Monday, July 7, 2008

Instead of giving you a list of places I've been (you can look at my pictures for that), instead I present you with a few other lists.

New favorite Italian Words:
zazzera (mosquito)
telefonino (cellphone, literally "little phone")
sta guardando (I'm just looking. Okay, not really one of my favorites, but one that I'm glad I know how to say now)

Favorite new shop:
A fancy-schmancy restaurant called 'Gusto has a cooking shop attached with a massive selection of lovely cookbooks in both Italian and English. I will definitely be there to buy one before I leave.

Things I'm missing:
a washing machine - doing laundry in the sink takes so long!
breakfast - Italians typically have a croissant and an espresso for breakfast. I'm missing cereal, bacon, eggs, oatmeal. Stuff that's more substantial, and won't leave me hungry in 2 hours.
big glasses - the only ones in my kitchen are tiny juice glasses, barely enough for a few swallows of water.

Most hilarious anachronism:
A gladiator (or a legionary, it's hard to tell with these guys) harassing tourists in front of the Trevi Fountain. Missed the mark there by about a thousand years, buddy.

Worst realization:
The exchange rate sucks. I mean, I sort of knew that in my head, but it hadn't really sunk in til I realized yesterday that my 10 Euro soup was more like $16 than the $12 I had originally thought. Plus, although all the stores are having their July sales events (Saldi! Saldi! Saldi!) I still can't afford to actually buy anything.

New discoveries
Yogurt flavored gelato - just barely sweet and very tangy, it's a great combo with any of the fruit flavors. My current favorite is A.C.E, which is Arancia (orange), Carrot, and Limone (lemon) juice made into a sorbet.
A cheese grater also doubles as an easy way to deal with garlic - much faster than chopping. Now literally everything in my kitchen is multi-purpose!

No comments: