Edibles

Susan picked up an edible Ojai and Ventura County at the Ventura Farmers' Market and, golly, it's been a while since I perused their publications, and now they have Ventura county as part of the first edible publication from Ojai, with "Fillmore" on the front in tiny letters.  I see that Edible Allegheny is still around (I should subscribe so they don't fold like edible D.C. did -- although now I see that it is up and running again).  They are nice magazines to peruse now and then so you can see what food you should look for when you visit a place, and the photos can be lovely.

For instance, edible Queens has lovely photos of a featured Neighborhood Deli: Morscher’s Pork Store in Ridgewood.  Why, it looks even more interesting than that cheese store in Trastevere and I bet it smells absolutely fantastic!  Look at those sausages!  and they have more than one variety of headcheese.

Sometimes it is hard to know what town the magazine covers unless you are from the region, like edible East End (but then they have a lot of articles on latkes so you can figure it out), or Pioneer Valley (is that like Fillmore's Heritage Valley?), or Front Range, or Nutmeg, or South Shore, or even Door and Allegheny because who is familiar with counties?  And then there is edible WOW...  Detroit and Ann Arbor?  but what does W.O.W. stand for?  Wide Open West???

Are they yuppie publications?  You bet.  Just like Slow Food.  But every so often you run across something interesting that you didn't know before.

Walking from Malibu to Mexico

Mother sent me back to the house with 3 new Sunset magazines, one of which featured a trek from Newport Beach to San Clemente with the author of a walkabout guide: Walkabout Malibu to Mexico: Hiking Inn to Inn on the Southern California Coast.  The author, Tom Courtney, is my age, a retired UC Berkeley professor, and has written a previous book on walking Northern California.  He's gotten a lot of local press and even a recent blurb in a New York Times blog but I haven't heard about Walkabout California that I can remember.

Naturally, the inns are not the 10 euro albergues that you find on the Camino but most of the ones Sunset lists are below $200 and I wonder if you couldn't find cheaper dives by the beach.  A query about cheaper accommodations on the walkabout forum got this reply: "There are hostels and Motel 6 along the way....and there's always airbnb."

Obviously there will be a lot of stairs as you walk up and down the cliffs by the beach so it might be a little hard on the knees.  You can buy digital sections of the guide online or download a complete digital version (pdf or kindle editions).  Maybe Juan and Mandy would like to try the 5-day La Jolla to Mexico stretch sometime, although I know that they would much prefer a cruise or lolling on the beach.

I hope that soon Courtney will come out with a Walkabout Central California since he only reaches Monterey in the Northern California volume and starts at Malibu in the Southern California volume.

Our Walking Record on the Camino

I want to be realistic about how far we can walk each day.  In 2007, when we were 8 years younger, this was our mileage (granted Fernando had major foot problems):
Roncesvalles to Zubiri (rocky, muddy and in the rain): 22.2 km or 13 1/3 miles.
Pamplona to Uterga: 16.8 km (10 miles). (up over a mountain)
Uterga to Puente la Reina: 10.1 km (6 miles). (very easy)
Estella to Los Arcos: 22.7 km (13.6 miles) - without pack this was most enjoyable
Los Arcos to Viana: 19 km (11.4 miles)

If we can keep it at 20 km without packs, we should do OK, as long as we start out early or have reservations at each refugio/hostal so we don't arrive at our destination with no place to stay, like we did at the beginning of our Camino in 2007.  We won't start out on May 1st and we will have reservations for that day, which means we need to carry a cell phone.  One that works.  The following is assuming a 3 mph walk.  Let's also assume a 2.5 mph walk, but no less than that!

1.  Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierzo: 23.7 km (14.22 miles) (4.74 hours) (5.69 hours)
2.  Villafranca to Vega del Valcarce: 19.7 km (11.82 miles) (3.94 hours) (4.73 hours)
3.  Vega del Valcarce to O Cebreiro: 11.2 km (6.72 miles) (2.24 hours) (2.69 hours)
4.  O Cebreiro to Triacastela: 20.7 km (12.42 miles) (4.14 hours) (4.97 hours)
5.  Triacastela to Sarria: 25 km (15 miles) (5 hours) (6 hours)
6.  Sarria to PortoMarin: 22.9 km (13.74 miles) (4.58 hours) (5.5 hours)
7.  Portomarin to Palas de Rei: 26.1 km (15.66 miles) (5.22 hours) (6.26 hours)
8.  Palas de Rei to Melide: 15.3 km (9.18 miles) (3.06 hours) (3.67 hours)
9.  Melide to Arzua: 14.1 km (8.46 miles) (2.82 hours) (3.38)
10. Arzua to Pedrouzo (Arca do Pino): 19.2 km (11.2 miles) (3.84 hours) (4.48 hours)
11. Pedrouzo (Arca do Pino) to Santiago: 20.6 km (12.36 miles (4.12 hours) (4.94 hours)

So that is 11 days of easy walking, more or less.  In 2007 we used the luggage transfer service Jacotrans from Estella to Los Arcos.  The Leon office has a list of albergues/hostales from which they pick up luggage.  I'll have to check them out, although the idea of making reservations in advance makes me uneasy.  What if we don't make it to our destination???

