shave ice & gelato

Saturday, June 23rd
When I walked out the door on Saturday morning, I realized that my right shoe felt tight. I looked down and my right foot was twice as fat as my left foot. My chacos are adjustable and so I spent a little time getting them to fit. I thought, now was the time to be able to wear all of those shoes that never fit me before as my feet are pretty narrow. Well at least one of my feet could wear them.

I started out my day deciding to have a coffee at Tazza d'Oro, a place recommended as one of the best places to have coffee in Rome. The only information I had was that it was near the Pantheon. The walk from my apartment to the Pantheon with stops to take pictures along the way was about 15 minutes. I looked around for the bar. There was a place right across from the Pantheon with a sign difficult to see because of the way the table umbrellas were blocking the sign. I saw a "z" on the sign and assumed it was Tazza d'Oro. It was pretty late in the morning as I spent some time on the internet before leaving the apartment Saturday morning and so there was no one else inside. I figured everyone already had their cup of coffee and was off touring Rome. I went over the the bar which was pretty tiny and thought that was a little odd. I also found it odd that there were no pastries as most bars have an assortment to go with your coffee. I ordered my caffè machiatto and was ready to taste "best" cup of coffee. I thought it was a great coffee and told the bartender that I read this place has one of the best cups of coffee and that they were right. He told me that Sant' Eustachio has the best coffee. I thought that was odd that he would say that when working at Tazza d'Oro. I asked him where Sant' Eustachio was located as I read that the other highly rated place for a cup of coffee was Sant' Eustachio. I had wanted to try their coffee also and would then compare for myself to decide which I liked the best. When I went to pay, I saw some cards on the bar. They were for Zio Ciro which seems to be a chain restaurant, pizzeria, caffè, and gelateria. I couldn't believe that this entire time I was thinking I was at Tazza d'Oro when really I was at Zio Ciro. Well either the power of suggestion worked or they also make a superb coffee as I really enjoyed my morning cup.

Monday, June 25th
When I awoke on Monday morning, my ankle was looking better. It was still slightly swollen but the redness on my leg was gone and I was able to tighten my shoe a little. The weather was sunny and very HOT! I had not yet been to the Campo de' Fiori in the morning. I think I have been spoiled by the big Venice fruit and vegetable market next to the fish market as this market seemed smaller in size. I walked around and decided on a nectarine and then headed over to the Sant' Eustachio bar for a caffè macchiato and brioche. I thought the coffee was good but nothing to rave about. Perhaps it is the special coffees they offer that are all the rage there. The bar was not very crowded. This is one of the places where you need to pay first. Everyone was very friendly and nice there.

After having my morning coffee, I went over to the Piazza della Minerva. I have wanted to see the elephant statue in this piazza ever since seeing Janet's amazing picture of this statue. It was another "wow" sighting in Rome. After taking a few pictures of the elephant, I went into the church, the Basilica di Santa Maria sopra Minerva. This church was incredibly beautiful and houses the famous Michelangelo's statue of Christ risen from the tomb.

Being so close to the Pantheon, I had to go inside once again. I don't think I will ever feel like I have spent too much time in this famous site. I then stopped in a few shops, and ended up somehow on the street of the famous Giolitti gelateria and pasticceria. It was now lunchtime. It was so hot outside. I could not pass up stopping in for a gelato. Because of the heat, I decided on fruit flavors. I ordered a small cone with peach and kiwi flavors. Besides the gelato being so much better in Italy than in the US, the size and cost are very different. Here in Italy, when ordering the smallest gelato (which will usually cost between 1.80 and 2.00 euros) you always get 2 flavors and the size of the scoops are usually very large. I could probably manage to eat a medium size gelato but I don't think I could finish a large gelato. WOW the kiwi was amazing! The peach was also very good. I have to say that I agree that this is a very good gelateria. I guess I would have to order the same pistachio and nocciola flavors I have been ordering to say if it was the best gelateria. I may have to take that test before I leave.

Tuesday, June 26th
Tuesday was another hot and muggy day. The weather was also very overcast and a bit cloudy at times. In the morning, I had coffee and a delicious brioche with the woman renting me the apartment at her apartment nearby. Because my apartment was rented starting this Saturday and I wanted to stay in Rome until Monday, she was kind enough to rent me her place for the last two nights since she would be away on holiday. After a lovely chat and a quick tour of how everything worked in her apartment, I headed across the Ponte Garibaldi to explore more of Rome. When making my reservations last February, I also inquired with other apartments in Rome. The owners of one of the apartments were very nice and suggested that we meet for a coffee while I was in Rome. I gave them a call while walking over the bridge and they happened to be in a bar just on the other side. We found each other by calling each other a few time, saying just where we were, and then waving as we got closer. We went to a bar near the Campo to sit and chat for a while. We talked about many things including Rome and Hawaii. They also gave me a few tips on places to see while here as well as a great bookstore to visit. It has been wonderful to meet so many interesting people during my travels, one of the things I love about traveling. After leaving the bar, we headed over to a tea shop that their friend owns. I spent some time in the shop and ended up buying some interesting tea from South Africa.

I then went to an internet place to check on my pictures which I had burned onto CDs. I have the Apacer Disc Steno 200 which can burn pictures from your memory cards. It has worked wonderfully in the past but has been acting up a bit this year only allowing me to burn one card even if there is more space left. I always check to make sure all of my pictures actually have transferred before deleting them from my memory cards. The computer at my apartment is an older computer and does not have a place to insert a CD and so an internet place is the perfect solution. There is one in Piazza Sant' Andrea near the Campo which Sandra pointed out to me that charges 4.40 euros per hour which is pretty cheap.

