Nemi and its Famous Strawberries

Just a short drive from Rome, about 30-45 minutes, is the town of Nemi. This town is flanked by two volcanic lakes, Lake Nemi and Lake Albano which are popular with tourists. The road to Nemi was a quiet, winding one; the air was much cooler and fresher than in Rome and I think everyone was glad for a change in scenery. I highly recommend spending half an afternoon in Nemi if you happen to be in Rome in the summer. To read more about Nemi, click here.

Deme suggested we head up to Nemi, not only to see the sights but also to sample their famous strawberries. I love these little alpine strawberries that are basically impossible to buy in the States, although I have seen them many times on hikes at higher elevations. In Rome they are a must-try when they are in season.


The majority of the time the berries are served with vanilla gelato but I love them with lemon sorbet.


They are also commonly served in a miniature torte. They little gems are the size of a thimble with a wonderful woodsy after taste.


Rachel in Nemi.


Daniel in Nemi.

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My First Guests in Italy

For the past week I have been in Tuscany and Rome showing some friends the sights and just hanging out. After a year and a half of living here, I have my first visitors to Italy! Rachel, 16, Daniel, 13 and their mom, Jane were one of the families that I spent the better part of 13 years with in Seattle as their Super Nanny. Deme, Giordano and I packed up our bags and headed South to meet them.

Here are a few highlights:


Rachel, Daniel and Giordano in front of the Duomo in Orvieto. This little town was full of tourists but worth the short detour off the A-1 to Rome as the city itself is a sight to see. Built on high cliffs, it is a wonder.


This photo was taken right outside the Uffizi Museums in Florence at the Piazza della Signora. If you plan to visit Florence, the Uffizi and the Academia are must sees, make a reservation in June, July and August as the lines can be as long as 2 hours without one. With the heat of the summer and the abundance of tourists, we were glad to have made reservations.


A few colorful windows in Montestilgliano where Jane, Rachel and Daniel were staying.


Giordano and Daniel play a few games in the gameroom. I think Giordano won this one.


Everyone relaxes by the pool to keep the scorching heat at bay. This estate was grand, with olive groves, two pools, a game room, and much more. We also saw a porcupine and two hares.

It was wonderful to see them and a great way for Giordano to hang around some Americans, all in all a great time was had by all and I can't wait to get back to Seattle in March for Daniel's bar mitzvah.

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Mother of All Steaks

Once in a while someone tells you a tall tale that you just cannot believe. When Deme first told me about a place outside of Rome (about 20-30 minutes), near Fregene, that serves great meat from a giant free-for-all type of meat case; so great that the special is called "The Intervento" which is loosely translated at the "intervention" or "the surgery", I told him I had to see it for myself. I should trust my husband once in a while.


There is the very large meat case in which you are supposed to head over to, pick out the cut of meat you want, decide on how big you want your portion to be and tell them how you want it cooked. If you tell them you want it "well done", you might be laughed out of the place but most likely you'll receive a steak that is somewhat medium to medium well done. (They also serve great dry spice rubbed pork ribs and sausages.)


Your slab of meat is removed from the case, chopped and hacked into portion sizes right before your eyes and then placed in a plate, ready for the grill.


There really is nothing like having your meat cooked on over a wood fired grill. I won't dare to say the meat here rivals the meat in Florence but it comes a bit close.


This is Deme's steak, being preggers, I only had a few sausages, as this is my second time here and the first time I had a nice bloody one. We were not the only ones taking photos of our food. Romans, Italians and tourists from all over flock to this restaurant for a nice, thick, juicy and very tasty cut of meat.

This place is a really fun laid-back dining experience, very informal. In fact, we don't ever really ask for the menu. We just ask for a few sides, like slow braised beans, chicory, roasted potatoes, mushrooms and wait until the meat is ready. When the waiter comes over with your order, he screams out your table number then hands you your meat. There are no formalities here, another great thing is that they have plenty of parking out front and a decent restroom.

Da Baffone
Via della Muratella, 627
MACCARESE, IT
Tel. +39 06.667 8068
Closed Tuesdays and Fridays

***They have their own website and it is hilarious.

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House Hunting

Deme’s mom has a giant apartment on the top floor with an ample terrace, near a very large park and somewhat close to the center of Rome. After the birth of the baby, we also hope to move to Rome to be closer to Deme’s family but mainly to play a more active part in the lives of our niece and nephew, Ginevra (8) and Giordano (13). (BTW, Giordano is here in Torino with us for a month for intensive English lessons and to focus on better study habits.) When an apartment in the same building as Deme’s mom came up for sale, we decided to have a look at it. Being on the ground floor is no ones first choice for an apartment because of the noise, the likelihood of break-ins and the loss of privacy. Still we had a look at the place; the couple that’s living there has occupied the apartment for over 20 years. Needless to say it needed a lot of work. For 125 square meters, or 1291 square feet they were asking for 900,000 Euros! That’s about a million dollars! “Absurd” I thought. We then picked up a real estate magazine and began looking around for other apartments.

