Participating in Day Drinking, When in Rome

Jump to Comments

Hello hello!  Sorry to have gone MIA yesterday- catching up with stuff at work and at home is always hectic isn’t it?  That and I forewent blogging last night to watch Prep.  Which I hate, and I am so glad Entertainment Weekly agrees with me.   And it’s not like I haven’t tried, people.  I mean, no one, NO ONE loves trashy teenage stuff more than I do.  Gossip Girl a serious part of my life, and I consider Jawbreakers to be a classic film.  But this show sucks.  My heroes over at the Daily Intel exlpain it oh-so-eloquently here. 

Bitch, you bore me.

Uh.  So anyway, in attempt to get some sleep this evening, I am going to foego my normal recap of fun things like peanut butter, humor, and apples to being you more of our trip to Italy.  You can read the first recap here if you missed it.

When I left off, I was discussing the joys of enjoying the art of Rome with my new family.  One particularly exciting day (though they all were amazing) was on Friday when we went to the Vatican Museums.  We woke up super early so we could get to the Vatican at 8am when it opened.  We all made sure to dress appropriately, which was a good thing because these signs are very intimidating. 

It should be noted that even the Vatican runs on Italian time, which means obscenely late. The doors didn't open until 8:40! Benedict XVI likes to play it cool...

Of course, everything we saw was absolutely breathtaking, particularly the Sistine Chapel, duh.  Sorry, no pictures were allowed in there .  But immediately after viewing the world’s most important frescoes, Michelle and Mike made a new friend…

Fido was surrounded by many of is brethren here in the Hall of Animals.

And I enjoyed getting to know St. Helena in the Pinacoteca.

Mike is really awful at taking pictures, isn't he?

Mike didn’t even mind my marveling at all the nude statues. 

The famous Belvedere torso

Oh yeah, I completely forgot to tell you- I hardly have any FOOD PHOTOS!  Don’t hate me!  My future MIL doesn’t know about the blog so it would have been beyond awkward.  Please forgive?

Anyway, at one point, we took a break and had a snackie in the Vatican’s self service cafeteria.  I decided that I really wanted a dolce, which is Italian for a sweet biscuit type thing.  I got a sweet bread filled with a chocolate almond filling covered in a sugary glaze.  It was to die for.  We were all hungry, and still had several gallieries to get through before we would be ready to leave for lunch, so this little treat filled me up nicely with lots of satiating fat and yummy sugar. 

Again, I apologize for the Google images.

We enjoyed seeing everything else.  I went gaga over some rare early translations of the epistles of Paul…

I have done some graduate work in illuminated manuscripts, so these got me randy

and the beautiful hall of Barberini tapestries. 

Dork

By the time we had seen everything, we were famished and it was time for lunch.  And what a lunch we had.  We chose a restaurant near St. Peter’s called Graziella e Alberto da Spinsi a S. Pietro.  We should have known we were in for an experience like no other when we took a look at the decor.

Awkward

Awkwarder

Awkwardest

Graziella herself came to greet us- sweating like a chimney, in a grease-stained undershirt type thing, with a booming voice and a jolly disposition.  Immediately before we even opened the menu, she offered to bring us a Caprese salad.  Ok.

Ours was much bigger and much more green.

It was huge.  It was a moutain of lettuce, beautiful chunks of tomato, fresh balls of mozzerella, and sprigs of pungent basil dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.  We totally dug in.  The mozzerella cheese was literally the best I have ever had- it wasn’t tangy like those fresh mozzerella balls you buy in deli containers, but instead it had this creamy texture that tasted sweet at first then exploded savory, salty flavors.  The best part was, by the time we got to the bottom of the plate and there was just lettuce left, we saw that the remaining greens were literally swimming in a several centimeter deep pool of oil.  Aah Italy. 

Next Senora brought out several plates of bruschetta.  Now, contrary to popular belief (especially in Italian American Northern New Jersey), bruschetta is not defined as Italian bread with a tomato topping.  Traditional bruschetta is simply rounds of Italian bread rubbed with garlic, evoo, salt, and pepper and toasted.  And when it is done right, Lordy is it good.

Carb and fat heaven

Graziella clearly knew what she was doing- the “flesh” of the bred had a slight green tint to it, and when you bit into each crostini, the oil and salt would flood each part of the bread.  It was so delicious I didn’t even once worry about my hips.  I had like four pieces.  When we were 3/4 of the way through with the first plate, Graziella had one of her peons waiters bring us an even bigger platter of bruschetta, and she hollered to us from the kitched, “Mangia!  Mangia!”

