Food:  Rome & Florence at Christmas The Perfect Bun: On the English web-site www.inromenow.com under the heading Restaurants is a subheading of American.  There is a large ExPat contingent in Rome so here you will find a list of  restaurants where you can get “hamburgers” and other American fare.  Other than the ones I’ve made at home, we had not had a good hamburger in a restaurant in six months, so we were game.  The closest one to the B&B was “The Perfect Bun” which looked like a typical American upscale bar and grill.  The nostalgic menu had 15 kinds of burgers – your classic  burgers plus bacon/blue cheese and chili – but they also had a Hell’s Burger, The Nightmare and The Big Badass Burger.  The menu included chicken wings, ribs, steaks, nachos, burritos and other Mexican fare with brownies for dessert!  We arrived without a reservation at 7:30 ish on a Saturday night and almost didn’t get in (I think the couple behind us were turned away), even though the place is pretty large with two levels.  We noticed that they had a Sunday buffet (all you can eat, which we can’t do justice to) with pancakes, waffles, bagels, omelets, fried eggs, bacon, sausage, country potatoes, American coffee (which Larry had, but I consider a huge step down from Italian caffe) bloody Mary’s and Mimosas – we made a reservation right then for noon the next day.  They also had a carving station with turkey, ham, roast beef, lamb, pastas, chicken and vegetable dishes, salad/fruit bar and great desserts – but we were there for the good ole American breakfast that does not exist in Ascoli.  Yummmmmmm!  Click here for website.  We ate once right on the piazza by The Pantheon and another time on the Campo di Fiori, admittedly for convenience, and both were mediocre tourist meals at a relatively high price.  Rick Steves warned us to just have a drink at these places and go somewhere else for dinner, but we were having too much fun people watching and were too lazy to relocate.  Our bad. Cremeria Monteforte:  Is a great gelateria in Rome that has fruit flavors that taste like biting into the fresh...

Photos- Christmas in Rome & Florence

By Larry & Arlene on Jan 20, 2014 in Portfolio, Travel | 0 comments

Rome- The Vatican Rome – Vatican and Tiber River Rome – St. Peter’s Rome- St. Peter’s Basilica- St. Peter’s Basilica St. Peter’s St. Peter’s Dome St. Peter’s Dome and Baldiccino St. Peter’s Farnese Papal Crest St. Peter Rome- Castel St. Angelo Rome- Castel St. Angelo Castel St. Angelo C. St. Angelo Courtyard Castel St. Angelo Crossbow Castel St. Angelo Courtyard Castel St. Angelo Workshop Castel St. Angelo Armory Archangel Micheal – atop Castel St. Angelo River Tiber from C. St. Angelo Rome – Pantheon and Piazza del Rotunda Piazza del Rotunda Fountain Detail Pantheon Dome Interior Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore Piazza Navona at Christmas P.za. Navona and Fountain of the Four Rivers Fountain of four Rivers Detail Piazza Navona Christmas P. Navona Christmas Market P. Navona Christmas Market Christmas Market Tourist Rome – Spanish Steps Rome-Chestnuts and Dior Rome- Babo Natali ala Bulgari Cul de Sac pate & cheese Cul de Sac ravioli, meatballs, etc. Florence- Palazzo Vecchio Florence- Pal. Vecchio and Uffizi Gallery Florence- Loggia in P.zza della Signoria Florence – Duomo Florence – Duomo Florence – Duomo Baptistry Doors Florence Duomo Interior Florence- Duomo Dome Florence- Duomo Interior Florence- Duomo Interior Florence- Basilica di Santa Croce Florence Christmas Market Tourist Florence- Basilica di Santa Croce Doors Florence- Basilica di Santa Croce Cloister Basilica di Santa Croce Interior Basilica di Santa Croce Interior Basilica di Santa Croce High Alter Cross Sta. Croce- Tomb of Michelangello Sta. Croce- Tomb of Galileo Sta. Croce- Tomb of Dante Alighieri Sta. Croce- Tomb of Machiavelli Santa Croce- Side Chapel Santa Croce – Side Chapel Santa Croce – Side...

