Rome if you want to

Marty: OK, I remember something about Rome. Rome. Rome. Rome. Romans live there, Audrey Hepburn took a holiday there. It’s the name of a B52s song.

Rory: Different Rome.

Gilmore Girls 

I don't know how I expected to feel about Rome before this trip.  I probably would have said the same things as Marty in the quote above.  But this city is so fantastic in so many ways and is starting to plant roots in my heart, as corny as that sounds.  The people, the food, the architecture, and so much more make it such a great place to be.

On our first full day here, we went on a food tour that I had booked on Vayable.  Our guide, Sophie, was an Italian-American who took us to some amazing spots around Campo de' Fiori.  Being from Rome and a food lover, she knew all the good places.  We learned a lot from her.  One example was that there are three different kinds of pizza you can get in Rome. I had no idea. It was such a fantastic experience, and I am so glad we did it on our first day because know we know what types of food to look out for other than pasta.

As far as ancient Roman sites go, so far we have made it to the Largo di Torre Argentina and the Parthenon.  In all fairness, the majority of the museums are closed here on Monday, and I didn't feel like fighting with the crowds at the Colosseum that day after having dealt with them elsewhere in the morning.  Instead, we spent time gawking at the dome in the Parthenon, seeing all the cats at Large di Torre Argentina, and walking the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj.

We also spent some time on the Piazza Navona and just wondering around.  Rome is a great city to just wonder in.   Between the hidden restaurants and the beautiful architecture, you could spend forever being contented with simply strolling about town.

Today, we spent our time in the world's smallest country, the Vatican.  Initially I wanted to write about it here, but I feel as though it deserves its own post. So I will leave you with some extra pictures.

Bajan Food

I feel like I am learning something new about Reggie all the time on this trip. One new fact I have picked up on is that he is a really good cook. 

Since food can get expensive here, Reggie cooked up a bunch of meals and snacks in Massachusetts, froze them, and brought them down with him. We have had the pleasure of eating all sorts of yummy things, such as fish cakes, curried chicken, and oxtail soup.  And it wouldn't be a Bajan meal without hot sauce. Mike and I are absolutely hooked on this stuff. I have bought two bottles of it at the grocery store to bring back with us. 

Look at all that spicy goodness.

The few times we have gone out to eat, we have tried to stick to ordering items off the local menu. Yesterday, I had roti for lunch. When I first heard of it, I thought of the Mediterranean restaurants in DC and Chicago, but I was kind of off base. Roti is spiced meat and potatoes wrapped in shell very similar to a tortilla. It's probably one of my new favorite foods. 

Roti!

Other delicious food that we have had includes macaroni pie and turnovers. On Sunday, we are going to meet up with Reggie's family for the afternoon and I'm sure there will be many more yummy things to try. 

We have also been drinking a lot of rum and the local beer, Banks. It tastes like water and it is easy to down a few without realizing that you have.  So we have been drinking mostly rum, with any sort of mixer we can find.  We also have bottles we are bringing home. :)

Now that I've written about food, I need to go find some. 

Lyon: Part II

Up until this point of our trip, our days were crammed packed with activity.  By our second full day in Lyon, we were pretty tired and did not feel like running (or rather, walking) around at full speed.  Enter public transportation.

Not only did our Lyon City Card give us free access into the museums, but it also gave us free rides on the public transportation.  Did you know that part of the public transportation in Lyon includes a funicular?  And, side note, did you know that I only knew that word in Russian for the longest time?  Not like it is super different in English, but that was a fun moment when I showed up in Pittsburgh, pointed at the one they have, and only knew how to say it in Russian.  I got lots of quizzical looks from everyone in the car for that one.  The joys of spring breaking in Kiev :)

We took one branch of the funicular up to the hill so that we could see La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière.  The basilica sits above the city, and it is absolutely beautiful.  Since it is such a distinct part of the Lyon skyline, we figured we should go see it.

When we arrived, they were holding a small Good Friday mass in front of the church.  We stopped to watch it for a couple of minutes, and then proceeded to go inside.  And, as per usual with the great churches in Europe, the interior did not disappoint.

