2 great days

Just when I think I have seen all the good stuff in Rome, there is more! The last 2 days have been really great. This post is about the cool stuff I’ve done and a separate one will be about the “underbelly” that I find perversely hilarious about Rome.

So, it began with meeting my friend for some vino at the wireless café. We laughed and caught up on my trip south and her week juggling Italian boyfriends. At last count she has 3! Nice work for an American girl. We then went to a great local spot in Trastevere to meet a friend of her mother’s. Darya (which I found out means Ocean in Persian) has lived in Rome for 30 years. She is the most amazing woman I have ever met and her story and life fascinate me to the point I think that will have to be a separate post too. She left Iran when she was 21, moved to London for a year, and then came to Rome and never left. We spent the night having drinks at Artu and eating delicious Spaghetti with olive oil and pepper. Darya explained Roman life, her perspective on relationships, and inquired into our experiences since we have been in Italia. She introduced us to the owner of the café and other friends who drifted through. Finally at 4am we called it a night!
Drinks in Trastevere

The next day we went to Darya’s boutique near the Spanish Steps and then wandered over to the Villa Borghese. In all the times I’ve been to Rome, I have never gone to the park for some reason; it’s gorgeous. There is an incredible hotel with perfect gardens setup for aperitivi in the evening. After a walk around, we then headed to the Hotel de Russie off Piazza del Popolo for some champagne in their garden café. This hotel is by far one of the top accommodations in all of Rome. The restaurant overlooking the café is all outdoors and just up the steps from the tables is the Butterfly Oasis. The hotel has planted all kinds of vegetation to attract a huge variation of butterflies of all different colors. For some reason the butterflies don’t migrate away and are just flitting about as you walk down the path. I have had many aperitivi in Roma and I think this place is my absolute favorite! Of course, it’s also the most expensive . . . dammit!! From the Butterfly Oasis we headed back to Trastevere for yet more vino and laughter with some people who also live in the neighborhood.
Hotel in gardens of Villa Borghese

Hotel garden for drinks

Gardens of Villa Borghese

Piazza del Popolo

Aperitivi at Hotel de Russie

the Butterfly Oasis

And today, we went to see a random cathedral, ok not so random because it’s the second largest after the Vatican, in Ostiense. The real reason I decided we needed to go was because the monks of the cathedral make their own liquor. Come on, what’s not to like about holy liquor!!! We each bought a bottle and its 42% alcohol by volume. Oh yeah, now that’s what I call a party. It also turned out to be even more worthwhile because of the outfits we ended up in. One girl had on shorts and a tank top so a monk made her put on a paper coverup. Think the giant napkin they give you when you go to the doctor’s office. I had to wear a paper shawl since I had on a tank top. We laughed our asses off and of course took completely disrespectful pictures. In all fairness, both the cathedral and the cloisters were beautiful. The afternoon wound down with a lunch of Bucatini dell’Amatriciana and a liter of white wine split between two of us. For dessert, an Italian Brad Pitt sat down beside us and that was all that was needed to begin the decline of our behavior.

Just decided, today, that I am heading for the Adriatic Coast on Monday to meet up with someone I met in the south. Have I mentioned how perfect my summer has been?

Holy Liquor!

clock tower outside the Basilica

the cloisters

the choir

inside the basilica

Appropriate dress required!

Resturant beside my flat with great Bucatini

Italian Brad Pitt

Don't you see the resemblance?

I love casts!!! Translation: I live in Rome with Italian Brad Pitt. Notice the question mark above the "a". I still don't understand prepositions in Italian.