Our Rome Apartment

We had one week to spend in the gorgeous city of Rome. We rented a small studio apartment – walking in was a bit of a shock because of the small size and twin beds but can that really matter when you’re in Rome? The studio did have one entire wall that was a sliding glass door with a balcony that overlooked a lush green garden. I didn’t see the kitchen anywhere – so I opened a closet with bifold doors and behind the doors contained my Italian kitchen – two electric burners, a kitchen counter about 10”X18” and a sink. Above the sink was the dish rack and to the left were some plates, cups and an espresso pot. The next stop would have to be the grocery store where I would stock my Italian kitchen. In Italy when you are at a grocery store large enough to have grocery carts, they are chained one to another and locked – one euro will open the lock and keep your euro inside of the lock – once returned and relocked you gain possession of your euro – like I said before, we’re learning new things every day. Okay now for the best part – the grocery store … my personal favorite is “Panorama” It’s like a super Target (clothing, small electrical appliances, kitchen wares etc.) but the grocery area is like a gourmet food selection of crack. The fresh produce speaks for itself, but there also had prepared foods – They sell fresh pizza by the kilo – they are shaped in long rectangles about 4 feet long and a foot or so wide, you point and they cut them, weigh them and wrap them. Some had tomatoes and zucchinis – One had sauce, cheese, arugula, mushrooms, red and yellow peppers, olives and tomatoes. (Yes, I took photos in the grocery store, and we’re just in the pizza section!) The cheese section was unbelievable – the parmigiano reggiano section was probably 10 feet long filled with pointy triangles of this wonderful cheese tightly wrapped in plastic to preserve its natural magnificent salty goodness. They also had packages of gorgonzola; some sort of white cheese with half walnuts pressed into the outside of the cheese – I wanted to sample all of the cheeses – wouldn’t you? This was the fresh cheese section – I can’t even begin to tell you how many packaged cheeses there were or what they were – but I did find one I like and it is wrapped in paper like butter comes in – they sell two small logs of this cheese in one package. It is softer than goat cheese and I think it is supposed to be spread on bread for breakfast – loved loved loved it. And no – I haven’t weighed myself since I have been to Italy – I am back on my program now.
There were many small containers of pre made foods too – I am so thankful they were covered in clear plastic wrap so I could see inside – fresh peas with olive oil and cut tomatoes – pasta with cherry tomatoes and oil with spices (these are cold salads). Cold entrees to bring home and heat up ex: Lasagna with pesto sauce, polenta with mushrooms sliced on top – polenta with tomato sauce on top – slices of meat with gravy and mushrooms – sliced pinwheel sandwiches with spinach, cheese and prosciutto – bundles of steamed veggies – broccoli, baby carrots and green beans – and some whooped things that looked like hummus. They are real big on fresh seafood and the seafood is displayed right on the ice – squid, shrimp, eel, crabs, stingray, a huge swordfish and many fish that I don’t know the names of. The fish man told me “No Photographicia” so I put away my camera until I was on the next row. There were huge hams hanging from ropes on the grocery row – the price was around $200 US. Of course they had salamis too in all different lengths.
Let me tell you about the milk in Italy– there is whole milk and one with a little less f at – no skim milk at all. I did verify this with my nephew who lives in Italy. On this shopping trip I bought ingredients to make vegetarian minestrone soup – also tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, bread, coffee etc. and glorious olives – which were so difficult to pick out because there must be 50 different varieties. (My favorite ones became the mixed olives with hunks of garlic and red chili pepper flakes – momma mia!) We couldn’t buy too much because we had to walk back with the goodies and our studio was up a hill.
We bought a Metro / city bus pass for a week and did a lot of sightseeing in Roma – the predictable sights – The Vatican, Coliseum, Pantheon, The Spanish steps, and of course the Trevvi fountain – where you must toss a coin into and make a wish to return to Rome. There were several trips to a local farmers market where I know we were the only Americans – we bought fresh veggies, biscotti, nuts, cheese and wine. We had a wonderful time week, we walked too much and ate too much – hopefully it will balance out. One day it rained too much for us to go out so we spent the entire day inside of our studio– I cooked, we played cards, did laundry at 4 euro for a wash, 4 euro for a day and 1 euro for laundry soap, but none of this mattered – we were in Rome.