The Art of Gnochhi Making

So, my Italian cooking lessons are progressing... this week, since I had just returned from Italy, I had Italian food on the brain, and I REALLY wanted to learn how to make the yummy gnocchi we had had a few nights while we were there. Fabio was up for the challenge. The ingredients were pretty easy - potatos, salt, flour, and egg... the results? Well, it tasted better than it looked, but that's the important part, right? :)


Fabio preparing the cooking area... we told our co-workers that we were making gnocchi, and everyone was jealous, so we ended up making 4 batches so we could bring it to work the next day for lunch! :)


My little oopsie... Sam had put flour on the table for me to mix into my potatoes... I just dropped the potato mixture on top of the flour, and, of course, after that, there was more flour on me than on the table!!!


K Pitty hard at work...


The finished product... yum city!! :)

No cooking lessons this week... but I have a good reason! :) My dear friend Michelle Wald arrives tomorrow morning from Portland! :) She'll spend Monday and Tuesday exploring Amsterdam on her own, and then Tuesday night we are flying to Spain for adventures in Granada and Sevilla. :) Can't wait!!

My Cool New Kicks!

So... in case you haven't heard of it, let me tell you about this cool idea - NikeiD... it's a website that allows you to customize your shoes. I got a gift card to make some, and the picture below is what I came up with. They arrived on Monday and I was SOOO excited!! :) The website is www.nikeid.com if you want your very own. :)

Days Five, Six and Seven: Florence

Well, I always love when I can say that I saved the best for last, and in this case, I did. Florence was BY FAR my favorite city in Italy. It was just amazing. We took the train in, which took about an hour, and then took a cab to our hotel, which wasn't exactly downtown, but that turned out to be okay. The owner didn't speak ANY English, so between hand motions and speaking Spanish to him, we were able to communicate. :) The rooms were beautiful. Some even had frescoed paintings on the ceiling (unfortunately, not ours). It was called La Terraza, because there was a large terrace on the back, which was the perfect place for evening wine drinking. :)

Anyways... Florence. The first thing that strikes you when you look at the city is the color. In Rome and Naples, there were lots of reds, blues, and whites. In Florence, which is in Tuscany, the colors are very "Tuscan"... meaning, yellows, oranges, and browns. It's really striking. There were lots of big and little town squares to watch people and enjoy the sites, which we took full advantage of. I think after seeing a lot of sights in all the other cities, we were just ready to take some time to relax. We did a few "touristy" things, but spent the rest of the time just walking around, shopping, and, of course, eating. :) We also drank a fair amount of wine. My favorite thing about Florence? There was a wine shop on the way back to our hotel from downtown, that seriously has wine on tap. You just pick what you want, they fill up the bottle, then put the cork in, and it is yours - for 2.50 euros! Sean and I did that both nights we were in Florence, and just enjoyed chatting on the terrace (while, unfortunately, the mosquitoes attacked us!). We didn't get up early either day, and just really enjoyed each other and this beautiful city. What a great way to end the trip!


KP on the famous "Ponte Vecchio"... a bridge where all kinds of things are sold


The Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi Gallery... okay, I had to see SOMETHING... this art gallery has a lot of really famous paintings... which I really try to appreciate. We spent a few hours there, and then decided NO MORE ART MUSEUMS!


The view of the Duomo as we climbed to the top of the building next door. This church was amazing (more so on the outside), and was so DIFFERENT than most of the other churches I've seen, mostly because of the marble decoration on the outside. Very cool... and always a highlight of my trips to get to climb way up high to get to see the whole city.


Views of Florence from the top... note the "Tuscan" colors...




The other famous musuem in Florence is the Accademia, which has the famous statue "David" by Michaelangelo inside... unfortunately, the day we had tickets to the gallery, the workers were on strike. Bummer...