ROME & FLORENCE at Christmas We love our life here in Ascoli but it was time to get out of town again and see more of Italy.  We had been to Rome and Florence before, but not in several years and never at Christmas.  It was also about time we took the bus from Ascoli to Rome, which is the most cost-effective means of getting there – only 54 Euro for two people round-trip.  Many people we know take it to Rome/Fiumicino airport and use that as the jumping-off point to wherever they need to go . What was a bit of a surprise, not a problem, is that you have to change buses in Porto Ascoli (about an hour out) and have since learned this is a new twist.  It wasn’t a problem, just a surprise.  The buses are comfortable, long-distance buses without bathrooms.  We were pleasantly surprised to have what was essentially a bus attendant on the long leg who served water and caffe.  I’m pretty sure she had other responsibilities too.  They made one rest-stop in-route at what looked like an Italian Stuckey’s, minus the pecan logs.  Due to construction on the autostrada (which has been going on since long before we got to Italy) the bus was running about an hour late.  No problem for us since central Rome was our final destination, but if you had a flight to catch, it could be a bit stressful (i.e., our friends the Klesper’s exerience).  So after a comfortable trip of four hours we arrived at the Rome/Tiburtina Station around 3:00 PM.  As you can imagine in any large city, the bus station was chaos.  Luckily the taxi stand was not hard to find. Navona Queen/Navona King Suites:  This was our third time in Rome and we knew exactly which area of the city we wanted to stay in.  We decided to try this new B&B (opened in May 2013) in a terrific location and are so happy we did.  It is in a very old palazzo right on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II (next to the piazza of Chiesa Nuova) but the entire B&B has been totally refurbished. As is the case in many large ancient cities...

Buon Natale, Joyex Noel and Felice Anno! La Bafana has come and gone and the Italian holiday season is now officially over.  Monday, 6 January, was an Italian holiday (Epiphany) with banks and post offices closed.  Their holiday break over, the children returned to school yesterday.  The holiday decorations in homes are being boxed up and stored away until next Natale.  In Piazza Aringo, Babbo Natale is nowhere to be found,  the Christmas market stands are closed and waiting to be dismantled, the donkeys are taking a well-deserved rest after carrying an untold number of delighted children through the piazzas.  The ice rink has started to melt, the speakers that had ensured a festive mood with holiday music (oddly mostly in English) are now silent, and the holiday decorations in the piazzas and adjacent streets are being removed.  The shops have changed their holiday displays and one of my favorite Italian words – SALDI – is now plastered on every window.  Tis the season to shop and blog! We spent a very good week in Rome in early December enjoying the sights and their famous Christmas market, decorations and some good food.  From there we took a quick one-day trip to Florence to see their holiday decorations and their international Christmas market.  When we left for Rome on 6 December, Ascoli was just putting up their decorations, there were almost no stores with holiday displays in the windows and few places you could even purchase holiday decorations.  As I mentioned in another post, the holiday season begins in Italy on 8 December (Feast of the Immaculate Conception) and in Ascoli that tradition holds.  When we returned late on the 13th, Ascoli had become an even more magical place than usual.  I know I’m partial but, in all honesty, Ascoli at Christmas is way more beautiful in every way than Rome or Florence.  In fairness to Rome and Florence, in this case size does matter, they are too large and spread out to achieve the intimate fairytale quality of Ascoli no matter how hard they try.  One night after walking around our town with the lights, music, market, ice rink, donkey rides and train – I told Larry that I...

It is a tradition of the New Year observance to look back over the past year and attempt to put it into perspective.  The year 2013 has been very significant for us. It is the year in which we became Ex-Patriots in Italy. We hope this Blog has gotten across how very pleased we are to have made this move but I’m not sure we yet fully grasp how we came to make such a good decision. In attempting to better understand how this came about, an idea I’m currently playing with has to do with how a change in life circumstances can lead to the generation of new options.  Gail Sheehy and others have talked about life having ‘passages’ – significant stages in the course of living.  Retirement has been a very important event for us, just as it has for so many others.  Gradually coming to terms with the adjustments retirement imposed on us was probably a factor in starting the reassessment process that ultimately brought about this decision. A professional career becomes a pivot around which so many of life’s structures operate and is also a source of affirmation. Once the old structures and sources for affirmation don’t have the same immediacy they used to provide, there is the option to develop a new focus for your life.  Developing a different direction is not so much a discarding of the past, as it is moving beyond it into something new and satisfying. In moving forward, it would be a tragedy to diminish any sense of pride in what has been accomplished in the past.  Past accomplishments reside in memory and should be a source of satisfaction.  An appreciation of the accomplishments of the past is, at best, a source for having confidence to move forward and take on new challenges. The future can hold any number of opportunities for growth in new directions. An interesting insight is suggested in biology.  The concept of ‘Atrophy’ suggests that a biological function that is not kept active deteriorates. Growing and developing ourselves seems to be built into the dynamic of sustaining who and what we are. In retirement we are probably also dealing with an aging process that contains...

