19 posts tagged “random rome”
Today was my first day of holiday, and the first day of my last week in Roma.
First I packed everything I possibly could to see if they'd fit, and organise what I'd like to send via the post office either tomorrow or wednesday.
Then, I went to San Pietro's and climbed the dome! I think I preferred the one I climbed in Florence but it's absolutely worth it, the views are stunning, you can see right over the Vatican gardens and over most of Rome.
After I came back down, I took the train to Metro Repubblica and went to the church there, Santa Maria degli Angeli.
It was very interesting, with some modern art to balance the older stuff, and a back courtyard from which the Roman remains were visible.
I also ripped out a huge lot of my knitting since I didn't like it, and I much prefer the new design I've made.. in terms of the actual pattern, all the increases are at the same spot as the row ending, as well as where the colours end, which means that you have a huge heap of loose threads, and it's difficult to increase neatly. I don't understand why it couldn't have been done on the opposite side, but meh, each to their own I suppose, maybe there is a method to their madness?
ok, that's it from me for now voxies!
xox
R
Yay, 20 days until Sydney, 12 days until London and 4 days until I finish my internship! high five!
So on Sunday morning, we went for pastries at Romoli. Then, we went to see San Pietro. I didn't get to climb the dome, but I'm saving that for my week off that is coming up.
We had lunch at an amazing restaurant in Trastevere called Il Corallo, and then wandered around the city for a while, including a quick visit to San Luigi dei Francesi to see the Caravaggios they have there:
and then to Basilica di San Agostino:
When we finally got home we were exhausted from all the walking and the food! Today the new intern arrived at work, and she seemed really nice. After work I found the shoes Anna wanted from the Standa (onitsuka tigers with velcro straps, the same as mine), I put them on hold to check if they were the right size and everything. She said they were and I'll go back tomorrow to buy them. I also got this cute mini dress with long sleeves. I think it's mohair or angora or something, the wool is slightly fuzzy. It's too cute:
Anyway, that was pretty much all the excitement for me today! I plan on wearing that dress with boots and maybe a belt tomorrow. Oh the exciting, cosmopolitan life I lead!
On friday night, the Vatican museum was open until 11pm as part of a special program running through September and October - it was actually the last late night opening of the 'summer'. Anyway, Marisol and I thought it would be fun to go, so after work we d over there with our online registration print out, and were inside within 10 minutes.
I know I've been museum-spoilt since the Louvre - I thought that although the architecture of the Vatican was beautiful, the art was not really remarkable. They did have an impressive Egyptian collection, but then, I've been to the Cairo museum, so can't really beat that for Ancient Egyptian stuff!
The Etruscan collection was closed, and that was disappointing since I haven't actually seen Etruscan stuff before.
It was quite interesting at night though, and definitely quieter, although the Sistine Chapel was still very busy. There is actually a man that has the sole job of stopping people from taking photos and 'shush'-ing people! Last time I visited the Vatican, I don't remember being particularly impressed and I'm afraid the feeling lingered this time too. (Probably because the one thing I wanted from the shop, a beautiful engraved 'R' on parchment - had run out. Boo)
This sign made us giggle - Nowhere has better happy hour(s) than The Vatican!!
Anyway. We got home around 11:30 or midnight and today (Saturday, we woke up late, strolled down to Romoli for fragolini pastries and cappucchinos, and then caught the 38 into Termini and walked the length of Via Nazionale. We went to La Gardenia (perfume place) and I sprayed some Gucci per Homme on my arm. I swear, it smells like a bushfire, and being Aussie and all, I know I shouldn't love it, but I do! I can still smell it, HOURS later, I love it! If I ever met a guy wearing it 'naturally' rather than a result of my buying it as a present, I don't know if i could be held accountable for my actions!
Towards Largo Argentina, I found a pair of brown boots:
...And then found Marisol some Christmas presents for her relatives in Via Del Corso.
We had lunch and a glass of red wine in the sun and then did some more shopping before heading off home on the 80 bus. We finally found where it starts from, and it's actually incredibly convenient, so next time I'll catch it from there.
Tonight I made crepes with banana and home made butterscotch. They were pretty damn good I must say!
Other than that, nothing much exciting. I got a few small gifts and gathered ideas for Christmas, but my friends are being supremely unhelpful this year gift suggestion-wise and since I won't have time when I get back to sydney, I have to be extra organised this year.
On Saturday I met my penpal Marco. I took Marisol along and we did a bit of shopping, had lunch, coffee, saw the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain... it was nice, he bought us coffee and tiramisu.
