Mangiano

Along with the renaissance, baroque art, world class soccer (calcio around these parts), and high fashion, Italy may be most known for its incredible cuisine. Italian food has to rank highest in appeal factor of any ethnic food in the world. Are there actually people out there that don’t like pizza? Pasta? Gelato? I’ve yet to meet a single one, and am not sure I’d want to.

With such great food literally at every turn, we have struggled with trying to keep a lid on the gluttony to both keep our wallets fat and our our bellies flat (or as flat is they were before we got to Rome). For this reason, we have been trying to be good and cook as much as possible. Natalia and I are not quite Martha Stewart and Mario Batali either, but the efforts have been quite fun. Most of the satisfaction is due to the plethora of fresh foods available here. We’ve been spoiled by the access to delicious tomatoes, onions, peaches, nectarines, and melons among others, which have helped spice up the meals. Rome also has a ton of mom and pop markets that we’ve enjoyed hitting up, but last weekend we hit the motherlode of all produce markets. Near Piazza Vittorio Emmanuel, there is a huge indoor market filled with booths selling fresh meats, vegetables, fruits, and herbs (no, not that kind). Quite the find.

(Market Esquilino at Vittorio Emmanuel)

Even more exciting was the fraction of the cost that shopping in this market was versus the supermarket costs. I remember expecting to pay about 3 euro for a few carrots, 3 peaches, and a zucchini and was pleasantly surprised to learn that the bill was 1.5 euro. Nice. So this has helped us quite a bit in keeping the food costs down as well as trying to immerse ourselves further into daily local culture. Dabbling in the culinary arts has definitely been one of the early highlights of living here in Rome.

(home cooking)

While on the topic of food, we estimate that of the total restaurants in town, 90% are probably Italian restaurants. We’re not sure if this is in line with how things are in other places like France, Spain, or even Russia, but coming from the US, particularly SF and NY, such limited variety has been a bit startling. The only non-Italian restaurants we’ve tried have been an Indian restaurant and two different Chinese restaurants. Both Chinese restaurants were decent but, as a self-proclaimed connosieur of good Chinese food, I would give the restaurants a 3 out of 10 when compared to SF Chinese food and a 5 out of 10 when compared to NY Chinese restaurants. I have noticed that most Chinese restaurants here are usually pretty busy. I guess everyone likes Chinese food, though describing chow mein as spaghetti in the menus probably eases the transition for the locals.

So we are continuing to steadily increase our home-cooked menus and have had a lot of fun doing it. That said, I of course can't help but to treat myself to the finer offerings that Rome has to offer.

Summertime in Roma

As Mister Senor Love Daddy (played by a young Samuel L. Jackson) says at the beginning of Do the Right Thing, “the forecast for the day is hot!” This pretty much sums up the weather for each of the ten days since I’ve been in Rome. Mind you , I’m not complaining. Each day has had perfectly blue skies, with temperatures reaching approximately 90 degrees, and I’ve been fortunate enough not to have any run-ins with any pizzeria owners after asking them why there aren’t any pictures of any Americans on the wall. So the similarities to Do the Right Thing stop here I guess.

(As I write this at about 4pm on Thursday from my apartment, there is the constant howling of a dog in the alley outside of my kitchen window. I wonder what its deal is. The guy is screaming bloody murder. I’ve looked out the window several times, but haven’t seen any kane (dog) sightings. Weird. PS- above is a view from the kitchen window.)

While I have been mostly working during the day, I have taken the time to take walks in the middle of the day to remind myself that I’m in Rome and not necessarily tied to a computer and desk as I’ve been most of my professional life. Although I often return to the apartment feeling like Patrick Ewing looks at tip-off of an NBA game, there are a number of things that make this among the most pleasant heats I’ve ever dealt with. First, out of nowhere, a cool gentle breeze will fill the air periodically providing an excellent natural coolant system when I’m about to overheat. Its almost a tropical or off-shore breeze, yet the shore is miles away. Odd, but I love it.

Second, is Rome’s world-famous gelato. There are dozens and dozens of flavors to choose from but my simple dessert taste buds have me leaning towards “mezzo fragola e vanile” ( ½ strawberry and ½ vanilla) flavor, and its so refreshing and delicious. I just need to be careful. I don’t want to return home looking like a post-retirement Patrick Ewing. (Why Ewing is getting in the cross-fire here is beyond me too, so don’t ask. For those not in the know, Ewing is fat now.)

(This dog will not stop. Maybe its missing its mid-afternoon vino.)

Lastly, and my favorite reason, are the water fountains located throughout the city. Unlike any water fountains in other major metropolises, the water here is clean, cold, and somehow tastes better than any water I’ve ever drank (or drunk…or drunken…whatever). And this is from someone that drinks tons of water. The guide books tout the water as such, yet I remained dubious for a while. In fact, I mentioned to Natalia how long it would be before I would drink this water— imagining it to be a long while. Well, since I asked that question, I think I filled an empty water bottle and sipped away the following day. I’m glad I did. To say I’m hooked would be an understatement. After playing hoops the other day, I took the long way home just so I could take a couple swigs of Rome’s finest tap water. Did I mention it comes out cold too? So good.

And that’s the double truth, Ruth.

Rosso della Casa

Well lookee here. The blog is back— live and direct from Rome, Italy. As most of you know, I’ll be here for the next seven months as Natalia secured a consultancy with a UN agency here. As for me, I am now a consultant for my former organization and looking forward to what life has to offer next. So there’s no better reason than to get back to the blogging. Its been a while. I look forward to bringing you all on the ride with me...
We got into Rome yesterday and are settling into our digs for the next month. Here is a photo of our front door and the view down the street. (That building you see at the end of the road may look familiar…lions once attacked Russell Crowe there.)

Most notable so far is how things have changed since I last traveled through the Eternal City in 1996. Upon graduating from UCLA, Eric, Rich, Jim, Clark, Luke and I traveled through Europe for a few weeks. (I believe Francis crashed on our hostel floor one of the nights too.)Back then, the Euro was non-existent, which has seemingly made things quite expensive compared to the US these days. Also, the Internet was nowhere near what it is today. I remember having to call home to ask my Dad to help sort me out a ticket from LAX-SFO upon my return. Today, I could do everything via the web. (Perhaps most interesting to some is that I am currently watching the Dodgers-Mets game live online as I type this. Gotta love the web!)

Despite the web making the transition much smoother than ever before, there continue to be some difficulties in the transition. Most notably, the language barrier. Natalia’s Italian is definitely passable and has gotten us through some situations already, but my language is sparse to say the least. Hopefully, Rosetta Stone and further interactions will get me up to speed. I am already familiar with ‘rosso della casa” (house red wine), which I believe will be useful in the coming months. Arrivederci.