December in Rome

Last Thursday was "Immaculate Conception" day for Catholics and therefore, was a national holiday in Italy. I had another "ponte" or "bridge-weekend" and had Thursday and Friday off.  These random holidays are really starting to grow on me, not that they hadn't already!

Anna and I decided to be somewhat productive and go on an adventure Thursday.  We took the metro to Ottaviano and go to Castroni, an International grocery store that I have been encouraged to go to by many people. I was a little under-impressed. Yes, they did have ketchup, mayonnaise, cake and brownie mix, syrup, pancake mix and a few other "American" things, but I guess I was expecting it to be 1. bigger and 2. more options. They had a whole section for pasta and sauces... I can get that in any grocery store!! We were still glad that we went and checked it out though.



It just so happened that there was a Subway restaurant around the corner from the grocery store, so of course we had to go there too on our "American adventure day." It was a delicious piece of home.  Italian food is wonderful and I rarely miss things from the states, but a good Subway sandwich tasted fantastic!

There was a large Christmas fair going on in the street we were at, so we walked up and down looking at trinkets in the many stands and bopping in and out of the stores. This area of town was near to where we stayed as a family when we visited Rome last May.  I always get excited when I find places that I went to last year.

We soon realized that we were very close to St. Peter's and after a short, 10-minute walk, there we were, in front of the Vatican on a random Thursday afternoon. Sometimes we take for granted living in the Eternal City  and forget how lucky we are that we can be in any part of Rome and run into random ruins or the colosseum or on this particular day, St. Peter's. La dolce vita, indeed!

Budapest

After this post, i'll FINALLY be caught up with all of my travels.  Last weekend, Francesco and I braved the cold and went to Budapest. The temperature in Rome these days is around 65, but the highs in Budapest are around 30-35.

On the chain bridge, with Buda Castle in the background

We got in Friday night around 10:15.  We took a shuttle to the hotel, changed our clothes and went out for a beer to a bar called, Alcatraz, recommended to us by the guy at the front desk.  The bar played all old American music...it was fantastic! Budapest uses the forint as their currency.  The exchange rate is 315 forints to 1 euro.  The price for 2 beers was roughly 600-700 forints...2 euros for 2 beers!! You can't get a beer in Rome for cheaper than 5 euros. We knew the first night that we were going to love it.

Elizabeth Bridge (view from Gellert Hill)

Saturday, we walked and walked and walked through the entire city.  We went into the "downtown" area and found a Christmas festival.  There were stands selling linens, ceramics, jewelry, purses, food, etc. We stopped at one hut to get a bowl of goulash to share.  I don't think i've ever had goulash before, but I now love it! We walked to the Buda side across the Elizabeth bridge and went to what we thought was the castle, but turns out is Citadella (or the bunker), then walked over to the funicular that took us up to what we thought was the Parliament building, but was really Buda Castle...we were very mixed-up!!! We walked back to the Pest side across the Chain Bridge.  These bridges were destroyed by the Germans, but have now been re-built. There was "forralt bor" or mulled wine sold throughout the city at outdoor stands.  We were so cold that we searched forever trying to find a cafe where we could sit inside and enjoy our mulled wine. Finally, we found one and enjoyed our second bowl of goulash for the day.

Buda Castle

After a long late-afternoon nap, we were back out on the town.  In one of the tourist magazines we picked up at the airport, we found a buffet restaurant that offered everything hungarian.  It was a great way to taste small bites of many of their famous dishes.  The buffet even included your choice of champagne, beer or wine for a great price! We decided to stop at a local bar for a cocktail before we went dancing and ended up meeting a bartender who had just moved to Budapest 3 weeks before from Newark, NJ. Then, we took a taxi to "Mix Club." The taxi cost us only 2 euros.  As we were in line, the doorman told us we couldn't go in because Francesco had on athletic shoes.  Fra really wanted to go to this club, so I agreed to go back to the hotel with him so he could change his shoes. The taxi back to the hotel was 15euros!! Then, the taxi back to the club was only 7 euros...I swear that the drivers just make up the prices and completely rip you off sometimes.  We danced until 5 in the morning!!