Our last night in Florence... neither one of us really wanted to leave. :(

So, we had to fly out of FCO airport on Saturday evening... unfortunately, with our little change in plans, we were on different flights back to Amsterdam. Sean got in 3 hours earlier, because for some reason, I had booked a flight through Paris (what the hell was I thinking??). Anyways, he was able to find my car (I don't have a parking spot, so I just park on the street whereever I can) and picked me up at the airport. We spent Sunday just sleeping in, and then walking around the city. It was nice to have a "normal" day together. It's kind of weird to only get to see each other in these amazing citites. Don't get me wrong... it's great. But it's just not everyday life. Probably my favorite part of our trip together was just making dinner together on Sunday night... So, long story short, things are going well, a lot of good conversations were had, and we're working through it.

Day Four: Pompeii and Naples

My favorite guide Rick Steves recommended a side trip from Rome to Naples and Pompeii for a day, so, as we had seen all of the major sights, Sean and I decided to take his advice. We took a train at 8:30 in the morning from Rome direct to Naples, which took about two and a half hours. Once we got in to Naples, we took a commuter train to Pompeii, which took about 30 minutes. The train drops you off pretty much right in front of the ruins, so, in we went! Pompeii was a middle class city about 2000 years ago... until Mt. Vesuvius blew her top (sort of similar to Mt. St. Helens). When this happened, the whole city was covered in ash, killing pretty much everyone and everything there. The city has been 75% uncovered, and a lot of it is actually still in tact. Crazy when you think about it!


City Street in Pompeii


Mt. Vesuvius in the distance... thankfully, she was calm on the day we were there. :)


This was crazy... when the site was being excavated, they detected hollows beneath the ash. Turns out it was the cavity where bodies had de-composed. They filled the cavity with plaster, and then when that dried, took the plaster out. Amazing to have captured people 2000 years ago in their last moments... and kind of spooky.


Ancient street, complete with ruts from all the chariot traffic (seriously!)

We spent about two hours there, and, after that, combined with all the ruins we had seen the day before, we were pretty ruined out! And... hungry!!! We stopped for a quick meal, where we totally got scammed into a 12 euro caprese salad, and then made our way back to Naples. Which is the home of pizza. And scary. Very scary. In contrast with Rome, Naples was louder. Naples was dirtier. Naples was sleazier. I think it must be the breeding ground for Godfathers in the Making. Seriously. I kept my purse close beside me all day. I was happy to return to Rome.


Beautiful statue of Dante... covered by grafiti on the bottom! Rome had a major clean-up in 2000, so most of the grafiti was gone... but it was EVERYWHERE in Naples. Sad to see such beautiful things "re-beautified"


Town gate... so the town did had some pretty spots. What you don't see are all the vagrants that were also hanging out around here. Scary!



The highlight of my Naples visit... Galleria Umberto. I have no idea what this was... although I think it's a mall because there were lots of shops inside. All I know is it was absolutely gorgeous inside.


Pizza at the train station... we had to have ONE piece before we got the heck out of Naples!

We arrived back to Rome around 11, had a gelato, and then went to bed... we needed to rest up for our next adventure... Florence is coming up next! :)

Day Three: The Colosseum, The Roman Forum, and the Amazing Borghese Gallery

On my third day in Rome (and Sean's first), we went to the things that Rome is most famous for: The Colosseum and the Roman Forum. This stuff was built around, oh, you know the year 90 AD, which makes it all pretty DARN old! It's amazing to even try to fathom this! The Colosseum was basically a big sports arena. 50,000 people could fit in there at once, and, while there, they would watch gladiators fight either each other or animals. Most of it still exists, and the part that is missing has been incorporated into other famous buildings, such as St. Peter's Basilica. And, the photos:


Sean outside the Colosseum - note: he's wearing shorts and a t-shirt! The weather was great! :)

The inside of the Colosseum... the floor that you can see now is kind of a maze of sorts... animals were kept down here until it was time for them to be raised to the arena. This was all covered with sand back in the day...

Seanny-Boy with a close up of the bottom level

Aw... more of us than the ruins, but cute never-the-less. :)

After the Colosseum, we went to the Roman Forum, which was basically the town center in its time. Laws were made here, there was a market, and temples to the Roman gods were also located here. The remains were just unearthed fairly recently - the 18th or 19th century. Not everything is even excavated yet - there was still work being done. We saw some pictures of what historians think this area must have looked like - it was quite impressive. Have a look:

Roman Temple - this one was still fairly intact, and has actually been used as a Christian church as well

Excavation work being done...

