Caffe doppio and caffe freddo: 11 euros
2 Cornetti: 6 euros
Savoring the same view of Piazza del Popolo as Fellini once did: Priceless
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A touristy Sunday morning
11 JunJaneGray Kitty’s big adventure
10 Jun
Janie recreates her escape for the camera.
Our cat Janie turned 16 yesterday. Sixteen!! To celebrate she decided to scare the hell out of us and escape the apartment.Since we arrived in Rome, Janie has shown a great deal of interest in the world outside the apartment door. She always runs to greet us when we come home, and peers into the hallway. So a week and a half ago, Ric let her out under his supervision to explore our little landing. (Libby got a turn too, but she wasn’t nearly as brave as Janie.) We repeated the excursion once since. Nothing wrong with a little stimulation right? Yesterday she took advantage of an opening and escaped. By our reckoning she was gone at least an hour! Here’s how it happened.We went shopping in the Parioli neighborhood, with our cute little rolling cart, and came home with wine, pasta, vegies, laundry products, etc. I unlocked the door, said “hi” to Jane, the greeter cat, and Ric rolled the cart into the kitchen, leaving the door open as he came in behind me. Seriously, it was just for a few seconds! Apparently Janie seized the opening and made a dash for it.By the time I turned to close the door she was gone, but we didn’t know….
Fast forward an hour or so and it is apparent Janie is nowhere to be found. She’s not one to hide, preferring to be on the bed or couch where she can keep track of activity. After a thorough search of the 840 square feet we call home (with minimal furniture as we await our sea shipment, there aren’t many places to look), I traipsed up three flights of stairs to the top floor looking for her, calling
Our vintage turn-of-the-20th-century elevator. Close the gate, close the sliding wooden doors, hit your floor button. Try doing that with a frightened cat in your arms.
quietly so as to not confirm the suspicions of our neighbors: that we are crazy and noisy. I then went down 3 flights to the piano terra and even down some very dark stairs (couldn’t find a light switch) that lead to the basement. There was only a small landing there, with two closed doors I groped for in the dark. No Jane.
So I circled the building outside, by now frantic that our birthday girl had fled. Coming back in the front door, I heard the jingle of a cat bell coming from the dark and scary basement stairs. Janie peeked around the corner coming up the stairs! It was so dark down there I didn’t see her grey smudgy self. Lucky Jane was treated to a ride in our vintage elevator. Not something she cares to repeat based on the scratches she gave me.
So everyone is safely at home this evening. Libby is too scared to go out, and we are ever-watchful with Janie. Guess she just wanted a birthday adventure.
This handy little cart makes it possible to haul water, wine, and other essentials home. The nearest stores are a 10 minute walk away.
Sunday treat!
3 JunYes, once again a pastry shot. Today in our neighborhood, Parioli, at Il Cigno, a lovely bakery where we paid too much to sit in the shaded glory of their sidewalk cafe. This was our reward for a 60 minute trip (walking!) to-and-from the “Zero Km” market.
My lovely, flaky pastry, plus Ric’s, today with a caffe freddo at Il Cigno.
A darling black lab named Seta (“Silk”) begged a bite, just like Kyla would. Tongue darting in and out, making sure to be in my field of vision, especially attentive as the remaining pastry waned to a few bites. (Yes, she got a morsel. How could I resist?)
Caffe freddo is an intense espresso, sweetened, served cold but “short” in North American terms. One can linger but it won’t be over a 20 ounce cup of coffee.
Many Romans whiled away the morning here with Sunday papers or friends. Beautifully dressed children darted in-and-out, dogs paraded by. Might have to do this every weekend.
We love our little farmer’s market at Parco della Musica! Regrettably, it will be in hiatus until September.
Today we bought olive oil, salumi, pecorino staginato, honey, eggplant, green beans, lentils and chick peas, all from Lazio-based local providers.
Soon a posting about shopping with our little wheeled cart.
Living well in Rome!
How to use a bidet
30 May30 May 2012. The bidet confuses many Americans. We have two in the apartment: one in each bath. Here’s a demonstration of one possible technique.
LibbyJean demonstrates the bidet-as-a-fountain. (You thought this was going to be something else, didn’t you?)
Residents of Roma
28 May28 May 2012. Where to start?
- We live in one of the greatest cities in the world!
- I walk to work through the Villa Borghese
- Our neighborhood is charming
- Our apartment is tiny but lovely
Entrance to our apartment building. Well maintained, classic, probably 100 years old. New by Roman standards.
We spent our first weekend, before reporting to work, wandering the neighborhood and starting to fill in the pantry and frig. It’s quite daunting to have no food at all and have to start from scratch. Quadruple the feeling with feet as primary transportation. There are three groceries within an 8 to 10 minute walk, so good selection. There are also a butcher, salumeria, pasticceria, and an enoteca. Plus countless shops for clothing and household goods/hardware (the latter called a ferramenta). I love the ferramente. They have an assortment from batteries to hammers, flower pots to alarm clocks, cooking pots to aprons. Organization seems non-existent, but the proprietor knows where everysingle item is.
Most peaceful part of my commute: through the Villa Borghese.
The walk to work is 45-50 minutes each way depending on route and traffic signals, so daily exercise is built into the commute. Part of it is through the lovely Villa Borghese, right past the Galleria Borghese. Shopping is a daily occurrence, picking up fresh items but also stocking the house. We struggle with our limited Italian, but the shopkeepers are very patient and accommodating. The local pet store owner has deemed us amiche already and gives us the resident discount. In fact, since we have the revered codice fiscale, we are entitled to discounts mere travelers are not. Today we purchased a Nespresso espresso maker (think Italian Keurig) and qualified for 50€ worth of coffee pods because we are residents. Only 10 days on-the-ground and we are “residents.” É fantastico!
There’s a huge Carabinieri installation in Parioli. Makes for a safe neighborhood.
The Parioli neighborhood is quite nice and peaceful (for Rome). Our neighbors vary greatly from the Carabinieri to La Chiesa di San Luigi Gonzaga. (Also many many apartment buildings. Many.) “SLG” has a soccer court, and while you might think that noisy and annoying, Rome is noisy and sometimes annoyingly so. The early-evening practice and play of good kids under adult supervision makes for a nice backdrop. Frankly it’s better than the wild jungle-bird noises we sometimes hear at 3AM. The first night we heard a racket of bird noises we dubbed “jungle noises,” and now we think there is one particular species that makes the racket. Like nothing we’ve ever heard before. Louder than a peacock, and more irritating than a seagull (although we have those too). But after 10 nights, it barely registers.
“SLG”: Churches make good neighbors.
Around many corners, another piece of history. The walk to work will never be boring.
Loving the small apartment, although we’d love it better with our furniture. That’s still 4-6 weeks a way, I would guess, since it is coming via container ship. We have an amazing variety of keys, some of which are keys to nowhere, and there are also “wheres” to which we have no keys. Explored the rooftop today with our portiere, Emilio, and found there is grand vista across Rome to St. Peter’s Basilica and also of the mountains to the east. Allora we don’t have the keys to the roof! Nor do we have a key for our mailbox, which is troubling. A problem to be solved tomorrow, when I go back to work and talk to housing. Piano piano as they say in Italian. Slowly slowly we will get there.