Planning for the Last Stages of the Camino

How to break up the walk into manageable portions.  This isn't very interesting reading but is my scratch pad.

I'm looking at the first (and still most appealing) book I bought about the Camino when we went to Barcelona in 1999: El Camino de Santiago a Pie.  The stages they recommend for starting in Ponferrada (our first stage), with the mileage and hours, follow, with the original numbering from Roncesvalles.  They may have chosen the various villages to stop in because they have refugios/albergues  and because they wanted to complete the entire Camino from the French Border in a month.  There are more accommodations available now and we are also in no hurry to get to Santiago so we can split up the days or choose to stay in other locations.  We just have to make sure that there are accommodations available.

22. Ponferrada (205.4 km to Santiago) to Villafranca del Bierzo: 22.5 km; 5 1/2 hours.  Evidently an easy day as it is marked with one boot.  (183 km left)
23. Villafranca del Bierzo to O Cebreiro: 30 km; 8 1/2 hours; 3 boots. (153 km left)
24.  O Cebreiro to Triacastela: 20.5 km; 5 hours; 1 boot. (132.4 km left)
25.  Triacastela to Barbadelo: 22.9 km; 5 1/2 hours; 1 boot. (109.5 km left)
26.  Barbadelo to Gonzar: 25.3 km; 7 hours; 2 boots. (84.2 km left)
27.  Gonzar to Melide: 31.7 km; 8 hours; 3 boots.  (52.5 km left)
28.  Melide to Pedrouzo/Arca: 32.4 km; 8 hours; 2 boots.  (20.1 km left)
29.  Pedrouzo/Arca to Santiago: 20.1 km; 5 hours; 1 boot.

John Brierly in A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino de Santiago (2006) breaks it up differently, staying in a town before Ponferrada, Molinaseca, which would increase our first day's kilometrage to 30.7 km (19.1 miles), not something I would do.  Brierly also says there is much to see in Ponferrada (including the Templar castle), a town of 60,000 which gets its name from the iron bridge that was built here in the 11th century.  Its tourist office has lists of hostals and guest houses in addition to the new albergue that has 185 beds.  So, changing his starting point to Ponferrada, the stages would be:

1.  Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierzo: 23.7 km.  Villafranca only has a population of 5,000 but it is a popular tourist venue so it has a "wide range of alternative accommodations".
2.  Villafranca del Bierzo to O Cebreiro: 30.9 km (19.2 miles).  This stage is the steepest of the whole Camino but offers stunning views of the Valcarce Valley (Vallis Carceras in Latin means narrow valley).  There are intermediate accommodations so we could break the walk in two.  O Cebreiro has also become a popular tourist venue.
3.  O Cebreiro to Triacastela: 20.7 km (12.9 miles) downhill (after a short steep climb) with tremendous views.
4.  Triacastela to Sarria via Samos: 25 km (15.5 miles).  Sarria is a bustling modern town of 12,000 with railway and bus lines.
5. Sarria to PortoMarin: 22.9 km (14.2 miles).  Portomarin is a modern town of 2,000 on the edge of a reservoir created in 1962, which flooded the original town so that the residents opted to have it relocated here.
6.  Portomarin to Palas de Rei: 26.1 km (16.2 miles).  The regular Lugo to Santiago bus stops here in case we need to quit :-).
7.  Palas de Rei to Ribadiso (Arzua): 26.4 km (16.4 miles).  Midway through this walk (15.3 km) is the town of Melide with a town of 8,000 that is known for its octopus (even though it is not on the coast!), so that would be a good additional stopping night for us.
8.  Ribadiso to Arca do Pino (Pedrouzo): 22.2 km (13.8 miles).  There are duplicate names for many of these towns, one in Spanish and the other in Galician (Gallego).  Brierly says this is the last main albergue before Santiago.
9.  Arca (Pedrouzo) to Santiago: 20.6 km (12.8 miles).

Fernando will be in no hurry and he wants to break the stages down further and start closer to Santiago and stay a few nights in Leon...  He also doesn't like the looks of O Cebreiro, but then I showed him this video and now he says "very interesting"...  Stay tuned.

Oh!  and if you want to see short video clips of the whole route from O Cebreiro to Santiago, check out https://www.youtube.com/user/XacobeoVideo.

O Cebreiro to Santiago?

O Cebreiro from the Trepidatious Traveller

I'm not completely convinced about starting our walk in this little stone village at the Galician/Leon y Castilla border, which I assume is popular because it is the first town in Galicia and more or less at the top of a mountain.  I've been reading blog posts and looking at videos about this last section of the Camino just to get an idea of what we will be up against.  My blog is my thinking pad.

