Blair and Serena Reunite

Ciao ciao,

This week just flew by!

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were just average school days in Roma.... but Wednesday night we had a Pasta making class!  Ahhh it was so much fun!  We had to do it ALL by hand (even mix the eggs with our hands... which, not going to lie, was the best part for all of us).  We felt like little kids playing with Play-Dough.  I struggled a little bit making fettucini so I decided to master tortellini instead.  We also learned how to make ravioli.  Afterwards, we went home and cooked all of it..... I don't think I have ever consumed so much pasta in my entire life.  Our teacher said since it was pasta fresca we needed to cook it as soon as possible since there was raw egg in it so we just HAD to make it all (not going to complain).



The next day Danielle and I did not have class until 5:00, so we decided to go to the market to get ingredients for Pumpkin Tortellini since we had a whole extra half of dough left.  We decided to check out the little market across the street from us.  This market is family owned and is the cutest little place.  The old man who works there loves Danielle and I because we always stop in and always try to speak with them in Italian (let me add that they do not know ONE word of English).  When ever we walk in he gets the biggest smile on his face.  So.... our mission was to find pumpkin.  We knew the Italian word for pumpkin "zucca" but we were looking for canned pumpkin because thats what we were expecting to find.  He told us he did not have a pumpkin in the store but would find us a big one tomorrow! (Imagine hand gestures accompanying this.. it makes it so much funnier) We were so shocked and couldn't stop laughing.  We then tried to tell him we were trying to make pumpkin ravioli, but he thought we were asking if he had any pumpkin ravioli..... so he told us he would get some in his store for us next week! He was so funny.  I guess in these small markets if you really need something they will go out and try to find it for you.  We tried to tell him it was alright and we would try to find it somewhere else but he insisted!  (So I guess we need to go back and get the ravioli next week!)   We had to rush to class without finding pumpkin.  We asked our Italian teacher where we should look and she told us it was in season so we should be able to find it anywhere!  So, after class we went to a our grocery store Tuodi, and found chopped pumpkin in the produce section!

So we headed home, boiled our pumpkins and whipped up some pumpkin tortellini with a sage butter sauce!  Everything seems to taste so much better when you make it your self:) We worked so hard for this meal and it was so worth it!  Now we want to make all kinds of pasta! Our roommate Sarah even made chocolate tortellini the other day!


That night Kathryn came in really late but I still brought her to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain, because, as I have said before, are soooo much more beautiful at night.  The next morning, we climbed St. Peter's Dome.... 551 steps, but it was totally worth it.  The steps were not that bad, what really got us was when the hallways got tighter and tighter and then started to curve inwards... it felt like we were in Alice in Wonderland or something.  It was breathtaking at the top.  It was also the most gorgeous day so everything felt absolutely perfect.  Afterwards we decided to venture to the Jewish Ghetto because we heard the food is incredible.  (We also wanted to find bagels.....) We found it because of Kath's handy travel advisor app on her phone.  We never found the bagels but we got some delicious falafel with Pitas.  The Jewish Ghetto is actually famous for their artichokes so I will definitely be coming back just for those.  We were exhausted from a long day of walking so we went home for a nap and then went to the family restaurant across the street that we are absolutely in love with, and all have secret crushes on the waiters... I guess not so secret actually :)

Getting a little claustrophobic... 

The next morning my French friend Marie-Sophie came! Kath and her wanted a little tour of Rome so I brought them on a walk from the Colosseum all the way to the Pantheon and showed them all the cool stuff in between.  We then went to the pizzeria I have talked about before that is famous for the pumpkin pizza and then took them to Della Palma, the gelateria with 150 flavors.  Then we met the rest of my roommates at Piazza del Popolo for dinner at Brunetti's, the restaurant with the amazing Cacio e Pepe.  I ended up getting the Risotto di Frutti di Mare (a mixed seafood dish).  Kath was brave and even tried a bite of the squid in my dish! I didn't exactly tell her it was that at the time... but she liked it.  (I actually just told her five minutes ago....) Piazza del Popolo was decked out and all set up for Carnevale, which is more of an equestrian festival here.












Sunday I took MaSo and Kath to my favorite church, Santa Maria della Vittoria and then went to dinner and got gelato at White and told Kath to get the Coconut of course.

I have been in my glory with Kath here :) I get her all to myself for an entire week and then I go to Paris to be with her this weekend!!! Im going to be spending more time with her here in Europe than I would be if I was back in the US!

 Bacioni xxxx