It has been quite some time since I wrote a true post on this thing. I had to read my last couple to get an idea about where I left off, and then think hard about all that has happened in all that time.
Two weeks ago (holy shit, was it really that long ago?), Adam was here visiting on his spring break. We had a great weekend skiing Chamonix and then a hopefully eventful week for him in Rome. It was completely bad luck that my hardest class, Ancient Art of Rome, had its midterm scheduled for the Wednesday of his vacation. I have taken approx. 75 pages of notes for this class, which probably accounts for half of the stuff that he lectures about, because most of it is while we are walking around a museum, amphitheater, or monument. He told us we need to know everything he told us and everything he didn’t tell us, and expect every type of format and questions we have ever seen. I studied all day Tuesday for about 7 hours total (cram session 10:30 - 3:30 am) and ended up with a very surprising B+. A B+ in his class translates to a grade of 70 - 75%, yes instead of curving, he admits he is hard and starts A’s at 80% and above. It is however, a very interesting (demanding) class that I am very glad I decided to take. But I digress..
Monday, I had class in the morning and then walked to the Colosseum to meet Adam for lunch before my afternoon classes. While I waited for him to finish his tour, I must have been approached by 20 street vendors selling the usual scarves, sunglasses, and key chains, 10 people offering tours of the Flavian Amphitheater (the Colosseum), and 5 club/ pub crawl promoters. Needless to say, there are reasons I don’t hang out at the tourist spots (not that the sites are spectacular on their own). Adam and I met and we walked down to a local pizza joint where we got a decent (shitty) couple of slices and where I gave him the information to get to Le Fate for dinner. Then we parted ways, Adam to explore the Roman Forum, and me, on the other hand, to Internship Seminar and Ancient Art of Rome before heading directly to work.
Work began with its normal routine: come in, say hi to everyone, change downstairs in the basement, wash hands, cut bread, prepare bruschetta, clean dishes, make custard, clean spinach, clean chicory, and watch Chef Andrea make more interesting dishes. Adam came in around 8:30 and ate and ate and ate. Andrea met him and told me to make him 3 bruschette (bruschetta is singular, bruschette plural; there is your italian instruction for the week) and I obeyed. He had the Quatro Formaggi Gnocchi accompanied with the nice house red (Cesane grapes). About 2 hours later, he finished off his gastronomic adventure at mi ristorante with a souffle…and more wine.
While the meal was over, the night was just beginning. The restaurant wasn’t particularly busy that night, and we shut down the kitchen at 15 to 11 and started cleaning rapidly. Andrea (the Chef), Marc (Dishwasher, cook), Rafael (cook, dishwasher, server, friend), Erica (Andrea’s girlfriend, assistant, marketer from michigan) all wanted to go out afterwords and kindly invited Adam and I along for the ride. We ended up at a wine bar about 10 minutes from the restaurant in Trastevere. With two bottles of wine, one white and one red, we shared great conversation talking about restaurants, cooking, education, languages, and the differences between Europe and the US. That conversation lasted until the bar, and the wine, were finished; but the party didn’t end there. Andrea had just moved from the suburbs to an apartment about 5 minutes from the wine bar and we moved up there. It is on the 5th floor, the top floor, and has one of the most incredible balconies I have ever seen. Andrea poured us all another glass of wine, and we stepped outside to gaze at St. Peter’s Basilica. Yes, his terrace stares directly at the Vatican! One of the best urban views I have seen (sorry can’t beat Big Sur beaches and mountain views). I also like it because it is decorated profusely with flowers and herbs everywhere. It is definitely up there on my top 3 places to have a BBQ list, considering I just made that up, I guess it’s number 1. It was an incredible night that was my hallmark of Adam’s trip to Rome; I was able to show him a new side of Rome (one that I myself had not experienced with my Chef), and introduce my brother to my roman co-workers.
Tuesday, was an uneventful day for me, full of studying for my exam on Wednesday. Adam was off exploring again, he must have walked 20 miles during that week. We went to dinner at Perilli, a restaurant about 2 minutes away from the Hotel, where we had delectable Roman dishes: Amatriciana, Carbonara, Conglio Cacciatora, and Osso Buco. All were delicious, and I had finally found (at the time) the best Amatriciana that I had had in Rome. My mom’s is the greatest (probably my favorite pasta she makes at home) and it took a lot of searching to find one comperable. I think it was difficult because I am used to Pancetta (pork belly) instead of the Roman standard Guinciale (Pork Jowl). We then returned from dinner, me to my studying post (which I didn’t leave for 5 hours) and we he had a relaxing evening.
Wednesday, I took my bloody test, after 3 straight hours of writing and a day full of hand cramps it was finally over and time to celebrate. Adam spent the day off exploring somewhere, I think the Vatican, where he spent 3 or so hours there exploring the halls of the museum (aren’t we both so cultured and sophisticated now?). We went to Pizzeria Remo’s for dinner with a few friends, where we enjoyed paper thin pizza and a nice large carafe of vino rosso. Then it was on to Scholars, the watering hole, to make sure that the Peroni beers were still of the highest quality and get a little roudy. I was on a mission to have a good time and after a couple rounds there, we took a field trip to Campo Di Fiori to check up on their refreshments. Don’t panic, everything is still up to par and we made it through the night unscathed. (I have since not been back to Campo Di Fiori at night for 2 reasons. A. my drinking has decreased in quantity and increased in quality, more wine and less of it, and B. this only happened last weekend, long after I had banished myself from the vicinity, but a student was stabbed 6 times there when he tried to confront some South Americans who had stolen his wallet. He luckily is ok, relatively, and will survive since no vital organs were punctured.). Adam and I had a good time, and I am glad I could give him one night of a traditional spring break.
Thursday, my last day with Adam, we spent the morning visiting two churches around Termini. The first houses Moses and chains, and the other is just cool. I have forgotten the name, I will find out eventually. We spent about 40 minutes looking for a restaurant to eat lunch at before I had to go to class, but gave up and settled for a panini shop. Thursday evening, we went to Luzzi (yes the one I drunkenly posted about below) and it was quite the experience. After we went to Enoteca Il Palombi which has 400 different brews on tap and an expansive wine list. Adam was able to meet more of my friends over a pint and some wine. It was one of my favorite moments for Adam to experience, because he actually could communicate with my friends rather than just meet them and move on. Another reason why I love the italian drinking habits, it’s not about the alcohol but the conversation that accompanies. When we got back to the hotel, we said our goodbyes, because I had to leave for Venice at 7 in the morning with my program.
I am really glad Adam came to visit during his spring break. It was unconventional, but I hope he had as good of a time as I did. Unfortunately it was a poor week because I actually had school work to do, but we made the most of it. It was great to show him around the city that I now call home and introduce him to my friends. Overall a memorable week where the food was good, the alcohol flowing, and the company comforting.
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