After checking on all of my pictures, I decided to go back to my apartment for lunch. I did not want to walk around all day with my CDs and memory cards. I made a Caprese salad. Oh, I wish the Buffalo di Mozarella cheese was available in Hawaii. What a simple and delicious lunch.

Big SIGH....my trip to Italy is coming to an end. How did the time go by so quickly? I have so enjoyed my time here in Rome as well as all of the other places I have visited this year. Here's my post about my last weekend in Rome.

Saturday, June 30th
Saturday, after moving apartments, I headed back over to the Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth) to take the mandatory hand in the mouth picture. The line was much shorter this time and so I got in the line and waited my turn. It's sort of funny doing this silly thing as everyone waits patiently for their turn and then runs over to the face, sticks their hand in, and someone else quickly snaps the picture.

After leaving the Bocca della Verità, I headed over to see Trajan's markets. Either it was closed or I was in the wrong location. There were still more ruins to see along the way and so I took more pictures of ancient ruins and then headed back to the Colosseum. I was getting hungry and took a short diversion back to Hostaria da Nerone for lunch. I walked in the door and there was the same waiter that was so nice to me and insisted that I needed a handsome man to have lunch with. He again asked why I was alone. I had the spaghetti with clams again and it was wonderful! I stopped by my table often and chatted with me.

When I was leaving, he recommended that I go see the Domus Aurea. I headed over to what I thought was the correct location for this site and was not sure what I was missing. Yes there were some ruins but nothing so spectacular that would warrant a recommendation to see this site. A guy came and asked me if I knew where the Domus Aurea was. I told him I was also looking for it as I thought it was something you had to pay to see and could not believe that the ruin we were standing in front of was it. We both decide to walk around and look together. There were some shady characters on one side of this big park and so I did not go over to that side to see if that was where the entrance was. We finally found it down a few stairs and found out that it was closed on the weekends! I believe if I remember correctly it was only open Tues-Fri. So, I guess I missed out on that one on this trip. I will just have to return again!

Thursday, June 14th
I awoke Thursday morning to a cloudy day. It was tough to figure out if the clouds meant rain. I brought my raincoat with me just in case.

After having my morning coffee, I went in search once again for Peter Pan, the mask store I had been searching for. I took the vaporetto over the San Stae stop and tried to retrace my steps from last year when I stayed near that stop.

Just after getting off the vaporetto, the skies opened up and the rain came pouring down. I was glad I decided to carry my raincoat with me. Even with my raincoat on, I was drenched. I saw a few older ladies stopped under archways waiting for the rain to stop. To me, it looked like it would be raining all day. I walked as close as I could to the edge of the road to try to escape some of the rain. After about 20 minutes, the rain stopped.

One of the highlights of my trip this summer was my visit to the Musei Capitolini (Capitoline Museums). The Musei Capitolini are said to be the oldest public museums in the world. The history of these museums can be traced back to 1471. The Musei Capitolini are located on the famous Campidoglio or Monte Capitolino (Capitoline Hill). The collections of art, statues, archeological remains, and other items are housed in three main buildings which surround the Piazza del Campidoglio and are interlinked by an underground gallary beneath the piazza.

The ticket cost 8 euros. I believe the cost for the audioguide, which I would highly recommend, was about 5 euros. When you rent the audioguide, you need to leave an ID. My copy of my passport worked.

The entrance into the museums is through the Courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori. I'm not sure how, but I did not know about these museums until this spring, while reading up on Rome. I saw a few pictures of parts of a statue in this courtyard, the Courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori, and I immediately put a visit to the Musei Capitolini as a must on my list of things to do while in Rome. The museums were even more amazing than I imagined.

Courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori
Colossal statue of Constantine: right hand
313-324 AC

Back to Italy...

The Castel Sant'Angelo has always intrigued me. The first couple of times I visited Rome, I never had enough time to visit the Castel Sant'Angelo. This past summer, I finally spent a wonderful Saturday afternoon inside this mysterious castle. The admission was 5 euros. Here are some images from my visit.

Ponte Sant'Angelo with the Castel Sant'Angelo in the background:

For those contemplating or planning a visit to Torino, I would highly recommend a visit to La Mole Antonelliana and the Museo Nazionale del Cinema (National Museum of Cinema). I spent 5 days in Torino in July, 2006 and visited the Cinema Museum twice.

La Mole Antonelliana is the tallest building in Torino and at one time it was the tallest building in the world. The Museo Nazionale del Cinema is located inside La Mole Antonelliana.

Another museum I would highly recommend visiting while in Torino is the Museo Egizio (Egyptian Museum). My Torino card also worked for this museum.

After purchasing my ticket, it took me a few minutes to find the entrance to the museum because there were two different displays in the building. I found the entrance and wandered around the first room. This room held ancient rocks, dishes, pottery, jewelry, etc.

When I finished looking at all of the displays, I could not figure out where to go to find the next room. I went to ask the man sitting outside the entrance to the museum. He was not very friendly. I named him "crabby man." Instead of nicely pointing where to go, he yelled "sotto, sotto" at me, which meant downstairs. I found the stairway and headed to the next section of the museum.

I was in utter amazement when I entered this portion of the museum. I spent quite a while looking at each exhibit. I could not believe that we were actually allowed to take pictures in this amazing room! The only limitation was no flash.