After he left to get his train, Marisol and I went shopping for groceries and I found a leather bag on Via Nazionale! It's the last bag I wanted to get - a soft brown one. So now I have a smart brown one, a smart soft black one, and a smart soft brown one.
Here it is:
we also visited Di Cori yarn store so Marisol could buy some more wool for her scarf, and I bought some balls to make the Hermione Hat for her as a christmas present, as well as some red buttons for my water bottle cozy.
I got quite a bit done of my hot water bottle cover! I decided to design my own because I couldn't find one that was constructed in a way I felt confident about - mine is knitted totally in the round, top down - no stitches to pick up, no seaming to do, only a few ends to weave in. Nice and simple! I put a circle of hearts on it to make it more interesting:
If anyone likes it, I suppose I could write the pattern out for them, but I'm just making it up as I go along!
Today we haven't done much, I skyped with my parents (and Anna and the beast of course) and then Marisol and I went for a coffee at Romoli, a beautiful pasticeria down the road from us that I'm sure I've mentioned before.
We had fragolini pastries and cappuccinos. I'm going to miss that place when we go home!
Afterward we popped into the Tigre for a few supplies. We couldn't help snapping a picture of these baby food jars though, rabbit AND horse flavours. Tasty!
ciao voxies!
Phew! I never knew how exhausting doing nothing could be!
Friday night I met the girls for epic burgers and coronas from Hard Rock Cafe - can you believe they still didn't have my tshirt available?! they asked me to call before we go in next friday to confirm first, eyeroll.
Then on saturday, we WERE going to go to the vatican but the line was just incredible and since we have plenty of time we decided to screw that idea for a joke and come back with prebooked tickets from the internet. We ended up getting gelato from the huge place near the pantheon and wandering around the area near villa borghese since the metro shut down and we ended up in some random place. On the plus side we saw the cutest pink smart, so high five to that.
We came home, had a nap, and then went out with Alessandra and some of the other girls for dinner near the Colosseum. We had pizza, antipasto misto, and the most awesome tiramisu - we waited over half an hour for a table but the food was really nice. I want to take Anna there when she arrives next week.
After that we went home, and today, Sunday, I skyped with mum, dad, and the beast, and then with Anna, planning her trip. We decided to go to Paris for our one weekend for her visit, and hopefully I can book those on monday or tuesday.
After that we moved the extra bed from M's room into my room, cleaned the kitchen, bathroom and did laundry, randomly rearranging furniture. Good times. Now I'm relaxing with a Moretti, although I don't know whether we are going to end up going to the Cappuccin crypts today or sometime during the week.
Yesterday was my two-month-aversary in Italy! After work I met M in the pouring rain and we went and ordered my diary from Cartoleria Pantheon! This shop has two outlets quite close together, on the streets leading away from the Pantheon. They have beautiful hand made papers and gorgeous leather bags that I would die to own, if I actually had room to transport them home, which I don't!
Anyway. I went in after work on monday and they said they'd need to speak to the factory about the particular diary I wanted since they were out of stock, and suggested I come back Tuesday. When I went back yesterday, they said yes, no problem, and I was able to order the style I wanted, in the colour I wanted, with a curly, gold letter R in the front, all finished and ready for collection by sunday this week or tuesday next week! I am so excited to collect it, I chose a chocolate brown, with a kind of wrap around cover. As soon as I have it in my hot little hands I will share it with you. It also includes the diary inside, one day to a page, and it will fit a standard A5 diary, so I can keep on using it, hopefully for many years to come.
While I was waiting in a bookshop out of the rain for M to arrive, I found these cute little calendars, where each page is actually a bookmark with 2 months on it. It was the same brand as the 16 month diary she bought, which I thought was adorable. The only thing that stopped me from buying the diary myself was that it wasn't A5 size, so I was really happy I could buy this cute little bookmark calendar instead! I thought I could use them as page markers in my diary as well.
After we'd sorted out the diary, we went to see the rain coming through the hole in the Pantheon, but it wasn't heavy enough to see anything. They were preparing for a wedding in there! can you imagine being married in a building like that?!
Then we went to Tazzo D'Oro (the Golden Cup) for cappuccinos. According to the guidebooks, Tazzo D'Oro is supposed to be one of the best coffee places in Rome. It's located just down from the Pantheon. We liked the hearts they put on our foam!
It was raining so hard that I bought a pair of blue gumboots on the way home, but of course today is clear and I don't have the chance to wear them. This weekend is supposed to be rainy again though, so high five to splashing in puddles. I don't think I've owned gumboots since I as 6 years old!
