Beautiful Italy...oh ya, and Switzerland, too...

Ciao!

Sorry for my long absence!  I have been out gallivanting around Italy with my family, who finally made it over to Rome--well, all except for Ryan, who hopefully will be coming soon!  My Mom and Christine joined Alex and I in Rome where I showed them all of my favorite places. They then headed off to Tuscany, while I went back to work--yes, my job is not thaaaaat relaxed. I then joined them in Lake Como and spent the next week wandering around northern Italy and Switzerland with them.  We then ended up in Genova where we saw the amazing Cinque Terre and the Italian Riviera town of Noli.

Italy never ceases to amaze me.  In the course of a week, we saw such different landscapes and ate such unique and delicious food. The only blip in the glory was our quick jaunt into Switzerland--ok ok, its not that bad.  But our first day in Ticino, we quickly found out that the Swiss Franc does not exactly have the most favorable conversion rate.  Somehow we ended up paying 10 euros for a bottle of water, and Switzerland's name could no longer be uttered with out an accompanying fist shake.  That being said, it was beautiful, too.


And here it is, a sampling of our adventures in pictures--as usual, does not nearly do it justice.

I was so sad to see my Mom and sister head home, but fortunately Alex is still in Italy and will be returning to Rome this weekend! 


More adventures to come!

Beaches, Lakes and Sun...oh my!

Ciao!

Rome is getting nice and toasty these days...so what does that mean, head to the nearest body of water!  This weekend I did exactly that.  Although, my time here never ceases to surprise me. It seems like every week I meet someone new and interesting and end up doing something random and fun on the weekend.

During the summer, everything in Rome moves outdoors. Bars, clubs, restuarants. All along the river, bars are set up...it is amazing!  Everyone appreciates being outdoors and enjoying the weather so much, its really nice!

This weekend, went salsa dancing--yes, real salsa dancing in Rome. Random, I know. Then went to the beach (yes, so unusual). Although, we did check out a new beach this time...Ostia.  It is the closest beach, and has the reputation of being dirty and gross.  We went and checked it out anyway, and while we went a bit south of actual Ostia--so maybe didn't see the dirtiness as much--it was a beautiful beach, which was so pack it also felt like a party.

Finally, went to Bracciano on Sunday.  Bracciano (famous for being the little town with a castle where Tom Cruise got married) was really beautiful. We made out way down to the lake and yes, enjoyed the sun!

View from Aventino hill

Bracciano 

Weekend in Milano with...ALEX!

Ciao!

This last weekend I flew up to Milan where I met up with my little bro, Alex!  Alex is braving the Italian country-side, potato bugs and all, this summer to WOOF near Acqui Terme, an area in North Italy, about 3 hours west of Milan. We finally were able to meet this last weekend in Milan.  It was quite the magical train station reunion--we had set up a meeting spot...in front of Bin 12...and we both seemed to get there at exactly the same time. I tear up just thinking about it, I had missed him so much!

After we spent some time catching up over cappuccini (Alex's first taste of Italian coffee) and cornetti, we headed out to explore Milan.  I had been warned that the city was rather lackluster in comparison to Rome (aren't most cities, though??!!), and while it did prove to be "just another city", Alex and I had such a great time wandering, eating gelato and taking pictures.

On Sunday, we decided to head out and see what the Milan country-side had to offer.  We met up with a friend of mine who lives near Lake Como and she took us to have some northern Italy style pizza and then to a small village called Lecco.  It was incredible and picturesque--huge cliffs diving straight into a calm lake.

Enjoying the Garden Bar at work...

Just to ensure that I didn't get enough sleep this weekend, I threw a going away party for Ariane on Friday!  So fun!

Alex near the Duomo...in MILAN!

View from Inverigo

Such a beautiful weekend!  I was so sad to say goodbye to Alex and send him back to the backbreaking work at the farm, but I will see him again soon! He is coming to Rome in just a few short weeks!   

Island hopping in the Tyrrhenian Sea!

Ciao!

I have seen so many amazing things since I have been in Rome that I am surprised when a place takes my breath away...but it happened this weekend when I took a trip to Ponza, a small island in the Tyrrhenian Sea.  We had a bit of a holiday week, getting Thursday off for Labor Day, and molti italiani hanno fatto il ponte (took an extra day off on Friday to make it a 4 day weekend, called "fare il ponte" in Italian).  Unfortunately, the entire legal office got in their "il ponte" requests in before me, so I was stuck holding down the fort in the office.