The Trepidatious Traveller (60 year-old English woman living in Spain) did the whole Camino Frances from St. Jean Pied de Port with her daughter in 2013.  She was worried that as soon as she reached Sarria (a bit closer to Santiago than O Cebreiro), the way would get crowded with "day trippers" (like us) just doing the minimum required for the Compostela (certificate).  She did not find that to be the case and she did long days (25-30 km/15-18 miles), stopping later in the afternoon and was always able to find a place to stay.  She did go in May when it is less crowded and she did stay in towns that aren't the standard stopping places.

Even more reassuring are some Youtube videos from a Spanish family (father, mother and teenage daughter) that filmed parts of 9 daily stages from Ponferrada to Santiago.  They went in August, the Spanish vacation month, so it should have been the most crowded, yet in the videos the Camino doesn't look crowded at all.  In fact, the Camino looked more crowded when we were doing the Camino in 2007 from Roncesvalles to Logrono.

Shall we book the flight?  US Airways from Pittsburgh to Madrid is $1083.80/person, leaving May 5th and returning May 19th.   Or we could use our American Advantage miles, except each way, leaving April 29th and returning May 12th is 20K and we only have 70K right now.  We better hurry up and spend more money on the AA credit card!  Usually we have no problem with that...  Stay tuned!!

The Camino Portugués

I was reading The Trepidatious Traveler's blog on the Camino Portugués which runs from Lisbon to Santiago de Compostela.  That route is appealing for its comparative obscurity (not as crowded), its proximity to the coast which I hope makes it less mountainous, and thus hopefully warmer.  However, since fewer people travel it, there are fewer accommodations and I'm not sure if there is a luggage transport system and that is something we would definitely want this time.  It was much more delightful walking without a 27 pound pack.

The Camino Portugués (Caminho Portugués) is 615 kilometers so it is shorter than the Camino Francés which is 800 Km from St. Jean Pied de Port.  The Trepidatious Traveler did it in 27 days while Camino Ways has a self-guided tour for 28 days.  Camino Ways divides it into 5 sections and the last section, from Tui at the Portuguese border to Santiago, is 110 kilometers.  There are some ups and downs in the last section but the highest elevation is only 255 meters at the end when you reach Santiago.  In all the Camino Portugués, the highest elevation is 472 meters.  The last 100 km of the Camino Frances has a high point of 723 meters, and if we started from O Cebreiro, at the border between Galicia and Leon, the altitude is 1300 meters but from there it is downhill followed by ups and downs of lower elevations.  Of course with mountains come views so that might make for more spectacular scenery.

Maybe we can do O Cebreiro to Santiago this year and the Camino Portugués next year.

Are we ready for the Camino again?

Stages and mileage on the Camino

It's been 7 1/2 years since we did the first stage of the Camino de Santiago in May of 2007, from Roncesvalles to Burgos, although we went by bus the last stretch from Logroño to Burgos because of Fernando's feet.  This time he will take his boots and I will make him practice beforehand.

This time Fernando also wants to end up in Santiago de Compostela so that means we need to start closer to the end, perhaps in O Cebreiro which is 159 kilometres/98 miles from Santiago.  This means going through the hills of Galicia where it often rains and means mud so we'll need to be ready for that.   Mundiplus has an itinerary from O Cebreiro to Santiago that takes 10 days.  And CaminoWays shows the elevation of the route under their "itinerary" tab from Ponferrada to Sarri (O Cebreiro is midway between them) and then from Sarri to Santiago.   It is quite hilly.  Sarri to Santiago takes 6 or 7 nights and covers the minimum 100 km required for the Compostela certificate.  The advantage to self-guided tour companies like Mundiplus and Caminoways is that they carry your luggage from hotel to hotel and include the accommodations as well as breakfast and dinner.  One happy customer said "Unlike other pilgrims, we didn’t have to carry our luggage and we didn’t have to hurry to the next town to find a place to sleep."

The disadvantage is that it comes at a price: Mundiplus charges 790 euros ($977) per person sharing a double room for its 10 day self-guided tour from O Cebreiro to Santiago.  That would be $1,580/10 or $158/day.  The Outer Banks is about $126/day for us and that doesn't include two meals and luggage transfers, so I suppose Mundiplus isn't outrageous, except that we still have to get to Spain.  And of course, we might feel a bit extravagant walking among other pilgrims who are roughing it in refugios for 10 euros a night...

Leaving Rome, Nov. 19th: 3 hours on the tarmac

All good things must come to an end and so we had to leave Rome.  Vibe left on Tuesday and now it is our turn.  The building across from the apartment has undergone quite a change: it now has a new coat of beige plaster, despite all the rainy days and the weekend when they didn't work.  Will they eventually paint it yellow with brown trim to match the side of the building?  They painted the eaves beige.  Is that an undercoat?  Will we ever know?  I suppose we could ask Andrea to send us a photo when they are finished.