Then it struck me, Rome must be one of the most expensive places to live in the world. I just could not see living in an overpriced apartment. The cost of a little villa is much lower but also out of the city a bit and to get into town one has to contend with traffic. Like all real estate agents say, “Location, location, location” make all the difference in the world.

Then I found this article for the most overpriced cities in the U.S. Seattle is expensive and I am surprised it did not make the list.

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I Find This Article Shocking

Can you believe that a high court in Italy ruled that even if a women says "No" halfway through a sexual act, it is NOT rape.

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Celle Ligure (Chell-eh) (League-goo-rhee-eh)

Yesterday we were invited by a few friends to join them for a day at the beach. I was excited to go but not too excited to battle the crowds for a space to lay my beach towel. When we finally got to the beach, Deme and I were pleasantly surprised, he had never been to Celle Ligure either.

Many of the beaches in Italy look like this, crowded, over run with people looking for a space to lie down and take in some sun. The Italian Riviera IS all it's cracked up to be, with warm gorgeous blue-green water and breathtaking sights on and off the beach. Usually there are amenities near by like cash machines, a tobacco shop and plenty of food to be found.

The beaches in Italy are generally free and open to the public but if you want a beach chair and an umbrella, it will cost you around 10 Euros. Many places are first-come-first-serve but you can also call to reserve a chair and umbrella. Most "beaches" come complete with a restroom, changing area, lockers, bar, free cold shower (you have to pay for a hot one), life guard and some equipment rentals. Thank you to Rossella for reserving three chairs for us and for to Marco D. for inviting us. A great time was had by all.

The beach we were lucky enough to get places at is pictured below. There was a roped off shallow sandy cove for kids to play in but right around the corner was a rocky outcropping that was teeming with fish! The water was wonderfully clear, even at 10 feet or more I could still see the rocks below. We lucked out! This particular beach is called a "lido", where there are decks made of wood and paved concrete areas where beach chairs and umbrella were placed. The lifeguard helped me to position my umbrella and after a short swim I was ready to take in some sun.

Here I am doing just that.

Giordano (our nephew) listens to an I-pod and acts cool.

After a light lunch at the bar we, Giordano and I head out to snorkel and swim. (Deme is not much of a swimmer and I am from Guam remember.) We circumnavigated the cove in search of fish and other marine life. There were crabs, sea anemones, plenty of fish and sea urchins! We borrowed a discarded net and snagged one. At first Giordano was weary about picking up the urchin with his bear hands but after my example, he held it proudly for a photo. The snorkeling really reminded me of Guam.

Deme eats a sandwich I made and of course is playing with something technological.

*I really had a nice day and it was the first time I swam while pregnant. I think I might have pulled a groin muscle by diving and swimming too strenuously but I was glad for a day at the beach nevertheless.

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To Run or Not to Run

I just finished this book. It's about a guy who runs Ultra Marathons, he's actually quite a wild man and very, very tough. Does pushing your body to the ultimate limits verge on insanity? I actually found the book very inspirational. It was a quick read with quite a few funny anecdotes.

I remember about 3-4 years ago, when I was I Seattle, stepping into a running store with Deme and wanting to replace my running shoes. He was training for the NY Marathon and I was going to pick up running for the 4th time. Time and time again, when I have felt sluggish or when I have wanted to give my body a quick boost, I have started running. At the gym my standard was 3 miles in about 30-35 minutes, a bit of a medium to slow jog but just the right pace for me.

As I tried on pair after pair of shoes, the salesman asked me how far did I run and how often. I replied about 3-4 miles, 2-3 times a week. I told him I have never tried to go farther and this was my limit. He said nonsense and asked me what would happen if I ran longer or farther. I quickly replied "I'll just die. I can't breathe."

Well that summer we ran and ran. I peaked at 2 hours and 10 miles. It was a great way to bond and spend time together. We really fell in love that summer, heading out at 7pm for cool runs in Marymoor Park, with and without the dog. I miss those days of seeing his heels flick behind him and seeing my falling waistline. Since moving to Italy I have not picked up running again, maybe I will after the baby arrives and I need a excuse to get into shape again.


