sabato
So! Yesterday was great, we took a bus to Tivoli. We went to Hadrian's
Villa, which was all ruins and wildflowers, and Ali and i found this
terrific Rocca with an amazing view of the hills around us. Then, we
shopped and had lunch in town at this INSANE restaurant - it was
apparently THE dining experience in italia. god. This woman who had on
more makeup than any stripper ive ever seen was the manager, but she
was the nicest lady ever. we had apertifs (which everyone was convinced
tasted like hunch punch) and then we went on a tour. the restaurant was
actually inside of the Baths of Diana, which were built WAAAAYYY back
in the day, and they had a secret passageway to get inside. so then we
get to watch the woman's mother-in-law make pasta by hand out of 15
tsps of flour and 2 eggs, which they then showed us how to cut into
different shapes. THEN we had lunch, which consisted of
wine/water/fanta, a HUGE plate of antipasti, then 2 kinds of pasta,
then chicken with artichoke, then a salad, and then (finally) tiramisu.
We almost died. It was literally the biggest meal of my life, not
counting the one i had thursday night (bread, cheese, gnocchi, chicken,
and everyone else's macedonia). i don't know what i am going to do when
i get home and have to eat normal food again... sad.
so after lunch we went to the Villa d'Este, which was a steep hill
covered in gorgeous fountains, waterfalls, and flowers. so so pretty,
with another amazing view. I am so mad that my camera doesn't work!!!
argh!
ok, so then copious napping ensued, followed by a very very light
dinner and going out to a bar on the corner. we went to the Campo de'
Fiori afterwards, and got more attention than we ever needed. jesus.
these jewish guys invited everyone to their house for shabbat dinner
(my floormates are jewish) and we talked to them for awhile. then we
ran into people from the states, one of which who goes to UF! what are
the odds? he even lived in hume! today we got up at <> as ali likes to
refer to it, and went to the Domus Aurea, which is Nero's Golden House.
it was really really cold inside, because it got buried by a few
emperors who wished Nero had never been around, and it was like
cave-diving. really cool, even though the guide was just a babysitter
and wouldnt tell us any useful information. We came back and went
shopping, got a snack, and went to the pantheon so the other girls
could see it. good times.
tonight: a nap. then dinner, then... chissa?