So, on Friday a few friends on mine headed to Ponza, and me and a friend (the hard workers) joined them on Saturday.  It was a quick jump to this little tiny island, that is unknown to the foreign tourist.  We immediately jumped in our rented boat and set off.  We anchored our boat in this little cove which was quite literally one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  We spent the afternoon diving off the boat, swimming in the crystal clear sea and paddling our way to the deserted beach.  It was kind of like a dream. The rest of the weekend was filled with delicious sea food, wine and good company.  

Also, this week a friend and I went to this little Tuscan town called Orvieto which was built on top of a hill.  The town was quaint and beautiful!

Oriveto

Ponza!

View from our hotel...pretty nice!

Per me, gli spaghetti cacio e pepe!

Ciao!

So, as expected, I spent this weekend laying in the sun, at various spots around Rome.  On Saturday, I laid in the sun in Villa Pompilli and today, I laid in the sun at the beach, Santa Marinella.  In order to not bore you with pictures of the sun (and my great tan ;-)), I have decided to show another part of what makes Rome great...the food!

I had never been a big fan of pasta, until I tasted Italian pasta...which does not resemble Italian-American style pasta at all.  Instead, the flavors are unique and very complex.  One of my favorite dishes is Spaghetti (or even better, Bucatini) cacio e pepe which is a very Roman dish.  Cacio is a slang word for cheese (also known as "fromaggio") and "pepe" is, of course, pepper.  Because this dish is my favorite, an Italian friend's mother passed to me the simple and yet delicious recipe--and...I am going to share it with you!  So, move over Spaghetti Factory, here it is:

Cacio e Pepe-- Roman style
Makes 2 servings, Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
2 servings of spaghetti or bucatini pasta
1 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
Pepper to taste
A drizzle of EVOO
1/4 cup pasta water (the secret ingredient!!)
Salt to taste

The ingredients. 

First, cook the pasta in boiling water for 6 minutes.  This leaves the pasta al dente--what you want for this recipe.  During the 6 minutes that the pasta is cooking, grate your cheese.  Then combine the cheese and the pepper in a large bowl.  The amount of pepper you use should be based on your taste.  Pepper is one of the star ingredients of this dish, and it is usually served with quite a bit of pepper.  But...over peppering can kill the flavor, so start with less (about 5 turns of a pepper mill) and add more later.

Cheese and pepper--ready to go!

Once the pasta is ready, ladle out 1/4 cup of pasta water, reserved for later.  Then, drain the pasta but do not rinse it.  Add the pasta to the big bowl.

Then using spoons, toss the pasta with the cheese and pepper.  The cheese will start to melt and clump up a bit...keep tossing!

 If you notice that your pasta mixture looks a little dry, add a little bit of the pasta water.  Add sparingly.  Keep tossing until you have almost a cheese sauce coating all of the pasta.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Finish with a drizzle of EVOO.

And...that's it!  E' molto facile!  Enjoy with a glass of red Italian wine (perhaps a glass of nero d'avolo or syrah)!  Buon appetito! 

La spiaggia, ti amo...

Ciao!

I fear that the rest of the pictures that I post for the remainder of the summer are going to be of one thing--the beach...because that is where I will be every weekend!  I have always been a beach bum, reformed in recent years when I have spent more time on city concrete than on sand. But, now I can have the best of both worlds--work in a city during the week and head out to the oceanside for the weekend.  Perfetto.

This Saturday, we ventured down to Sperlonga, a beach that is about an hour south of Rome.  It was shockingly empty on the beach (well not the bus ride to get there) and so calm and relaxing. We swam in the ocean-yes, it was a bit cold--but after daring to fully commit to complete submergence, the water was incredibly pleasant and even CLEAR! I loved it!

On Sunday, I decided to counter my calming beach day with a trip to Ikea, which involved heading deep into the Roman suburbs, which (not?) shockingly look like every other suburb that I have encountered.  And the mall where Ikea was, could have been South Coast Plaza.  It was quite the adventure, but now my apartment is very organized with all of the Ikea supplies I bought.  Totally worth the trek.

Me, Frederik and Ariane