FESTAS, FRUTTA, FRIENDS AND FAMIGLIA

Rome: March 15, 2015

Fact: a large portion of the Italian diet consists of foods, such as pizza al taglio, pasta, and bread in general along with liquids, such as wine, coffee, limoncello, and fizzy water (not a stereotypical exaggeration by any means). And I’m not going to lie, it has been a while since Ellie and I have really delved into the other four levels of the USDA approved food pyramid. Although ironically, we were invited to an after hours ‘social club’ – thus legally allowed to stay open later than the standard bar curfew- called Frutta e Verdura (translation Fruit & Vegetables) on a Sunday morning where I am pretty sure the closest thing to fruit being consumed was the lemon peel garnish with one’s vodka tonic.

My Aussie galpal – Kelly – invited a few of us over for an ‘epic, next levz,’ salad dinner party. I can’t elaborate much on the salad prep or ingredients as she insisted we only provide vino for the dinner. But it was such a treat to see Kelly in her parachute host pants passing out her hors d’oeuvre of freshly cut crudités and homemade hummus. Kelz is beginning to compile recipes and spoke if doing her own blog...fingers crossed! Here is the recipe to the Mediterranean lentil-salad she prepared!

Before heading over to Kelly’s part of town, Ellie and I made a pit stop in Italy’s Eataly for the self-serve jugs of wine for our NOLA guests who arrived early the following Tuesday morning. The Eataly here in Roma is enormous and an added bonus to purchasing wine there, over a closer enoteca or supermarket, are the generous spoonfuls and various samples of Nutella-like sweets, chocolates, and desserts. Ellie was a kid in a candy shop planning and prepping for her friends, Katie and Emily, to visit Roma. They arrived from Florence (where they had spent the weekend) and we had them riding on the back of mottos and eating the famous cacio e pepe dish (out of a dish made of parmesan cheese) from one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants – Roma Sparita– by that evening. We introduced them to our favorite cameriere, Andrea, who loved our guests and a good baci photo almost as much as I do. Andrea claimed to be not only the most knowledgeable on Italian cuisine and tiramisu, but also a master in the language of love, which he continued to try and teach Emily and Katie for most of the evening. We bopped from Roma Sparita to another gem in our area, Akbar, for a completely different scene from the quintessential Roman-style dining experience we had just introduced them to. The master mixologist behind the bar of Akbar is also named Andrea and he whipped up fancy cocktails that really WOW-ed. From Akbar, we obviously had to introduce them to our other family at Pimm’s Good and as expected, they welcomed Katie and Emily with open arms and Pimm’s cups.

Our pal Mirko was behind the bar that Tuesday and he was ecstatic that we brought in more English speakers for him to practice his English. But what really threw our visitors for a loop was not Mirko's knowledge the English language (he's gotten quite good), but the fact that Italians have different animal sounds than what Americans are used to. To be fair, it shouldn’t be that surprising sounds are perceived differently depending on your native tongue. Being immersed in a particular style of speech effects how we interpret songs, natural sounds, and other noises. Aside from linguistics, auditory interpretation and conjecture from Italian and English speakers, watching Katie and Emily explain to Mirko the “word” meow meant was beyond entertaining. Mirko didn’t just learn English animal sounds that evening, but also a new vocabulary word for a part of the body he was unfamiliar with before meeting Katie: a butt-chin. That’s right – a butt chin (also known as ‘dimple chin’ or ‘cleft chin’ among some chin experts). I never would have described Katie’s dainty chin comparable to someone’s bottom, BUT (pun intended) she continued to argue that’s exactly what you call her chin and made sure the word was fully integrated into Mirko’s working vocabulary. Unfortunately for Ellie and I, this English lesson ended at a late hour and the next day while we were teaching the English language to the future of Italy, Katie and Emily got to golf cart all around Roma for a private tour (and history lesson) with a man named Roberto. Roberto came highly recommended by a number of families back home who have used him when visiting Italy.

BUTT CHINS! 

Once we finished our lessons for the day, we planned to meet up with Stiles (Ellie’s cousin and founder of the English language school) with the girls at a notable pizza spot near Piazza Navona- La Montecarlo. Recently renovated to look a bit more posh – but no less greasy or grappa filled – Stiles and his birra braved a quadruple date with us four girls and our vino. Katie and Emily may have unintentionally embarrassed Stiles a bit when they decided to split a large pizza rather than order their own individual pies (total faux pas to split a pizza) – prompting the owner to ask why Stiles was on a diet? We capped the meal as most Italian’s do with a digestivo or after-dinner drink, grappa, to aid in the digestion of Montecarlo’s massive meal before hitting up another cool spot (and one that makes us feel right at home) – Gregory’s Jazz Club. But before making our way to Gregory’s for some live jazz music, I managed to grappa (the infinitive verb form of to spill one’s grappa) all over Emily’s pants...mi dispiace!