After we finished gawking, we stepped out behind the church and were greeted with an amazing view.  After looking down at the city awhile, we were happy that we decided to take the lazy easy way up to the top of the hill.

There were a few sites and a museum or two that were up near the basilica, but quite frankly, I had my fill of museums and wanted to explore something else in Lyon.  The Traboules.

The Traboules were built in the 4th century so that people had a more direct route to access water from the Saône river since the winding streets made it a time consuming task.  They were then used by the silk merchants to transport their products so that they did not get ruined when it rained.  And in World War II, they were used by La Resistance.  Because only the true Lyonnais knew of their whereabouts at the time, they were used to hide from the Gestapo. Today, people's apartments can be accessed through them, as well as courtyards and winding staircases.  There is so much history in the tunnels, and I like hidden things, so it was the perfect site to explore.

After that mini-adventure, we decided to wander aimlessly around town.  We stopped and got a beer, bought some books at FNAC, and thought about food (because it's us and we're always hungry).

According to my Lonely Planet guide, Lyon is the culinary capital of France. After this trip, I totally get that.  On our first night in Lyon, we found a street lined with amazing restaurants that we kept returning to for dinner.  Our first night, we had pretty decent French food, then we went back for Ramen the second night (super French, I know), and on our third night, we went back to a Bouchon Lyonnais.

An official bouchon sign.

A Bouchon is a restaurant that you only find in Lyon as it serves Lyonnais food, which basically means a lot of meat.  We went to Aux Trois Couchons and it was one of the best meals that we had in France.  But not all Bouchons are authentic...you have to look for the sign like the one above to know that it is a real one (which means registered with the Bouchon authorities...whoever they are).

My gratin d'andouillette with chitterlings.  Google that.  I dare you.

Inside, the restaurant was jammed packed with people and knick knacks.  And the food was delicious.  You can't beat a good meal in a great atmosphere.  It was a great way to end our day.  

Gardens and Cristo Redentor

Alright.  Post dois.  Here we go.

Yesterday, Fabiano, Lautaro, Mike, and I headed over to the Jardim Botânico (Botanical Gardens) to spend the day photographing all sorts of different plants. Traffic getting over there was pretty bad, but Fabiano informed us that the Botanical Garden neighborhood is infamous for that.  It also didn't help that our cab couldn't go over 20 km/h because it was a piece of crap.

Anyway, the gardens were beautiful and there was no shortage of things to see.  There were plants from all over the world there but Fabiano made sure that he took us to see the things that grow in the Amazon.  We saw these beautiful, massive water lilies (where I proceeded to take a wrong step and end up mid calf deep in mud.  Not so much fun).  We also saw these little monkeys that couldn't have been bigger than the size of my hand.  From what I understand, these little guys are the squirrels of Rio.  They'll throw half eaten fruit at you while you're walking (I know because I watched Fabiano get clocked in the head with one.  He was not amused).  Because traffic was so bad on our way back home, we ended up taking a short walk around the lake in the middle of the city.  The view was absolutely beautiful.

When we got back, Mike and I went to a restaurant down the street to get dinner.  Since neither one of us speak Portuguese, we knew this was going to be an adventure.  We ended up playing a game of food roulette (point to something random on the menu and hope that it's good).  Luckily, we chose correctly.  Mike got a steak and I got Rabata (very similar to Ox Tail Soup).  It was all good.

Today Mike and I headed over to see the most famous landmark of Rio, the Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer).  The entrance is about 20 minutes on foot from where we're staying.  Once we got there (about 1 o'clock) we were informed that the next avaliable tram you can take up the hill and through the jungle to the statue was going to be coming at 4:40.  We were not too amused about that because it would have pretty much messed up our day if we had to wait around for close to four hours. But there were the guys standing at the bottom of the entrance selling bus tickets for about the same price. So we hopped on a bus about five minutes after we got our tickets and started on our way to the top.  There were lots and lots of hairpin turns involved getting up there. It got a little exciting but we made it one piece.

