Rome 2.0
A few more days in Italy really did good for us. The balcony really did add so so much to our trip. I would definitely stay there again and recommend it to anyone heading to Rome.
Our next days were spent very productively. We made a trip out to the Vatican and saw St. Peter's Basilica. Grant had a good time and we walked through the resting place of popes past. There's a new security line to enter that I don't remember from 2 years ago but it was relatively quick moving so that wasn't a big deal. It was still really nice though and we didn't stay too long.
After the Vatican we went to see the Pantheon and on the way stopped for lunch and gelato. The place literally had the biggest wine glasses (pictured below) and the gelato was soooo delicious. I couldn't quite tell what berry it was supposed to be. It wasn't strawberry and I'm fairly certain it wasn't blueberry either... The Pantheon was nice, a quick stop, as really most people just go in to look at the big hole in the ceilings, us included. I mean yeah it's a cool church but I think its true value lies in the architectural masterpiece that it is.
We've broken into a comfortable pattern here in Rome. Grant likes white wine and buys any candy he comes in direct contact with. I have a bruschette problem and stuff my face with pasta. We like taking mid day siesta's because its stupid hot out around 2-4pm usually. It's a comfortable and nice way to be. Also even though Grant is the big wine drinker between the two of us, he literally has such a hard time with different wine openers. We've had three now, one in each location, and I've been the one to figure out how they work. To his credit they were all different, but... well, anyway he figured it out in Naples and now he opens his own wine.
Our last day we decided to splurge and take a cooking class that had been recommended to me by a friend I made in Amalfi. It was super fun and we got to make two kinds of pasta, first a ravioli and second a fettuccine. The actual process of making pasta is ridiculously easy, it's literally just flour, semolina flour, and egg (and a bit of olive oil) and you don't need any fancy equipment to do it either. I mean yeah, like any food, fancy equipment certainly can add to style etc, but it also isn't necessary.
We had a great time making the pasta, chowing on the appetizers they had prepared for us, and drinking the prosecco they gave to us. Fun fact, even though prosecco is like the original sparkling wine it isn't considered a champagne which I guess makes sense because champagne sounds distinctly French to me.
You can see us here holding the tray of everyone's freaking raviolis. Talk about stress. By the way just going to put this here, you can click on these photos to enlarge them, I don't have a say in the way they get so awkwardly cropped, but if you click on them you can see the whole thing. Yeah anyway they let us hold literally everyone's ravioli so that was stressful haha.
It was really delicious though and fun and we had the fettuccine with Amatriciana sauce which basically means bacon and red sauce. I got to make it during the demonstration and it was really good. Always raise your hand when they ask for a volunteer, basically doesn't matter what you're doing, it's usually fun, you get to do more, and at very least you look like you're a helpful person. Also better for photos. They use pancetta romano specifically for the meat and it is a divine thing, very salty but boils down to a lot of fat which the meat then fries in and you use the entire thing for the sauce. Wonderful. The top picture is us eating the fettuccine with this sauce on the roof, oh yeah the entire cooking class was on the roof which again is a huge plus and I would totally recommend this class.
For our last day in Rome I would say it was super successful. We left the following morning and took a quick two hour train south to Naples where my next post will pick up. Anyone familiar with Naples and know where this is going?