We also had our last bottle of wine last night: a frascati rather than a novello which was our specialty this trip because it comes out in November.  The frascati went fine with all the leftovers that we hadn't manage to eat while Vibe was here (she took us out to dinner several times).    I also never managed to get to EATALY or to anything else in Testaccio.  That will have to wait for the next trip!

Air, water and soap for each sink.

Andrea called a cab for us at 8 in the morning and it took about 45 minutes to get to the airport, which left us plenty of time before our flight, which was scheduled for 11:35 am.  The American and Israeli airlines are off in a terminal by themselves so we left Penny (who was taking Lufthansa) at Terminal 3 and we took a shuttle out to Terminal 5 (I'm not sure what happened to Terminal 4).  That meant that our shopping options were limited and they had no bancarelle at all!  But the bathrooms had nice sinks where the soap, water and dryer were all together for each sink.  They even had a low sink for children!  Of course two of the five sinks were out of order...

Unlike the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, Rome's airport is small and so we weren't waiting in interminable lines for 3 hours.  Instead we were waiting on the tarmac for 3 hours because the fuel wasn't loaded on the plane right and it took them that long to fix it.  Like our flight to Rome, our flight to Philadelphia was 3 hours late and we left at 2:30pm instead of 11:35am.   Also as on our trip to Rome, we were sitting over the wing and couldn't see much, although we did get a peak at the alps before we got up so high that we only saw clouds.

We landed in Philadelphia at 6:41 pm (instead of 3:45) so I had missed my 5:29pm flight to Pittsburgh but US Airways had rescheduled all the connecting  passengers and had a table full of new boarding passes waiting when we disembarked.  That was just as well since now I was on Fernando's 8:29pm flight to Pittsburgh, and it was just as well that his flight was running late (now 9:10, eventually 9:25) since it took us a whole hour to get through immigration and customs and again through security.  After which we treated ourselves to a Wendy's hamburger (and Penny was having dinner with Laina already at the Fair Lawn diner!).

We eventually reached Pittsburgh (30 degrees), got our car and drove home, arriving just after midnight.  But not without one final mishap.  They didn't load Fernando's suitcase on our Pittsburgh flight.  It had my luggage tag for the 5:29 flight and we had asked the guy in Philadelphia if the tag shouldn't be changed.  "No, don't worry.  It will get there."  Well, it didn't get there on our flight but was put on the 10 pm flight.  So now they are supposed to send it by delivery this morning.  We will let you know if it doesn't arrive!!

Tues Nov 18....beautiful day at a leisurly pace

Yes, we are tired, but this morning we were up at 7:30 am to received Juan and Mandy's call.  And Vibe had to leave to fly back to Copenhagen so she was up soon after.  Present shopping was first on the agenda with a trip down Via Nationale stopping at many stores.  It's a good shopping street and the Italians do have lovely fashion.  Those Chaparro/Cichello grandchildren are very fortunate.  Why didn't we have grandparents like that?  (Cathy says we did!)
Then back to the apartment to drop off the loot before walking up to Republica to catch the metro to yet another shopping area.  But first at stop at Flaminio and the Piazza del Popolo which was beautiful with the blue skies and clouds.

 We stopped at Santa Maria del Pololo to admire Carivaggio's Crucifixion of St. Peter, and his Conversion.  Very beautiful when one inserted two euros in the illumination box so they were visible.




Than across the Tiber which was so much higher today after all the rain.  We would have needed snorkles to walk the path we walked yesterday.  Shopping on that side was disappointing, so we caught another bus, making good use of our transit pass, back to the centro storico to wander the narrow, picturesque streets.  We had lunch at a pizza place where we think we were ripped off.  The pizza was good, greasy, and very expensive.
However, all was redeemed when we found the very best gelato in the world...at Frigidarium.  Passion fruit and fondente (dark chocolate) and Bacio with so many hazelnuts!!!
Soon we found ourselves back at the Pantheon for the third time, but that is one of Fernando's favorite sights because of its terrific architecture so that was just fine.  Then at Largo Argentina we caught our favorite 40 bus back to the apartment.  Tonight we are very happily eating leftovers.  We have checked into our flights, asked Andrea to book a car for us, and pretty much packed.
Ten days is a good length for a trip.  We saw a lot, of course not all we planned, but now we are tired.  And, who knows, we may return someday to see the rest of Italy.

Rome: November 17, Saint Peter's and More Rain

After walking up Via Nazionale to the #40 bus stop and waiting there for ten minutes, seeing all the buses packed full like sardines, we decided instead to take the Metro to Saint Peter's Basilica from Repubblica.  While the metro was crowded and we had to stand, we at least were able to fit ourselves into the cars.  We got off at Ottaviano (with everybody else, it seemed) and I had to forego browsing the bancarelle along Via Ottaviano so that we could get to St. Peter's before it started raining.