I made garlic croutons to have in my pumpkin soup, it was really really nice, and somehow I always crave soup when it's miserable outside.
for the first time in a few weeks, we did not go on an epic journey into the wilds of Italy, instead we stayed in Rome. On sunday we slept almost all day, and then in the afternoon, got the bus to the area near the Pantheon for awesome gelato - in my case, mandarin and Paradiso Primavera (you can make a wild stab as to what was in it, I certainly couldn't figure it out, even having tried it). Then we found the cool leather shop with the leather bags and diaries that I like so much, but as per last time, I hadn't brought my actual diary to compare sizes! eyeroll!
so instead we wandered over towards piazza navona and watched a bit of spanish dancing and listened to a bit of music before meeting up with Alessandra and co.
We went for aperitifs down this tiny alleyway in a place called the Library, it was such a cute little place, maybe I can go there for dinner with Anna!
afterwards we had nutella crepes and then after watching some more Flamenco, went home
Okay voxies, Ciao a presto,
R
Today I had my interview for my internship. It was quite stressful since I didn't know what was going on for half the time. Basically we're going to see how I go with the language skills I have now, but if they're not good enough I'll do some more intensive language classes in the mornings and work in the afternoons.
I sometimes wonder if I was insane to choose to do this. However stressful any internship would have been, this is only about 500 times worse - I hate not being able to communicate., to have people talk about me when I'm sitting right there and be unable to explain what I'm thinking or feeling. I want so much to be able to talk! and of course to be able to listen as well. For someone as talkative as me it is one of the most frustrating experiences I've ever had.
Okay! now the good news. On Sunday night we went out for dinner in trastevere. I love the area, it's so pretty down by the Tiber, but it's got to be one of the most frustrating places to get home from. Every time we try to do it something goes wrong. This time we got the metro, but we accidentally missed our stop and had to walk about 5 kms in the dark before we could get the night bus home.
It was a lovely restaurant though, with beautiful fairy lights strung up outside, and the most delicious tiramisu. It was called Trattoria Da Lucia.
Before dinner, we saw an older woman offering fortunes in one of the squares and so I got one! Basically she had two budgies - Antonio and Roberto. You held one and talked to it, and then it hopped onto a little perch and picked out a slip of paper with your fortune on it. Mine said:
You're a highly respected lady by those who surround you. You hold a secret that only you know. you're very honest, and you like to live your life to the fullest. You'll receive a large sum of money from a distant relative. you'll live 97 years.
Bring on the distant relative I say!!
I just had to post today - couldn't miss the epic date combo!
Today after school Carla's boyfriend Giuseppe brought their new puppy, Borgo, to visit! he was just about the cuuuutest thing i had ever seen, only 2 months old, he was so fluffy and still kind of bendy, like his bones were too new! he was like a teeny tiny sack of cuddly cement, and apart from licking my face, he chewed on everyone's fingers and my tiffany necklace. Cutest thing ever.
once we tore ourselves away from the cutest dog on the planet, Marisol and i went for burgers and coronas at the hardrock cafe, and then for ice cream from San Crispino near the Trevi - I got honey and raspberry. Honestly that honey flavour could make you cry, that's how good it tastes.
We walked down to via del corso, then along to the spanish steps and got the metro home from there... I can tell I'm going to be sooo exhausted tomorrow, can't believe it's my second last day of school so soon! how did this happen!
tomorrow we're supposed to be seeing the Proposal (in italian) after school. Should be fun!
ciao voxies,
xox
R
Today after school we went to the church of Sant Antonio, who is known in quite a few countries as the patron saint of marriage. Apparently, you go to his church and pray for a good boyfriend, and he will oblige. SO! us single girls headed off to his church, and spent some time praying to him, and we left him a letter with our requirements!
The church itself was very peaceful - I find that most catholic churches are not peaceful, they make me feel uncomfortable somehow, but I felt quite at home here, it felt spiritual and special, which to me is exactly what a church should feel like inside. We gave our letters to a monk there, and one of the girls, Alessandra, bought me a tiny Sant Antonio pin, which I've pinned inside my wallet. I thought it was so sweet of her! it is better luck to have someone purchase his icon as a gift, than to buy it yourself!
Apparently, if he doesn't give you a boyfriend, you 'remind' him about your request but turning his picture upside down.
Anyway, here are some photos of the icon pin I got!
Afterwards we had dinner at quite a nice place and then got the metro and bus home, and I suppose I should be heading off to bed now, although this heat makes it hard to sleep! even though it's difficult, I know I'll miss it when it gets colder!
ciao a presto,
bacci abbracci!
R
