Bachelor Pad: Life in Rome

As I come to the end of my first week here, I thought that I would share some the more mundane details of my routine. I begin most days with a tiny cup of coffee and a pastry. Somehow, this sustains me without complaint to after 1 in the afternoon. It must be something in the air. I then read or go down into Rome. I have slowly been taking different routes down from the hill into Trastevere so that I can learn the neighborhood better. Below you can see the stairs on the Viale Glorioso that separate Trastevere from the Gianicolo. There are at least five sets and more than a hundred steps. I always say I am going to count, but I forget somewhere around two thirds of the way to the top as I try not to collapse.

There are other ways up and down the Gianicolo, but none of them are as quick or direct. But then again, quick and direct are not necessarily what it is about. The opposite of Viale Glorioso is Via Garibaldi, which winds back and forth up the hill in zigzags. On most days, I go down the Via San Pancrazio past the Spanish Academy and Embassy, which is neither too steep nor too crooked.

Today, I walked from the academy to the Gianferrari's apartment near San Pietro. My path took me along the Aurelian Walls, which were built in the 270s. As I went along, I thought about all of the invaders who had taken the same path: Goths in 410, Arabs in 846, Charles V's troops in 1527, Italians in 1870, Germans in 1944. And the Americans every summer since.

The food at the academy is excellent but not within my budget. Most days I cook for myself, but I have had a few excellent dinners at restaurants. So far I have been savoring the extra thick spaghetti (much thicker than the American variety) in Amatriciana and Carbonara. Always looking for offally good food, I could not resist 'trippa' when I saw it on the menu of a restaurant specializing in Roman cuisine. It was exactly what I thought it was. I am usually more in love with the idea of offal than the reality, but this may be one of the few that I will order again. It was tender and had the texture of mushrooms. I really enjoyed it.

I still can't get over how great the food is here and how little it costs. I leave you with pictures of lunch, dessert, and dinner.

A tartaruga (think tortuga) stuffed with bresaola, cheese, and butter.

The largest fig I have ever seen.

A minestrone of my own creation. As long as most of the 

ingredients come in cans, and I only need to use one pot, 

I can make delicious soup.