We thought that the line into Saint Peter's on Saturday evening was horrendous and due to the fact it was Saturday night.  Yesterday it was even worse, stretching at least for a quarter of a mile -- well, at least for a couple of city blocks.  But I love looking at all the Italian fashions in the line!  Vibe and Fernando held our place in line while Penny and I went on our search for the medals of Saints John XXIII and John Paul II in the religious shops.  Still no luck finding the joint commemoration medal and so I decided to just get one of each for Patty Horomanski.  And we got the Holy Water!  Although Vibe said it was just as good from the tap...

Nail job, anyone?

Saint Peter's was immense and magnificent with lots and lots of statues, including Michelangelo's Pieta.  Too bad we didn't know who the rest of the statues were but we took lots of photos of them anyway.  Vibe wanted to climb to the top of the dome but she had no other takers (551 steps are way beyond our limit) so she'll have to wait for another occasion.

After Saint Peter's we walked over to Trastevere beside the Tiber River, a low riverside walkway that is below water today (we've had lots of rain).  We came up the stairs at Ponte Sisto, walked along the Via del Moro and decided to eat at L'Antico Moro.

Vibe and Fernando had pizza and Penny and I had pasta.  We had a friendly waiter but he brought Penny the wrong pasta and Fernando the wrong pizza so we were there longer than usual waiting for our food.

The weather was threatening throughout the day and I have a great video of a downpour after we left the restaurant.  Fortunately each of us had our own umbrella today. 

We wandered over to Santa Maria Trastevere where we happened upon a funeral which gave us time to sit and contemplate mortality. After the funeral we were able to view the gorgeous mosaics above the altar, and the cosmatesque floors. Cathy hem and hawed but finally bought an advent calendar of Santa Maria in Trastevere, which she will display each Christmas until she dies.

Then we made a beeline for San Francesco a Ripa, stumbling across Antica Caciara, the old-fashioned cheese shop that was featured in a video on youtube.  We didn't have the proprietor wait on us but the other clerk was just as helpful and friendly.  I bought some ceci-like beans, a mix of grains and lentils for a soup, some cheese and a burrata (the cream and mozzarella-filled mozzarella).  We saw the Bernini statue in San Francesco but we were all getting tired of churches and Vibe didn't want to go on to see Santa Cecilia.

We wandered back over the Tiber, across the Tiber Island, ending up by the synagogue in the Jewish ghetto.  Fernando and Penny had some kosher gelato but it wasn't very good.  After a bit more wandering through small streets in the general direction of Largo Argentina, we realized we were back at the Tiber River, having gone full circle.  So we took out the phones again to find our way over to the Largo Argentina, where we took the #40 bus back home, jammed in with a lot of other people with fogged up windows.  But we made it.

After resting for an hour or so, Vibe was hot for another restaurant.  We perused the map online and decided to walk down to the Antica Boheme at the end of Via Napoli.  The restaurant was mainly in the basement but we had a very charming waiter, who anticipated what each of us was ordering.

Vibe ordered minestrone and osso bucco (she said that the one she makes is better), Penny ordered meat ravioli and carciofi alla romana (artichoke), I had spinach and ricotta ravioli and a carciofi, but Fernando had a fruit salad followed by a creme brulee.  This evening we didn't top it off with limoncello but with machiatos, except for Vibe who had a latte.

We are getting very fat on this trip...

Rome: November 16: A Day of Culture (and Rain)

Last night we were too tired to post, having eaten dinner at the Roman hour.

Yesterday morning Vibe wanted to visit Santa Maria Maggiore which we had already seen so she took off at 9 and Cathy and Fernando, being such good Catholics, accompanied her.  Poor Penny stayed home and did the dishes.  Cathy was able to pick up a plastic figurine of a baker for her Christmas pesebre, as well as fill out some "intentions" for Pat Horomanski, in case we don't make it back to St. Peter's.

Since we were close to another ancient church, Santa Prassede, we decided to go looking for it.  If we hadn't known where it was we would have walked right past it since it looks like any other old building on the street, the front entrance being very small and discreet.  Inside it is quite a large church, extending left into the interior of the city block.  It has some nice ancient mosaics in one of the side rooms and Vibe noticed a poster advertising an organ concert at 7 in the evening, conveniently after the organ concert we had planned to attend at 5 at Santa Maria degli Angeli.

Quirinale Piazza with Castor & Pollux

But we had to get back to pick up Penny and head over to the Presidential Palace on the Quirinale Hill (the highest one in Rome), which is only open to the public on Sundays.  The President was going to show us his digs, the ones he got from the Pope.  Pope Gregory the 8th had built it in 1583 as a summer residence.  When the papal states were overthrown in 1870 it became the residence of the Italian king, and when the monarchy was abolished it 1946, it became the residence of the President.  The entrance still refers to the pope and Fernando thinks they should get rid of that sign...

As are so many things in Rome, the palace is over-the-top baroque, which is not very appealing to us.  But we can't expect them to have had our sensibilities, can we?