Christmas Festival in the square

Sunday, was my favorite day.  We walked up Andrassy Avenue to Heroes' Square and went to the Szechenyi thermal bath.  It's a giant turkish bath that dates back many centuries.  We also got Thai massages at the spa, again, for a very reasonable price! I must mention that on our walk to Andrassy Avenue, I found a Starbuck's. Francesco, being Italian, is not a fan of Starbuck's and American coffee, but he agreed to go with me because I haven't had it in 4 months!! Sunday night, we went to a quaint restaurant recommended to us by a local.  We had the best meal. We started with some typical meats and cheeses from Hungarian, then shared a duck salad that was fantastic.  I had spiced pork with roasted potatoes...i'm craving it now that i'm remembering how good it was.  Francesco had the venison with a mixed-berry sauce that was also very, very good.  The restaurant had live music with a violinist and a pianist.

Turkish Bath

Monday was the only day we woke up in time for the free breakfast at the hotel.  They had eggs, sausage, cheeses, meats, yogurt, fruit, cereal, toast, etc...I love staying at hotels and having an "American-style breakfast." We took the Millenium Underground Railway, the second oldest in the world, to the Parliament building across town.  This Parliament is the third largest in the world. We were disappointed we couldn't go inside, but admired the beauty from the outside.  We walked across the Chain bridge and went up to Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church.  We also visited Buda Castle labrynth and went back to the castle, now knowing what it actually was. Then, we went back to the Pest side and went to the synagogue, which is the second largest in the world, after the one in NYC. We did a guided tour there and I thought it was very interesting to learn the history of the jews in the Budapest, especially all that died during WWII.

Matthias Church

We left Monday night to come back to Rome.  Being a tourist is very exhausting.  We had such a wonderful trip, but were very tired from all the walking and sightseeing. The views of the city from the top of hills in Buda were spectacular and learning about the history of Budapest was very interesting to me. I'd definitely recommend everyone to visit this city if they ever get the chance!

Sorrento/Capri

The last of the weekend trips while my mom was in town was to Sorrento and Capri with Kathy, Ellen, Patty and my mom. I decided Thursday night that I was going to take the train from Rome-Naples and a train from Naples-Rome on Friday night after my lessons.

view from our hotel balcony 

My mom and friends met me at the train station when I got in and we walked around Sorrento and into some shops before heading to dinner. For dinner, we went to a place recommended by Rick Steve's, called, Inn Bufalito.  Buffalo mozzarella is most famous for coming from the south of Italy. The five of us shared an appetizer with grilled eggplant, pumpkin, swiss chard, tomatoes and bufala mozzarella...sooo good! Then, we all wanted the special which was a typical pasta from Sorrento with pumpkin and sausage, so we ordered "3" dishes of it, but they brought it in a big pot, which worked out perfect.

We stayed at the most beautiful hotel.  Many hotels close during the winter months because it gets quite cold and it's low tourist season. Our hotel room had a small balcony that overlooked the sea.  It was spectacular to wake up in the morning, walk out onto the balcony and listen to the water. Each afternoon, around 5 or 6, the hotel puts out wine, champagne, liquor, water and pop, as well as, small appetizers, free of charge for all guests. I must also mention the breakfast that this hotel offered.  They had everything! Eggs, sausage, meats, cheeses, yogurt, fruit, cereal, granola, toast, and pastries, pastries, pastries.

Mom, Kathy, Patty, me and Ellen

Saturday morning, we took the ferry to Capri.  The water was not very calm and it was high-tide causing the Blue Grotto to be closed this day. A tourguide on the ferry told us about the grotto and talked us into joining his tour of Anacapri (upper-Capri) and Capri. It was well-worth it because he took us on a bus up to Anacapri. We saw the Casa Rosso, St. Michele's Church with the coolest mural on the floor, the gardens and of course, beautiful views of the sea and blue grotto, from a distance. We also tasted limoncello and typical chocolates from Capri.  Sorrento is very famous for their lemons; they're known for limoncello for this reason.

floor mural at St. Michele

Sunday, we walked around the town of Sorrento for a couple hours before I had to get back on the train to Naples. There was even a parade that went through town with motorcycles and "old" cars.  It was very funny to watch because some of the cars were beautiful, old cars and others were total junkers from 15 years ago...definitely not worthy of being in a parade!!

blue grotto view from the top of the garden

This was a very fun, last-minute vacation.  I'd love to go back to Sorrento when it's warmer to enjoy the beautiful sea more and to go to Capri to see the blue grotto. 

sunset on boatride back to Sorrento from Capri