There is the old cliché about travel being broadening.  If the originator of that observation had Italy in mind it is true personal girth could be at serious risk of enlargement.  The catchall phrase ‘Italian Cuisine’ does not come close to suggesting the rich variations in the mosaic of unique, regional dishes.  Italians have lived close to the earth for centuries and have developed a wonderful harmony in making the best out of what the immediate, natural environment has to offer. In our case, if it weren’t for all the walking we are doing, we would have ballooned as a result of the indulging our taste buds are getting.  Because Italian cuisine is identified as ‘close to the land’ in no way means it is monotonous, bland or lacking in creative invention. There are the endless varieties of pastas combined with an even larger variety of sauces plus the cornucopia of locally raised fruits, vegetables, meats, fowl plus the harvest from the very nearby Adriatic Sea.  And that is before we talk about the pastries, the gelatos and the obvious love Italians have for sweets of every kind. We have been drawn to the immediacy of the Italian table.  The ingredients tend to be very fresh and the preparation has the gift of bringing out the best of what freshness has to offer. On the other hand, regimentation in the promotion of ‘consistency’ to support the ‘bottom line’ can degenerate into a corporate imposed, standardized formula that is intended to not vary in a franchised chain. It is easy and delightful be get spoiled in Italy where what is placed before you is, at its best, a unique production that was carefully prepared. The food is not surprisingly like a good Italian wine – it has complexity and one senses individual flavors but yet the internal harmony is a joy.  This added aesthetic dimension elevates what could be an otherwise perfunctory experience for simply meeting basic bodily needs to a whole new level.  This is one of the joys of Italy.  At its core, it is saying to us simplicity is not a minimization out of a forced economy or a subtraction in the quality of the experience.  It...

An American Thanksgiving in Italy – A little over a week ago I took a Google-translated note to the butcher ordering a 5.5 kg whole fresh turkey to be picked up last Thursday.  Since he speaks no English and I have never seen a whole turkey in Italy yet, I had my fingers crossed hoping to pick up something that resembled a whole fresh turkey.  I was also hoping it was actually in the ballpark of my request size-wise because my oven is pretty small.  Luckily, when Larry and I arrive to pick it up, the butcher proudly brought out what looked like a really large whole turkey surprisingly without it’s head.  He immediately whacked off one wing at the last joint and looked at me and said OK?  Well it wasn’t because I use those wing tips to steady the turkey in the pan, but it was too late now, so I smiled and nodded yes while indicating “no more”!  I don’t know where the giblets went, but I never saw them.  So we picked up some more supplies and took our prize home.  It weighed in at 6.5 kg which, fortunately, still fit in my little oven.  Upon inspection it looked like it put up a fight (a few bruises and torn skin) and there were still more than a few feathers which I spent about an hour plucking with tweezers.  One thing that really struck me is that it looked real.  I mean you could see how this guy could get up and run around.  Proportionally, the legs were long and large and the breasts were, well, normal size.  I always brine my turkey (if not Kosher) but I didn’t have a vessel nor a refrigerator large enough to do that.  I remembered seeing something a while back in Cooks Illustrated about dry-brining, so I check the internet and read up on it.  Actually, I was very pleased with the results and there were no large containers of nasty water involved.  I suggest you try it on your next roast chicken if you haven’t already. As with all American meals I try to prepare here in Italy, the real trick is finding the proper ingredients.  Ina’s apple...