KP with the ruins

After all of this history, we needed a break, so we stopped for pizza! Later in the afternoon, we visited the amazing Borghese Gallery, which had some of the best sculptures I have ever seen. They were so realistic that its hard to believe that they came out of a block of marble! Sorry, folks, no pictures allowed, but I did buy a few books of them. Dinner that night was at one of Stefano's favorite restaurants, and we tried a pasta with "pajata" sauce, which is lamb intestines. :) It was mixed with tube noodles, so it kind of blended in. I didn't tell Sean until the end what we were eating. hehe It was actually quite tasty. We slept hard after a busy day in preparation for our next day... an 8:30 am train ride to Naples and a visit to nearby Pompeii...

More to come...

Day Two: Vatican City

Vatican City - well, that's kind of wrong. It's actually a city AND its own country. Home of the pope, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel. Wow! I got up on the early side and made my way almost to the Vatican. I say almost, because when I was one stop away on the train, I realized that I had forgotten my camera. You know me... I get kind of paralyzed when I don't have my camera in hand. So, it was decision time - go 30 minutes back to my hotel and get my camera, costing me an hour of time, or go without pictures. Come on - was that even a decision?? I went back to my hotel!! It was worth it - the sights were amazing, and I'm glad I can share them with you. :)

First stop... St. Peter's Basilica. This church was built on the site where St. Peter was crucified upside-down, and his remains are supposedly beneath the alter. I say supposedly, because it seems like a lot of time has passed to really be sure. Call me a skeptic, I know, I know! The church was by far one of the most ornate and impressive I have ever seen. I toured the inside, and then paid my 6 euros to take the elevator up to the top to get the view of the city. Very cool.

St. Peter's Basilica... I was thinking of my grandfather a lot this day. I know one of the highlights of his trip to Italy was meeting the Pope, and he kept a photo of himself shaking the Pope's hand in his room for as long as I can remember (WAY better Catholic than me!)

The inside of the church... it was so sunny, and I love the way the light was coming through... NOTE - the church is HUGE!!

The alter beneath which St. Peter rests in peace

The church's famous dome - beautiful (also inspired the Duomo, in Florence, and the Capitol building in the US... amazing how everything goes full circle!)

View of the dome's writing on the way up... remember how I said the church was HUGE? Well, it is - these letters are SEVEN FEET HIGH!!! Makes you feel pretty small! :)

View of the courtyard from the top... this is where all the people go when the Pope says Mass.

After St. Peter's Basilica, I went to the Sistine Chapel, which is actually a series of about 4 miles of museum, AND THEN the Sistine Chapel. No pictures were allowed, but I did sneak a video to give you an idea... Michaelangelo painted this for 4 years. I can't even imagine. I didn't even like painting a little section of my bedroom for 15 minutes!! Talk about a neck ache. But what an impressive sight!

I returned back after all of this amazing to... Sean! He arrived without a hitch from Portland. It was nice to get to see each other and have some time over the next few days to talk things over. We went to see the famous Trevi Fountain, and then had some wine and an amazing dinner (Thanks, Stefano, for all of the recommendations!)

Days One: Rome National Museum, Peter in Chains Church, Capitol Hill Museum, and Amazing Rome at Night!

So... Day One. I was on my own this day, and so I decided to do a few of the things that I thought Sean wasn't going to be super interested in... namely the "artsy stuff". After a somewhat interesting breakfast at my hotel (croissants filled with cream, ham and cheese), I headed out to the National Musuem, which is famous for its sculptures. If you remember, I've discovered that this is pretty much my favorite type of art, so I really enjoyed this museum. A few of my favorites:

Iron Statue called "The Boxer"... it was so lifelike... amazing!