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My Own 4th of July Fireworks

For the 4th of July we headed to Florence for an old fashioned BBQ complete with hot dogs, hamburgers with sesame seed buns and all the fixings, potato salad, watermelon and ice cold Coronas. We almost did not make it to the BBQ due to a major car malfunction.

The day before the 4th of July, Deme and I dragged ourselves all around town in search of a baby stroller. I was driving and decided to head to the gas station to fill-up. After a long afternoon of window shopping and price comparisons, we headed to a neighborhood restaurant for dinner. The car began to give us some trouble and I begged Deme to take it in the following morning, the last thing I wanted was trouble on the motorway. Well the next morning the car would not start. To make a long story short, I had mistakenly put gasoline in our diesel car. Being the daughter of a mechanic I am embarrassed beyond belief. We drove to the gas station on the moped just to make sure I used the wrong pump and I did. I started crying when I realized what I did. We got the car back today and all seems well again.

Things I have learned:

1. When I refueled the car I knew that we had a diesel engine, I reached for the pump that I thought said “BluDiesel” but I was wrong. I basically ruined the engine and it had to be cleaned out thoroughly.

2. You cannot but diesel into a gasoline tank since the nozzle of the diesel pump is larger than the opening of the gasoline tank but the reverse is possible. You CAN put gasoline in a diesel engine.

3. The pump for gasoline at almost all Italian fueling stations is green. I don’t think I will ever make this mistake again.

4. This is not an uncommon occurrence, as we told our apartment manager what we did she told me her husband did the same thing once. Even the guy at the gas station says that it happens once in a while.

The car was out of the repair shop in only a few days and since it was a company car, we did not have to pay for the damage which totaled about 1,900 Euros. I was ready to accept responsibility for the damage and to pay for it but the leasing company that owns the car said that this happens and they had insurance against this kind of damage. We are glad to have realized this before we headed on the motorway as the engine would have just stalled and it could have caused a major disaster. I count my luck stars.

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Pompeii

I've been wanting to visit Pompeii for over a year but almost every time we headed to Rome we've missed the chance. Pompeii is about 1.5-2 hours by car from Rome. This time I was not going to miss the chance this time. We drove past the center of Naples on a rainy Saturday to see ruins I had only read about as a school girl. All I knew about Pompeii and its sister city Herculaneum were that both towns at the base of Mount Vesuvius were destroyed and buried by a volcanic eruption thousands of years ago, the dates and actual facts were fuzzy to me. The towns were rediscovered later and excavated.

The magnitude of the town was surprising, it was much larger than I expected. Larger than Ostia Antica maybe even Villa Adriana. Street after street, I got a sense of the goings on and the structure of town. There were formal houses, small homes, temples, fountains, an amphitheatre, brick ovens, grain vessels, a forum, gorgeous frescos and tile mosaics, everything was really fascinating. Some of the art was a bit risqué but worth a look. Sometimes I'm really awestruck at the antiquities that exist in Italy and for only 11 Euros; I got a chance to travel back in time almost 2,000 years.

I'll the photos do the talking:



The exterior of the a very small part of the ancient town of Pompeii.


Fully intact vessels made of clay? and almost 2,000 years old.


Beautiful frescos that have survived the eruption and excavation.


A plaster cast of a victim of a volcanic eruption that took place in 79 A.D.


A very famous tile mosaic, "cave canem" means "beware of the dog" in Latin. I did not see any tile mosaics of cat crossings.


Mount Vesuvius itself looming in the background.


Outside the entrance were tourists stands selling all types of snacks, I was completely taken by the cedro, a giant citus fruit the size of a small melon.


Note: **To see a few more photos of Pompeii, click on the Flicker photo badge.
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Juventus March

The past week in Torino there has been a lot of talk about the tragedy that befell a former Juventus player. I am not a big soccer fan but could not help but take notice today when a large procession passed right in front of my building. It was not associated with the World Cup but more with the local team of Torino. I am still not sure what the march was for but I'll check the news tonight.


The procession went on for about 40 minutes. It started near the Stadio Olympico and headed towards downtown.


Everyone was peaceful in spite of the heat and even though there was a lot of shouting, flares being lit, air horns and excited marchers.


The police had no trouble as far as I could see.


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The marchers are shouting "Ole, Ole, Ole Juve, Juve."

For more information about Juventus, click here.

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