Cinzia’s Polenta Dinner: I have observed that upon entering an Italian home, no matter what size the room, a major part of the square footage is dedicated to a large dining table.  When you arrive at a party, there is no roaming about the room with drink and food in hand making small talk.  People are introduced, you do the right-left Italian air-kiss, and proceed to the table.  (This type of greeting is supposed to be reserved for people who you know well, but my experience is that most folks will greet you that way either immediately or wait until they have known you a few hours.)  Appetizers are put on the dinner table, everyone chooses their seat, the first bottle of wine is opened and the party is in full swing.  This may be because all dinner parties begin at 8 or 8:30 PM, so you need to get right to it.  Once you have taken the time to enjoy the antipasto, the entree appears around 9:30-ish and you won’t finish with cafe and digestives until about 11 or 11:30. A week ago we were invited to Cinzia M.’s home for a “polenta party.”  When the day came, unfortunately, Larry was still struggling with his second bout of bronchitis and made the wise decision not to go.  It was another cold wet night.  We have come to love Cinzia so that I was excited to meet her family, more of her friends and see her home.  Mariella, a lovely woman who is often with us but speaks no English, and Grace picked me up.  When visiting an Italian home, my  experience is that no matter what size the room a major portion of the square footage is dedicated to a large dining table.  Everything was as I imagined.  Her home was warm and inviting with a large beautifully set table.  Her friends were welcoming, relaxed and gregarious.  Her mother is a lovely older Cinzia and, as is often the case, lives in the flat across the hall.  However, upon entering there is a nice stairway immediately to your left that apparently goes nowhere – a great conversation starter! As Cinzia and Grace were the only English speakers at...

Basic human nature suggests our personalities are multi-faceted. It seems it doesn’t take much in the way of a perceived unfriendly situation to cause us to revert to a more primitive, self-protecting response. On the surface, it appears to be very contradictory that in one context a person can be the model of consideration and then in another, the same person can be down right inconsiderate. We have seen this seeming paradox in others and, when we are being honest with ourselves, we have probably seen it in our own behavior. We are in Italy now looking to develop a yardstick to use in situations involving interaction with others.  I think we have come to recognize at this early stage, lacking a good database to work from, there is a clear danger in jumping to conclusions too early on how another culture works. First, there is the obvious language problem.  A mature language has layers of nuance and subtlety that are opaque when you are trying to squeak by in accomplishing some of the more basic, life tasks. Then right along with inadequate language capability is the absence of a seat-of-the-pants orientation to what is still a fundamentally different culture.  One of the pre-eminent, early leaders in modern psychotherapy was Carl Jung who came up with the concept of the ‘Collective Unconscious.’  That is to suggest we carry in our makeup an imprint of our distant, cultural past.  However much some of us associate our genetic strain to have been made up of an ancestry rooted in Europe, America of the past 300 years has been a very different place.  It is probably not too extreme to suggest that there may be some elements of an ‘American Personality’ that are different from an ‘Italian Personality.’ We do correctly see Italians as a warm and generous people.  But then the problem arises as to how we should interpret some other behavior we observe demonstrating what to an American would be considered a clear lack of consideration.  In Italy, there is an expression, ‘furbo,’ in other words, a ‘sly one.’  One who acts in blatant disregard to the equities of others such as sneaking ahead in line.  The behavior is often...

Larry and I want to wish all of our Blog followers a very Happy Thanksgiving.  I believe only the Americans, Canadians and Dutch celebrate this day.  About three weeks ago our oldest daughter, Jeni, asked if we were going to have Thanksgiving for our new Italian friends.  I have to admit she was way ahead of me as I hadn’t thought about it but, since we have so much in our lives to be thankful for, it seemed like a wonderful idea.  We have invited six friends to join us for An American Thanksgiving (actually being held on Saturday since they all work).  I’m still searching for the illusive ingredients to put it together, so I’ll let you know how it all worked out later in the food blog. Baby it is cold outside!  I really don’t expect much sympathy when we’re in Italy living our dream.  But honestly, other than leaving loved ones behind, for me dealing with the winter weather may be the hardest part of this adventure.  Anyone who knows me well is aware of how much I love the sun and warm weather, so California was my weather paradise.  I was raised on the east coast where we had winter but, once I was old enough to understand weather nationwide, I told everyone that I wanted to live in Florida or California. I admire the meteorologists in this area because I’ve never lived anywhere that they could predict the weather worth a darn.  If our weather forecast in Ascoli predicts rain at 3:00, more often than not, right around 3:00 it starts to rain.  I can probably count the number of sunny days so far this November on one hand.  This is no surprise, but that was the one bit of knowledge I had to put into my “denial file” in order to move here.  Monday night’s prediction was for 1″ of snow – our first in the city.  Fortunately, we took the forecast seriously and braved the cold rain on Monday to run our errands and gather supplies.  Before we went to bed Larry finally figured out a way to support a cover for our potted lemon tree, so we were hunkered down and...