We were already full by the time our actual meal came, which consisted of a small pizza, a side of white beans, and carciofi all romana or artichokes Roman style.  Carciofi all romana basically is a marinated artichoke that is salty and tangy at the same time.  Graziella used tiny Jerusalem artichokes, so we were able to eat the entire thing, stem included!  There were three little ones in our serving, so we each enjoyed one.

Carciofo alla romana

Our white beans, or fagioli, were perfectly cooked, drizzled in olive oil, and seasoned with oregano, basil, parsley, s and p.  They were clearly made from dried beans and had a chewiness that went perfectly with our crusty bruschetta.

Again, swimming in olive oil.

Aah, the pizza.  Mike chose it, and it was simply the traditional thin crust Italian pizza with marinara, a little mozzerella, and a light sprinkling of Gorgonzola.  Their crust was the best we had all trip- crusty and crunchy but with a little fluff and body.  Michelle and I each had a tiny sliver and let Mike have the rest, which he loved.  Biting into that pizza and tasting the combination of the fresh bread, savory tomatoes and intense cheese was so amazing.

Gorgonzola pizza

A couple times throughout our meal, we desperately needed our drinks refilled, and we would turn to Senora, who was taking a rest at the table next to us and ask her politely if our drinks could be refilled.  She always responded with a booming “Certamente!” which means “of course.”  Then she would wait for another 5 or so minutes before asking one of her servants waiters to get us drinks.  It was hilarious!  We were clearly guests in Graziella’s house and she was in charge of the timing. 

Post pizza and other nummies, we were completely stuffed and shocked that we ate so much!  Seriously, I think the second our Mt. Everest-sized caprese salad arrived at the table, we knew we were in for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and mentally prepared ourselves to mangia mangia, even if we got “too” full.  Cappucinos were most definitely in order, and the warm liquid felt so perfect in my full tummy.

Such a vacation treat

But no, Graziella was not done with us.  She approached our table and announced, “I bring you dolce,” and when we started to protest, she turned on her heels and returned to the kitchen, only to reappear with a huge piece of tiramisu.

It actually looked a lot like this

None of us are huge tiramisu fans, but we were stuck, and knew we had to try it.  It was honestly the best tiramisu I have ever had!  It was a lot less “coffee”like and was much softer and fluffier than the types I have had at home.  Think less like a sponge and more like a pie.  Loved it.

Ok, it was time for the check, or so we thought.  Until Alberto, Graziella’s shadowy figure of a husband, shows up at our table with a bottle of limoncello and three shot glasses and says “Non costa!  Non costa!”  (No charge.)  My handsome stud of a fiance, asked him in Italian (he is fluent- I know, drool, what a dreamboat!) to join us for the shot, but Alberto pointed at his watch and returned to the kitchen.  Graziella don’t let her peeps mess around on her dime, yo.

We each looked at each other, overindulged beyond belief, but decided “When in Rome.” 

Whilst Michelle was pouring, we discovered that the bottle had expired in 2006. Whoops!

The wet spot on my chest is from getting oil all over my shirt, because clearly you can't take me anywhere.

When in Rome indeed.  My shot went straight to my head and that was that.

The best part was when the check came.  I won’t tell you how much it was, but I will tell you that it cost more than any other meal we had the entire trip.  We were utterly shocked at the cost- and none of us are cheap people IN THE LEAST so you know it was bad.  Michelle called over to Graziella just to make sure the triple digit figure was correct and without prodding, Graziella began rattling off each and every item we had.  Bitch knows how to run her business! 

I would rather fight all of the Real Housewives of NJ at once rather than mess with this badass superwoman.

Of course, they didn’t take credit cards, so we all pooled our cash together to make sure we left an excellent tip.  Best several hundred dollar lunch eva.

Look how tired. You can tell Graziella had her way with them.

Sersiouly, we tried walking around for about an hour after this meal, but we were done.  For the first time on the vacation, we headed to our hotel for an afternoon siesta in order to prepare our tums for din. 

This was our favorite meal all trip.  What a perfect Roman experience.  The bossy Italian matriarch, the ridiculous decor, the overabundance of food, the totally unneccessary limoncello.  What a wonderful celebration of life! 

More on that coming up.

Here's a hint!

Hope you are enjoying hearing about our adventures!

16 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized