie loves taking pictures of everything. She focuses on the things that I miss, like the fact that the top of the thin structure behind her is covered with coins. Here she is showing Bunny her photos.

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Three days in, they are pretty annoyed with me for constantly taking pictures (Wallie's face in the photo below says it all), but I can't help it. Even if they don't remember everything about this trip, they will know they were there.

P.S. We threw quarters into the Fontana di Trevi—cheaper than Euro!

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The girls on a pretty Roman street.

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In any case, I know they will remember the delicious food:

Antipasti at my aunt's house (Bunny is named after her). We had mortadella, salami, and prosciutto, along with fresh favas and two kinds of pecorino. And icy cold prosecco, of course!

So many delicious things at an Italian deli! When I die, just put my ashes in a little container and set me on the shelf. That's my idea of heaven.

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Spaghetti with clams. Mmmmmmmmmmm! Buona!

Torno subito!

Taking the girls to meet their grandfather, great aunts, and cousins! Will be sending you postcards-by-way-of-blog from the Eternal City. Ciao!