Roaming Rome

Today was a good day.  It was the first day my feet haven't hurt since I got here.  I think having two days to let them recover while I was sick was a good thing.  Also, my cold is almost gone and I had plenty of energy...so that meant walking around all afternoon. 

After class we meandered around back streets and found ourselves in the Jewish part of town.  We sat on a bench and watched people go by for awhile.  Then we ambled over one of the oldest bridges onto the island in the middle of the Tiber.  It was pretty cool to watch the water flowing and just relax and take in the sights.  On our way back to our apartment we took a wrong turn that led us a very long way around. But in the end we made it back in time for an afternoon nap.

We ate supper at a sidewalk cafe and visited with a couple Americans at the next table.  They were very chatty real estate people from Florida.  They were very friendly and it was fun to hear their impression of Venice and Tuscany. A gondola ride cost 100 euro for about a 30 minute ride and the water taxi to the train station was about 75 euro.  They figured out how to take the water bus for 7 euro and saved themselves the price of a good meal!  It was hard for them to believe we were staying in Rome for 3 weeks and not going anywhere else. Their trip across the whole country was only 10 days.

Dinner was ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach in a tomato sauce.  One of the girls ordered tripe because she just had to try something new.  I tasted a little bit and I thought it had a fishy taste to it.  Not real pleasant.  She didn't mind the flavor but the texture (somewhat rubbery) was hard for her to get past.  I loved the ravioli. 

I have not had the white pizza yet...I plan to do that when we are in the neighborhood of the Trevi Fountain.  There are so many good things to eat it's really hard to try new things when you know what you already like!  There is a little pizzaria in our neighborhood that I've tried the broccoli and sausage, prosciutto and spinach and the potato pizzas.  None of those had any tomato based sauce.  The crust is thin and crispy and the toppings are not heavy but just the right combination of flavors.  I think they use mozzarella and fontana cheeses.  Every one has been delicious!

Here are some pictures from today.  Ciao!