The line for the Quirinale palace
with an Italian in Petroleum Green

The main reason Penny was visiting the palace was that they had a free-for-seniors concert at 11:50 am in the Pauline Chapel, featuring a piano and violin playing Poulenc and Beethoven.  Actually there were two young ladies named Francesca that did the playing.  In any case, we felt like real Italians, since there weren't many tourists there, except for this one gentleman in the line with a suitcase and backpack.  Yes, there was a line but it moved quickly and although we had to visit the palace first, we made quick work of it and arrived at the concert in plenty of time.

Then, since it was close to the palace, we went to the Hans Memling exhibit across the piazza.  Hans Memling was a Flemish painter who did a lot of commissions for Italian bankers and merchants living in Flanders during the 15th century.  It was an interesting, well-documented exhibit.  When we came out of the exhibit it was still not raining so we decided to walk down into the Centro Storico to have lunch and see some churches, instead of going back to the apartment.

Eating our Paninis

We stopped at an "organic" sandwich shop and had paninis on fresh pizza bianca.  They slice the long pizzas lengthwise, then slice a horizontal opening where they lay the prosciutto and other toppings.  I had prosciutto with puntarelle, which are in season now.  I had seen these bitter greens in the markets but didn't buy them since I didn't know what to do with them.  They were slightly bitter but not overwhelmingly so, not like the Italian chicory I planted in the garden one year!

As we were finishing our paninis, the big drops started falling and from then on, our walk wasn't as pleasant.  We stopped by the Trevi Fountain, which is being restored, and threw our little coins into the temporary fountain.  There were lots of tourists and a bunch of little shops, including a Pinocchio shop with lots of wood items for children.

Tossing Coins into the Trevi Fountain

Penny and Vibe with Pinnocchio

Vibe had left her umbrella in the apartment so we only had 3 small umbrellas for the 4 of us.  The cloud-covered sky made the interiors of the churches so dark that one could barely make out the paintings on the ceiling.  This was a big disappointment at Santa Maria sopra Minerva because the ceiling is supposed to be a brilliant blue with stars.  Everything was a murky gray with spotlights shining down in your eyes instead of up to illuminate the art.

Since it was raining so hard I decided to skip Saint Ignatius and only go to El Jesu, also Jesuit and which holds the tomb of St. Ignatius.  Again it was too dark to read the signs and the boxes where you donate a euro to illuminate the scene were turned to the wall and didn't work.  We looked like a bunch of wet cats and dogs and were not appreciating any of these churches so decided to find a bus home.

Fortunately finding a bus this time was very easy, we sploshed quickly over to the Largo Argentina and caught the #40 express that arrived at the same time.  No seats to speak of, of course, and we were lucky we could squeeze in.  Then the problem was to find our stop when we couldn't see out of the fogged up windows.  Italian buses, unlike other buses in the civilized world, do not announce or otherwise indicate the stops.  Since the #40 makes few stops, we ended up several blocks beyond the apartment but it was a lot better than walking.

Since we hadn't had gelato for a few days, Penny and I decided to stop at the VW Bus gelato place on our block and regain our strength.  Vibe and Fernando declined but perhaps wish they hadn't since it was a long time until dinner.  By now it was about 4:30 but black as night.  These winter days really have many fewer hours of light.

All that music, culture and religion had tired us out so we all took a nap after a spot of tea.  Then off again to get to the organ concert at Santa Prassede at 7 pm.  The organist was a young man from Poland who apparently felt blessed to be able to play the church organ.  There were very few people there - to be expected at a free classical concert, I suppose, even in Europe -- but it was quite enjoyable and he even played 4 encore pieces at the end.   It was hard to get him to stop!

Afterwards we showed Penny the small room of ancient mosaics that she had missed that morning and then we went looking for dinner, at an appropriately Roman hour.  We wandered down Via Urbana and up Via del Boschetto -- I forgot to mention that it had stopped raining when we were in the organ concert -- perhaps because he played one of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, although I can never remember which one.  The streets are in the Monti district so it is very hilly and paved with the large square black cobblestones typical of Rome.  Eventually we ended up at Taverna dei Monti, a Rick Steves recommendation near Via Nazionale.

We started out with Primi: I tried bucatini alla matriciana (a Roman specialty with tomato sauce), Vibe had spaghetti alle vongole (with clams), and Penny and Fernando had minestrone.  Then for the secondi Penny and Vibe had abbachio (roast baby lamb with potatoes), I had eggplant parmigiana and Fernando had tripe, which he said was very good.  We were all stuffed after two courses and swore we would never do it again!  Fortunately the proprietor brought us some limoncello and biscotti to renew our appetites!  No gelato for desert this evening!!

Rome: Saturday, Nov. 15: Sant'Angelo and The Vatican Museum

This morning we woke up at the reasonable hour of 7 and received a phone call from Juan and Mandy (it was 9 pm for them in San Diego).  We had panettone and caffe latte for breakfast and then hopped on the #40 bus for the Vatican.  Although "hopped on" isn't quite the right term since we walked up and down trying to find the right bus stop and trying to decide whether to take the #64 (which had more stops but was packed) or the #40 Express.  We finally walked a bit further and caught the 40 express, eventually getting a place to sit down and arriving fairly quickly at the Vatican.

