Today, like every other day, has been quite eventful. This eventful, however, is much different than the eventful you are probably thinking of. Our day started off at Gustolab, learning about coffee.
I may have mentioned to you (in person) that one of my goals for this trip was to become a coffee connoisseur. That, my friends, is no longer the case. Sonia and the barista explained to us that Italians call all types of coffee that come from an espresso machine an “espresso.” That is not to say that there is only one type of espresso. Variations of espressos include macchiato, macchiato freddo (cold), macchiato caldo (hot), in tazza calda (served in a cold glass), in tazza grande (served in a tall glass), al vetro, corretto, senza zucchero, con zucchero di canna, cappuccino and more.
I’d love to give you a description of all of these beverages, but I can’t. To me, all coffee seems to be the same in looks and in taste. One major difference in Italy is that espressos are much smaller than American coffees. Remember playing with dolls as a child? The baristas fill the cups you played with only halfway. One the plus side, I was able to down one espresso beverage, since it only took a few sips to do so. I tried an espresso with chocolate. You’d think that is would be delicious, given the chocolate in the drink. Well, it’s not. It was very strong and tasted like liquid dirt. In all fairness, I never have liked coffee don’t think I ever will. Some coffee drinkers of the group enjoyed the beverages, but my taste buds were not as fortunate.
Our espressos were accompanied with a small piece of chocolate cheesecake, making it the traditional Italian breakfast. Italians usually have a small espresso and a pastry for breakfast, and then eat a large lunch. As much as I love desserts, I did not (and do not ever) want cheesecake for breakfast. It was very good, but give me my cereal and yogurt anyday. At least an American breakfast can hold you over until lunchtime.
After the pastry and coffee (which I cannot truly call a breakfast), we gave class presentation and after an eternity, we ventured off to lunch. We chose an outdoor restaurant that we’ve passed multiple times. My friend and I split two dishes—ravioli with mushrooms and crostini. I’m not going to lie: I don’t enjoy brie cheese. It’s nasty. But when brie and baked potato wedges mix, it’s pure ecstasy. I may not be a coffee connoisseur, but I definitely know my potatoes. If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, it would be potatoes. And if I could only eat one type of potato the rest of my life, these potatoes would be them.
Returning from lunch, Fabio gave us a lecture on street food and pizzarias. We learned that paninis are not what Americans think they are. Rather, they are just regular, un-pressed sandwiches. He also talked about one of our favorite dishes, suppli. They are pieces of cheese covered in risotto that are rolled in tomato sauce, breaded, and then fried. There are other versions of suppli (that go by another name that currently escapes my mind) that are stuffed with meats, spinach, etc.
Sidenote: In case you hadn’t noticed, my last post was very lackluster. I was tired and tired out, and I was writing it in the wee hours of the morning. Here’s a short recap of what I forgot to tell you that may even connect the previous paragraph with this one. I forgot to mention my margherita pizza lunch at Pizza Boom. It’s a small restaurant down the street with one of the best pizza’s I have ever had—seriously. Most of our group was raving about it, so the rest of us just had to try it. For dinner, we went out for one of my roomie’s birthdays at La Fraschetta, another pizza joint. It was more of a casual dining experience than a joint, but casual dining pizza experience just doesn’t sound right. Anyway, the restaurant was traditional and quaint. For dinner I ordered suppli and mushroom pizza. The suppli was fantastic! Ours had veal inside of it and was just perfect. I’m not a huge risotto fan, but if it’s fried with cheese and sauce, I’ll eat it all day. Just so you know, I’m not that picky of an eater. I’ll try most anything, but a few select foods just aren’t for me. But I digress: the mushrooms were so fresh that they barely tasted like the mushrooms we are used to. I’ve never loved fungi so much as I did in that moment.
Back to today’s activities: After the lecture, we ventured out into the street to see what street food looks like. Fabio showed us multiple pizzerias and even brought us to see a friend of his that was once the pizza king, winning competitions for tossing pizza dough. He doesn’t perform anymore, but the pizza king put on a little show for us. And it was AWESOME. After seeing that, my Roma trip is almost complete…almost.
Eventually our 26 person group fell apart somewhere along the way, and three of us ended up finding our way back from some streets northwest of the Vatican to Trastevere. It wouldn’t have been too bad if they weather held up for us. Naturally, it didn’t. Pellets of rain came pouring down, soaking us from head to toe. We hid for cover in a currency exchange shop for a brief time, but the rain didn’t seem to let up. Eventually, we found the bus that took us to the tram to take us home.
Luckily for me, I’ve been blessed with über awesome roommates. Since we were still full from lunch, we had a light dinner of salami with different cheeses and bruschetta, courtesy of our resident chef (literally), Eileen. Her bruschetta is to die for…almost. Since all the tomatoes are freshly grown, her bruschetta is just amazing.
Overall, the day was a rollercoaster of fun. I’m not going to lie: we were all a tad bit ornery (did you know ornery was spelled like that?) in the morning, given our lack of a proper breakfast. Lunch cheered me up again, but the downpour definitely rained on our parade (pun intended). Don’t get me wrong: I had a surprising amount of fun running in the freshly fallen rain, but really, what else can you do at that point? I’m only here for so long, so I have to make the most of it while I can.
If you’re still reading this, kudos to you. I’m hoping this post makes up for the ones I’ve been slacking off on. Tomorrow’s trip includes a lecture on supermarkets and outdoor markets and a possible trip to either the inside of Castel San Angelo or Circus Maximus. Rome if you want to!
No comments:
Post a Comment