Last week, I went out with friends 4 nights. I went to Campo de Fiori twice last week. The first time was last Saturday and I went with Raffaele, Simone, Valeria, and Pippo. We had a drink in the center of the square; the prices are always a little higher in this part of town. It's always fun to be in the center of the action and watch all the people. After our drink, we walked around the streets for about an hour admiring the architecture and doing some more people watching.
I went back again last Wednesday with Giuseppe, Valeria and Adriano. We ate at the restaurant that was next to the place we went on Saturday. They had very good panini's for a reasonable price of 6 euros. Giuseppe bought us a bottle of champagne; no special occasion. We then went to Bar di Fico (Fig Bar) where they make the best cocktails. Giuseppe is always on the hunt for the best margarita and having it be one of my favorite drinks, I'm happy to be on the hunt with him. Bar di Fico made a very good margarita, but not my favorite.
Friday night, Francesco was off work. We had Valeria over for dinner. We barely had any food in the house, but found some chicken in the freezer and a thing of asparagus risotto in the cupboard. It turned out to be a great dinner! We met up with Raffaele, Bruno, Pippo and Adriano at Circolo degli Artisti. It was half discoteca/half bar. We weren't in the mood to dance, so decided to stay outdoors. There was a huge lawn where many people were hanging out on and in the back, they had a big patio with tables and chairs, then there was a raised part with lounge chairs for people to lay on. It was a very relaxed atmosphere and unlike any place i've been before.
Saturday, I went to the beach with Raffaele, Pippo and Francesco to Cerveteri. It was an unbearably hot day and there was no wind. It was pretty miserable, so we didn't stay too long. That night, we all met up and went to see Dario Cassini, a famous Italian comedian. I decided to go because it was something different and I thought I could understand some jokes. I ended up having a great time and understood 30-40% of what he said!! My Italian is improving daily.
Sunday, I spent the day helping Giuseppe prepare for Anna's arrival that night. He planned a dinner for her on the rooftop of his building. It hasn't rained in Rome for the past 3 months, but it did on Sunday! He was very bummed, but we relocated the dinner to his kitchen. We met up with a bunch of friends for an aperitivo for Adriana, who is moving to Milan this Friday. It was my first time meeting her and i'm sad that she's moving because she was very sweet and spoke good English. The bar we went to made my favorite margarita i've had so far! Giuseppe then dropped me off at home while he went to the airport to pick-up Anna. I set-up the table with all the food and wine. She came home and was very surprised that he spent the time to put a dinner together for her. It was very sweet of him! He even made me a plate of each dish he served her and bought me a rose...I didn't expect anything in return, so was very happy to be paid in food and flowers.
I'm sooo happy to have Anna back in Rome and for us to FINALLY be in the city together!! We found a mexican restaurant nearby and took the boys for dinner last night. We have a new favorite restaurant and we're beyond excited that we found good mexican food in the city. They make a decent guacamole, but our favorite thing was the tostados. They also make a pretty good margarita. I only got one picture at dinner before my camera died.
Today, Anna and I went into the center of town. We planned on taking the train as it was very humid this morning. We got to the train station and, of course, the transportation department was on strike. It's the first strike i've seen since i've been here. We decided to walk into town instead. It was about an hour walk. At one point, we weren't sure which way to go, so we stopped and asked for directions. The man didn't speak any English, so I was forced to use my Italian. For the most part, we found our way. We were walking along the street and I looked up and saw that we were at Scholar's Pub. Scholar's was where I went on my first night in Italy last year with my dad and Andy, where we watched the Cavs play in the NBA playoffs. I had told Anna about it many times, so we stopped in for a beer and caprese salad. It was very well air-conditioned and felt nice to only be allowed to speak English inside! We then walked down Via del Corso and browsed some of the streets. We ended up at the Spanish steps and decided to check out the metro to see if it was up and running again. We were lucky that it only lasted until 5pm, so we didn't have to walk all the way back home.
It's fun to be a tourist sometimes, but also very exhausting, especially in this heat. I'm very ready for cooler weather to come, although it's not in the forecast anytime soon.
Yay! I'm so glad that you and Anna are together again. I can't wait to hear more of your adventures :)
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