Gregory’s had the feel of a fine jazz club/secret speakeasy and a family owned Italian restaurant – a winning combination if you ask me. Now managed by a Brit and ex-coworker of Stiles, we were able to reserve a table in a cozy corner near the band. We helped ourselves to fancy cocktails and were even gifted a specialty shot from the manager that came filled with my favorite drink accessory: olives. Surprisingly it was the first time I’d ever accessorized a shot with an olive.

Fast forward to the weekend and the NOLA girls left for Venezia early Friday morning – the tail-end of their Italian adventure and probably much needed R & R from Roma. Everything seemed to be running smoothly until I sent Ellie off with Katie and Emily and realized her pants were on backwards (hilarious).  Not to mention her crappy Italian flip phone was almost dead. But I thought that was the worst of her problems until I received a frantic phone call from her telling me she bought the train ticket to Venice for the wrong day AND was kicked off the train in Bologna with no means of communicating with our visiting guests. Side note - her pants were still on backwards. So for most of Friday morning, pre my evening classes, I acted as a telephone operator for the separated parties – ensuring that once Ellie finally did make it to Venice (with her pants on backwards) that she was able to reunite with Katie and Emily.

Back-story to the inconvenient incident- Ellie’s iPhone had been stolen/pick-pocketed the week prior while riding the tram and her Italian ‘go’ phone was the only means for her to communicate (with only Italian numbers). These ‘polly-pocket’ like mobile phones just aren’t equipped for complicated forms of international communication like What’s App, Viber or even Facebook messaging. T9 TEXT ONLY!

Given I had been to Venice twice already and had classes late into Friday evening, I spent the weekend relaxing for once (but still with major bouts of FOMO). I did venture out for an apertivo and more disgestivos for a friend of a friend’s cumpleanno. Correct me if I’m wrong, but for someone’s birthday in the States, you typically (and specifically) order a cake (or desert) or make a scene of some sort during a dinner or (in italy’s case) an apertivo. My Dad, Sam’s birthday was Thursday (woo!) and you better believe Ellie and I are going all out not only our parents trip to Italy, but also our Dads’ days of birth (Tipp Schwing’s birthday 60th was also last week). So naturally I was concerned when no mini-cupcake or general acknowledgment of Andrea’s birthday was made after our meal and second round of drinks. I took the liberty to order an entire cake of tiramisu (the small cupcake portion didn’t quite translate). I wasn’t too worried about not having the proper tupperware containers to take extras home with me from dinner because from there we went to the disco – Cabala. 

On Tuesday, the 2nd of March, Ellie and I were invited to a truly special occasion (especially here in Italy): a FIRST year anniversary! Believe it-this Italian couple (also the owners of the bar Pimms Good), Rafa and Carolina, made it through a year of marriage and had a BIG festa to celebrate. Because the bar is their livelihood and everyone who works there is considered famiglia, the anniversary party was held at Pimms Good with free food and drinks for those invited and not those who just stumbled in off the cobblestone in Trastevere (although many tried). It was beyond kind for them to invite us honestly- I mean if they hadn’t – we probably would have just stumbled in anyway. But instead we made the exclusive, invite-only, Facebook guest list along with their close friends and family.

This upcoming weekend is a special one for Ellie and I as our parents have arrived in ROME to a bunch of big babies (us) who have been seriously missing their mommy and daddy. Our parents ten day fun-filled Italian vacation will surely be blog worthy and ends next week with a group trip to the Amalfi Coast.

BUT ANYWAYS! Don’t have time to continue rambling, but things I have to look forward to include my RENTS in ROMA, a belated birthday celebration for both Sam & Tipps (Me and Ellie’s main men) filled with Italian food, booze and cigars, and Gladiator School – yep, you read correctly. As part of my homeschooling curriculum with a ten-year-old American student, I've incorporated Gladiator School as a means to study that part of Roman history. From what I’ve read on this ‘school’ it might as well be called prep for the ‘Hunger Games’ should that fiction ever become a reality…

Currently taking advantage of wifi, soft linens, a king sized bed and room service at Hotel Hassler while the rents rest their wary feet- that aren’t yet accustomed to the cobblestoned streets. But before I finish, I want to wish everyone a HAPPY (or beware of the) Ides of March – 2057 years ago TODAY probably the most famous Roman ever, Julius Caesar, was assassinated…

Until next time!

Malpal