Castel Sant'Angelo

First we visited Castel Sant'Angelo which was originally the Emperor Hadrian's tomb but was then repurposed as a stronghold/fortress for the popes in the 15th-16th centuries, when the Holy Roman Emperors were sacking Rome.  We did a lot of hiking up and down stairs but got some beautiful views of the Tiber and the Rome cityscape.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take the Pope's escape route back to the Vatican, the one that Tom Hanks used in the movie Angels and Demons.  Instead we had to walk around in circles finding our way out.

View from Castel Sant'Angelo

Group of Happy Hikers

Lunch at Salento Salato

Fortunately we were able to regain our strength with a stop at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant.  The names of most restaurants are not very prominent but they are mainly advertised as a trattoria, pizzeria, gelateria, bar, ristorante.  However I do remember that this restaurant was named after the "heel" region of the boot of Italy: Salento Salato.  The "tout" outside, who drew us in, had a Romanian mother, an Italian father and a French grandmother, and the waitress was from Lima, Peru.  The restaurant was very very small but we could chose 3 items from the daily menu plus water, soda or beer.  Guess what we drank?  They had orecchiete with eggplant and olives, with brocolli rabe (and anchovies), or with tuna and olives.  They also had roast veal, eggplant lasagna, and salad.  It was surprisingly good even if they served it on paper plates.

Naturally we were almost falling asleep after we ate and we had to find our way to the Vatican Museum by 2 pm.  So round and round we went for half an hour and finally ended up at the entrance, which is way on the other side of Vatican City.  Oh my gosh.  The Vatican Museum is immense and one has to walk up and down stairs for no apparent reason.  Today we have easily walked an equivalent of the 521 stairs to the top of St. Peter's dome.

Spiral Staircase at Vatican Museum

We tried to see the Raphael rooms and the Sistine Chapel first, and so did everyone else.  We have come to the conclusion that if you really want to see the paintings it is easier to look at them in a book or online.  The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is so high that it is hard to see, even with Penny's binoculars.  The restored paintings are much brighter but there are still a lot of very dark paintings.  They also have a collection of contemporary art but those were very dark as well, both in color and subject matter.

Sunset at St. Peter's

We had planned to visit St. Peter's Basilica after the Vatican but it was already turning dark and the line to get into the Basilica (mass was at 5 pm) was much longer than we were willing to wait.  So we are going to save St. Peter's for another day (crossing our fingers that we'll return).

We caught the #64 bus home without too much trouble and we all got seats since it was at the beginning of the route.  The buses have been very full with standing room only for sardines so we felt blessed.  We were also blessed in that it only started raining as we reached the apartment.  That means no gelato for us tonight.  We will have to content ourselves with another bottle of novello.

Rome: Friday, November 14, a day of perfect weather...

After a beer in a local bar and another bottle of Novello with dinner, we are struggling to compose a post in a coherent manner.


This morning we decided to buy a 7-day bus/metro pass forgetting that the buses were on strike...  We managed to get a #70 bus down to the Nuovo Mercato Esquilino where we picked up some clementines and bread and took a bunch of photos, especially of the squirming shrimp.  It is the immigrant market with few Italians but lots of Indians (or were they Pakistani?).

Chinese Mobile Phone Covers

It was when we tried to catch a bus home when a man reminded us about the strike.  It really wasn't too far to walk and we enjoyed going past all the Chinese stores with mobile phone covers.  We showed Penny the larger SMA supermarket and we picked up a bottle of Novello wine, some ravioli, some coffee and butane lighter for the oven.  AND we visited the church, Santa Maria Maggiore, where we looked for Bernini's tomb unsuccessfully, but they had the best toilettes we've found so far in Rome, with toilet seats.

At the foot of Via Napoli we ran into a small open air market where Cathy picked up a scarf for 3 euros, red so that Fernando can find her.  Then we stopped by a Carrefour Express supermarket (we can't resist supermarkets) where we picked some mozzarella and another bottle of Novello.  Time to get home before we buy more than we can eat.

We stopped to pick up lunch -- pizza by the slice -- at the pizzeria downstairs.  Big Mistake.  Not quite what we expect from pizza:  too much bread and not enough cheese or flavor.  We have done our duty locally and won't have to repeat it.  Fernando improved his slice with a piece of headcheese.


Since Vibe was scheduled to arrive at the airport at 1 pm, it gave us time for a nap, much needed at our age.   She arrived via the Leonardo Express, which she thought was too expensive.  And she had no trouble with the strike whatsoever.

Vibe wanted to be a pilgrim so we visited a whole bunch of churches: Santa Maria degli Angeli (the old Diocletian Roman baths -- really monumental in size and initially restored by Michelangelo).  This was probably our favorite because of its enormity.  They also have a magnificent pipe organ and maybe we can catch a recital on Saturday or Sunday (although they say to watch for pickpockets).