Discus Thrower - amazing just because of how the muscles were executed

It was such a beautiful day, so I just kind of wandered around the city. I made my way to the "Saint Peter in Chains" church, which supposedly contains the chains worn by Peter when he was in jail before he was crucified. And here they are... you be the judge:

After the church, I went to the Capitol Hill Museum. I was feeling pretty museumed-out by this point, but there were a few interesting things, including an amazing view of the Roman ruins. A few highlights:

The foot of an ancient statue... if this was the FOOT, the whole thing must have been HUGE. One thing about Rome - everything is in ruins, so you really have to use your imagination to picture how impressive things must have been.

The she-wolf and Romulus, the founder of Rome... this is a big legend of the city. Supposedly, Romulus and his sibling were abandoned in the woods, fed by a she-wolf, and then founded Rome... there are lots of paintings and sculptures of this in the city. Um, yeah.

That night I was ready to just enjoy the city. I had an amazing dinner near the Campo del Fiori, and then walked around seeing the city all lit up at night - it was beautiful! :)

One kind of sad/amusing story from the evening. So, I'm sitting at this lovely restaurant, obviously alone. There is a table for two next to me which is empty, and then another one next to that. Two American sisters sat at that table, and were chit-chatting. All of the sudden, they stopped talking, so I looked over to see what they were doing. They were just STARING at me. I've started wearing a little more European clothes, so maybe they thought I wasn't American and didn't speak English (note to all my American friends... even if people aren't American, most Europeans also speak English, so watch what you say!!!) Then, they proceeded to have this conversation:

Sister 1: "Man, I would hate to travel alone. That just LOOKS depressing."

Sister 2: "Yeah, sometimes I think I'd like to try it, but I just think it would suck".

Okay, so, you know, it's not like I WANTED to be travelling by myself, and this pushed me over the edge. I couldn't decide between punching them in the head and crying my eyes out. Thinking that it might be a bad idea to get arrested on my second night in Italy, I opted to just have a little silent cry and suck it up. It gave me so much satisfaction when a British couple sat next to me and started speaking to me in English... the look on those girls faces when they realized that I could understand every word I said was PRICELESS!!!

Campo del Fiori at Night

Victor Emmanual Monument at night... Italians don't like the monument and call it both "the dentures" and "the wedding cake". I thought it was pretty!

The Roman Ruins at night

Colosseum at night... wow!!! This has been around since before Columbus discovered North America!!! Amazing!

Food, Glorious Food!!

Okay, so I hand it to the Italians - The Coloseum was impressive. St. Peter's Basilica was pretty awesome. The Sistine Chapel - breathtaking. But, my favorite part of Italy? THE FOOD!!! As those of you who have travelled with me know, I take pictures of any meal that looks tasty or interesting... which was nearly everything in Italy! Take a look, and remember to wipe the drool off of your keyboard when you are finished. :)

My first real meal in Italy - lunch outside the Spanish Steps. A yummy salmon salad, bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and, of course, WINE!

Okay, not food, but this was the view out of the restaurant where I ate - it was BLAZING hot this day, so I didn't mind sitting in the air-conditioning while SEEING the steps, instead of sitting ON the steps. :)

My first, and favorite, gelato. I had at least one gelato every day, and this one was the best combination - dark chocolate and hazelnut... delicioso!

Pasta Carbonara - they crack an egg on the hot noodles, which then cooks on there and is mixed in... complete with lots of cheese and prociutto. YUM! (um, yes, this was the first course of my dinner... of three!)

Second course... yes, I was a little piggy! This one is called Saltimboca, which means "jump into your mouth". It's pork wrapped in Italian ham, and, yes, was yummy!

Final course... the best tiramisu of my trip and an Italian coffee. And, yes, if you are counting, this makes two desserts in one day and ZERO running.

Brucshetta at one of our lunches - the tomatoes were SO FRESH!!

My first real Italian pizza... and, yes, that is an egg on top - this was the "Roman" style pizza

Stuffed zuchini - stuffed with what? We think it was sausage, and we think it was delicious! :)

Gnocchi - this was one of my favorite meals - lunch in Pompeii! These are little potato dumplings, and absolutely scrumptious! :)

So, that is a summary of the FOOD part of my trip. Let's not talk about the wine... I'll say that we drank a fair amount everyday because 1: it was really cheap, 2: it was really good, and 3: we were on vacation, so why not! :)