We had to make a pit stop and buy our tickets on the way up.  As soon as we got them, we took another bus to the base of the statue.  We took the stairs up instead of waiting for the escalator because it was a super long line.  Once we got to the top, it was very crowded.  Despite the crowds and the haze, we managed to get some great pictures.  While I was walking around the base of the statue, I noticed that there was a small chapel located in the back that looked like it could only fit 20 or so people.  Then after about 30 minutes of walking around, we decided to head back.

Now we're killing time until a bloco (a carnival block party) starts in Ipanema.  It should be fun.  It will be my first one so I'm excited to see what's in store.  I'll post more later!

Lazy Beach Days and Walks in the Jungle

I'm back for post number two during my week in tropical paradise. To be honest, I've been kinda lazy while here, so I don't think this post is going to be super long. So let's get started.

Our second day here, we just hung out on the beach. There is a private beach behind some of the villas where some people who are going to the wedding are staying. We took our caddy (translated to American: golf cart) down the hill that our villa is on to the beach. For all you Easton people, the second I saw the golf cart, all sorts of farm memories came flooding back to me. It's the exact same one that Pop Pop had, but this one has a gas engine. Oh the damage we could have done if we had one of those. But I digress. Back to the beach.

The sand out there is a beautiful white and you can see through the water straight down to the bottom. It was a pretty bumpy ride due to the lack of paved roads up here, but it took us maybe ten minutes to get down there. There was a little concrete building at the edge of the beach by the road that sold hot dogs, which were pink, hamburgers, fries, and most importantly, Red Stripe. It's only about $2.00 for a beer anywhere you go here. It's a nice and welcomed break from D.C. prices.

While we were down there, we saw a boy riding a horse on one of the adjoining beaches. He tried to cross ours, but a woman came over and yelled at him, saying that he couldn't cross our beach. So he did what any logical person would do. He took the horse out into the sea and they swam across. It was quite a funny site. The beach also had some people walking around, selling various kinck-kancks that they had made (necklaces, bracelets, etc.) I cannot imagine making a living like that. Once again, so much poverty in such a beautiful place.

Yesterday, we went to a cook out at the Cranbrook Gardens with everyone who is here for the wedding. While there, we went on a three mile hike up to see the waterfall where the river that runs through there originates. The plants that were there all had some sort of purpose in local Jamaican culture. For example, there were flowers you could eat (which I did and it tasted like a green apple), a tree that you use to make bug spray, and flowers that cure pink eye. Since it had been raining so much, the trail was pretty muddy and the river had a huge amount of water flowing it at a very fast pace. Our guide told us that usually you can see through the water, but the runoff made it look like coffee with creamer in it. When we reached the top of the mountain where the waterfall was, you had to cross the fast flowing waters to get across to the original pool. I was the second person that crossed, holding on to a rope and trying to feel where to put my foot next because I couldn't see anything under the water. Not many people crossed over, and in my opinion, they missed a really cool sight. The trees seemed to go up and up forever and there were little bits of mist spraying everywhere. It was one of the more beautiful hikes that I had ever been on.

When we got back down to the pavilion, we were starving so we ate some pumpkin and tuna fritters, which were so good. Our main course was barrel drum pork and chicken (like this guy ate), along with various other sides including bammy, festival, and fried plantains. For desert, there were two kinds of bread. One was pumpkin and sadly, I cannot remember the other type. After we ate, Mike and I decided to work on our holding a beer in one hand and catching/throwing a frisbee with the other skills (watch out Wildwood) in the beautiful yard. There were peacocks all over the place and Mike's 2-year old nephew had a blast watching them. It was a nice day.

When we got home, we had red pea soup and jerked chicken sandwiches for dinner. Funny language note: pea means bean here. So it was actually red bean (kidney) soup. I'm not a huge soup person, but this stuff was amazing! It had just the right amount of spice in it and was really filling. This morning for breakfast, we had johnny cakes, boiled bananas, and ackee and saltfish. I'm loving the fact that everyone in the villa is willing to try the local fare. And we are all loving it. I really had no idea that Jamaican food would be this good.

So today is the big day. The wedding is going to be this afternoon on the beach and the reception is about three minutes on foot from our villa. It looks like the weather is cooperating and hopefully will continue to stay this lovely. So I think I'm going to go outside and enjoy some of it by the pool.