Then we walked over to nearby Santa Maria della Vittoria where Bernini has his statue of Santa Theresa in Ecstasy.  The statue is nice but hard to see and the rest of the church is over the top baroque.  It would be horribly hard to dust.
Then we crossed over to San Bernardo della Terme which is made from one of the round towers of the Roman baths.  Finally we visited the little San Carlino church by Borromini, very plain compared to Bernini's baroque. 

Then we headed up the Via Sistina toward the Spanish Steps, stopping by the Tritone Fountain by Bernini, which celebrated one of the restored aqueducts.  Each time we visited a fountain we were risking our lives crossing the encircling streets to reach it.  Afterwards we had to stop by and get some Mephisto shoes for Fernando, but then his credit card didn't work.  Luckily he had a second one.

Penny took some twilight photos of Rome and also numerous shots of an Italian family for whom she offered to take a group photos.  After wandering through the streets, we found our way back to Via Nazionale where we stumbled into a wine bar and had a beer.  Fernando and I had Italian beers.  Penny had an Irish beer with no fizz and Vibe had something equally innocuous.   Then we came back and cooked more ravioli for dinner.  Peter would love our diet here in Rome.

Rome, Thurs, Nov. 13

Nov 13 Thurs Rome

Here's what we did today

Woke up and were surprised it was already 8:30 am

La Signora Alluinni (in her night dress as were we) and her maid, Rosa, came by to change the sheets and towels

Took the 64 bus to Largo Argentina and then saw the Tiber River for the first time as we  walked across the Ponte Sisto to the Villa Farnesina, another Renaissance villa filled with incredible frescos, some by Raphael.  

Back across the Mazzini Bridge and through the interesting small streets looking for lunch.  Stopped at El Bric, a charming small restaurant for the daily pasta and risotto and red wine (and we didn't immediately fall asleep).

Then to the Palazzo della Cancelleria to see Leonardo Da Vinci: Le Grand Macchine.  But on the way we had to stop by the open air market at Campo de Fiori to admire all the goods.  The Da Vinci exhibit was high on Fernando's list, but, unfortunately, he was disappointed.  The exhibit wasn't executed with Leonardo's genius.

The Piazza Navona was next where Cathy was almost hit by a police car driving in reverse after a fleeing suspect.  In the center of the piazza is Bernini's Four River's Fountain with Borromini's Santa Agnes in Agone Church overlooking the whole.  Really quite fantastic.  The interior is the church is all baroque with some beautiful marble reliefs.

Fernando has a cold so we stopped at a farmacia to get some medicine and it was getting dark already.  Quick rush to the Pantheon, which is quite amazing even more so when you realize it wasn't destroyed through two millennia.  I've seen NY apartments that look in worse shape.

Now we had to get home and it was rush hour.  You have never seen such crowded buses (Fdo says they have them the same in Colombia).  We got on the second one and travelled like anchovies home. Wait!  We need ingredients for our dinner of salad.  Off to the little supermarket, but first a stop for our daily gelato at the Gelateria Artigianale. ..chocolate with rum, pistacio and chocolate fondente, pistacio and zabaione.  Tame flavors and just right as an appetizer.  For dinner a wonderful salad and another bottle of novello!!

Buona notte!

Tuesday, Nov. 12 Rome ..Borghese Gallery

Nov 12 narrative

To take full advantage of our Roma Passes we planned the Borghese Gallery for totoday. Advance reservation are required so we booked for 11 am, figuring that would give us plenty of time to get there.  However, we didn't count on the 910 bus being delayed and then so full we couldn't get on...so we walked!!

The Borghese is set in a lovely park in north Rome and is the palace of the luxury-loving Borghese family.  Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1576-1633) built the palace to showcase the art he acquired, sometimes through rather dubious means,  it's an extravaganza of treasures including Bernini's David, Apollo and Daphne and the Rape of Prosperpina.  Also lots of Caravaggios, although we were disappointed than some were not well lit!  The sculpture was fantastic, but the paintings suffered a bit from dim lighting.  Still a tremendous amount of fantastic art....all over the place, including all the ceilings and walls.

Cathy, Fernando and Penny and The Rape of Prosperpina

Our host ...Cardinal Scipone Borghese

We had been fighting with the weather...it rained or threatened to rain, but after our allotted two hours in the museum, we decided to walk around and explore the Coppede district, a small area with a hodge-podge assortment of art deco type architecture.  Could we find the bus stop for the bus we wanted?  NO, so we ended up walking there, too.  The weather held, but after that we were pretty tired and grumpy so we decided to go home, but again the bus didn't come.  Finally it did, and we perked right up when we stopped in the grocery store to buy the ingredients for dinner...artichoke ravioli, pastries, good bread, wine, cheese, cured meats.   Now we need to start cooking so we can go out for our daily gelato.

Borghese Gallery and Quartiere Coppede

The Borghese Gallery and the Quartiere Coppede are only about 7/10s of a mile apart so it might make sense to visit them on the same day.

Or we could take bus #92