Day 3 In Rome- Cooking & Wine!

Our third day in Rome was relatively low-key, but I couldn't wait for the day's events: a cooking class and a wine-tasting class!

This was our menu for the day

Just beautiful ingredients; just look at that produce!!

Flour for the pasta

Step 1 of pasta making...

Vince grating a pile of fresh cheese for the eggplant parm

Me trying to get the hang of the chitarra (a pasta-cutting tool)

Our group dilligently assembling eggplant parmigiana

Tomatoes sauteeing away for the stracceti

Traditional tiramisu filling (complete with fresh local eggs)

With our work done, it was time to eat!

Eggplant parmigiana

Spaghetti amatriciana

*I didn't get a good picture of the straccetti (was on a shared serving plate)

...and the tiramisu- yum!

Our teacher :)

Vince and I had a short break between our cooking class and our wine tasting class, so our next duty was to head to the Vatican's Visitors Office to pick up our passes for the Papal Audience the next day- exciting!

Checking in with the staff

Our tickets! We registered ahead of time to get our marriage blessed by the

Pope, so we were definitely looking forward to what the next day had in store!

Tickets secured, we headed to our wine-tasting class

We learned some great tips on selecting and evaluating not only

wines from Italy, but wines in general; here's Vince looking studious :)

Needless to say, we were not hungry after lunch, so we took a stroll after our wine class, enjoyed the evening, and went to bed early; we had a big day coming up!

Day 2 In Rome

Rested and renewed, Vince and I set out eager to see more of the Eternal City. Our day was to start with a food tour with Katie Parla; a scholar, tour guide, and author that I couldn't wait to meet. Our meeting spot? A renouned bakery for the quintessential Roman breakfast: cornetti (like a croissant) and espresso...

The bakery- complete with a beautiful display

Vince's choice? Cornetto with Nutella and espresso

We introduced ourselves to Katie and headed out with gusto (caffiene and sugar in our veins)! She gave an excellent introduction to some of the food customs and discussed many interesting cultural and economic issues in modern Rome on the way to our first stop...

Here was one example of polically-oriented art we saw

Our first food stop was the Mercato Testaccio; a newer indoor
market near the site of the ancient slaugherhouses

The meat counter

Squash blossoms

A sandwich shop I'll never forget! This guy was great (and he's been in some movies)

Some of the sandwich options- we tried the tripe and some
braised meat with greens; both were darn good :)

Statue over the old slaugherhouse area

Wild capers- they are abundant!

Our next stop from the market was for gelato. We had a quick taste and said our goodbyes for the day (we had another tour with her later that week). Katie gave us some excellent recommendations and Vince and I set off for a little side trip to Ostia Antica (the harbour city of Ancient Rome)...

The tomb of someone who was once important- impressive

The train station to Osia Antica

We set out looking for a castle

Found it! Bummer it was closed to visitors that particular
day, but it was still a fun train ride and a beautful place to see.
Other attractions were closed as well, so we headed back to Rome.

Our next stop was E. Volpetti, a fantastic shop that I'd
seen earlier (and read about prior to our trip)

The owner greeted us with a smile and let us sample the goods :)

This wild boar sausage was my favorite-
it's a shame that it can't go through Customs!!!

Our tour with Katie (ending near the train station to Ostia Antica) had left us near the Trastevere neighborhood, which was a place we both wanted to see...

Our first stop there was this church

Bellissimo!

Vince and I walked around the neighborhood, enjoyed some sun in a piazza, and then slowly made our way back toward where we were staying.

One of many postcard-worthy alleys on the way

Time for a beverage! We made our way to Barnum
 Cafe (recommended by Katie) and had some cocktails :p

The next stop was another church...

...the talent of the artist & architects is quite amazing

It was about time to head back to our hotel and freshen up before our dinner reservations, so we slowly headed back. We had an impressive tasting dinner at Pipero Al Rex and went to sleep that night with smiles on our faces :)

Day 1 In Rome

Our itinerary for Day 1 was jam-packed, but we figured that an overview of the sights would be a great way to get our bearings. We had a quick bite for breakfast (and espresso of course) and set off for the meeting point of our first tour. Here are some of the highlights!

The Colosseum

Close-up

The view from the top- amazing

The Roman Forum

One of the Triumphal Arches

Palace of Augustus on Palatine Hill

Keyhole view of the Vatican from the palace

Lunch break! Caprese salad- yum

The best brescola & Pecorino Romano I've ever had!

The famous Spanish Steps

Trevi fountain (under restoration)

One of many obelysks around the city- this one's from Egypt

The Pantheon

Patheon ceiling (natural daylight window)

One of the gorgeous fountains in Piazza Navona

Breathtaking ceiling in one of the first churches we saw

Dinner- SO sad I forgot to take a picture of our meal haha! It was 

so good I totally forgot my picture-taking duties... The star of the show

was Roman Cacio e Pepe; one of the best things we ate on in Italy

Bellies full and curiousity piqued, we enjoyed the stroll back to our hotel for the night. It was an epic start to an epic trip :)

Italian Adventure- Honeymoon Style

It's almost the end of the year, so I am trying my best to get caught up with my posts! 2015 has been a whirlwind, but it's been the best year of my life; I have been truly blessed :)

After months of planning, Vince and I set out for Rome at the end of May...

Getting ready to board the flight from LA to London;

our first double-decker plane!

The view from our seats- not too bad :)

Saying we had a long day and a half of traveling is putting it lightly, but we were impressed with British Airlines. The seats were relatively comfortable, the flight staff were friendly and professional, and the individual screens full of TV shows are movies were a great touch; several hours were spent watching British cooking shows lol.

Bags in hand, we made it to the train station from the airport to the main transporation depot in Rome. Tired, but excited, we hopped on a cab to our first hotel, settled in, and prepared for our first day of sightseeing...