ups and downs -- but mostly ups {Trastevere playground, PNAC welcome banquet}
this week, i feel like we're settling in to a more typical routine. Nick's responsibilities at the College are picking up, although he stops back at home a few times throughout the day to see the girls (and fill up his coffee mug). on Mondays and Wednesdays, he comes home for dinner, and then heads back out to direct choir rehearsals (the choir is preparing to sing for the diaconate ordination at St. Peter's Basilica in September). so, in short, it's feeling more like regular life and less like vacation mode. the wonderful thing about Rome is that even when we don't have entire days to spend wandering the city as a family, there are little gems to be found just steps away. and the girls seem to be appreciating the structure and rhythm of our life at home, recharging before our next sightseeing quest.
speaking of quests, i had promised the girls a trip to the playground this week. with Greta fully recovered from her head injury, we headed off to Trastevere on Tuesday morning. (word to the wise: i just discovered today that it's properly pronounced tras-TEV-e-rey, not TRAS-te-veh-rey as i assumed.) Greta was excited to ride a bus again, and i was excited at the prospect of walking only a few hundred feet from the College gate to the nearest bus stop. however, this bus stop happens to be out in the blazing sun without any place to sit. as the minutes ticked by and our bus failed to appear, the girls began losing patience. and since we don't have a data plan here, i had no way to check the bus status. there are two bus lines that run up and over the Janiculum Hill, where we live: the 870 and the 115. the 115 would take us directly to the little piazza in Trastevere with the play area, whereas the 870 would take us to the crest of the hill but then veer off further west. fifteen minutes past the scheduled arrival time of the 115 bus, one 870 bus had already come and gone, and another one was puffing up the hill towards our stop. i decided we should just take it and at least get up to the top of the hill.
the bus was nearly empty, and Greta immediately hopped up onto a window seat. she was laughing uproariously and throwing up her hands like it was an amusement park ride as the bus lumbered around switchbacks to get to the top of Janiculum Hill. at the top, we disembarked (and i spotted a little carousel we didn't see on our nighttime walk to Piazza del Garibaldi -- we'll have to go back!). and as luck would have it, the 115 bus pulled up just behind the 87o so we hopped aboard and completed our ride down into Trastevere.
the girls played for almost an hour in this shaded, enclosed play area. poor Greta was disappointed that they didn't have a swingset, but she had a good time nonetheless. there are lots of ride-on toys, a play house, a little book library, and even several pairs of skates and rollerblades that are free to use within the playground. Cecilia made friends with a beautiful toddler named Vittoria, and later with a little boy whose mother turned out to be an American expat who has lived here for eleven years. she said, "don't worry, it's not that glamorous" and we had a laugh about Italian bureaucracy.
the bus tickets are good for 100 minutes after you validate them on the bus, so i finally had to hustle the girls out of the play area so we could get home on the same ticket. we stopped into Todi's to pick up some grocery essentials (milk, bread, fruit, and gummy candy -- all equally necessary) and then back to the bus stop to wait. this stop had a fancy electronic display so you could see when the next buses were arriving (who needs wifi?). four buses expected within the next 30 minutes, and none of them the 115 (nor any of them going close to our house). i thought that was odd, and we waited for about ten minutes while i alternated between staring at the screen and gazing wistfully down the street, willing a 115 bus to approach despite not being listed. the girls were starving, and happily chowed down on some of the food we had just bought.
finally i accepted the inevitable, that service was either canceled or delayed. Cecilia was ready for a nap and we all needed an actual lunch. so i decided we would walk to the next major road, Lungotevere Gianicolense, which runs along the Tiber river. many bus routes travel this road and i knew we'd be able to hop aboard and at least get to the bottom of the Janiculum Hill. ah, the perils of being a pedestrian ... i didn't realize that the Lungotevere goes one-way, downstream, and we needed to go upstream, so to speak. the next hope of catching a bus would be to walk all the way across the river and then try to find something that would go up the river and back across the bridge. with Cece in the Ergo, twenty pounds of groceries in the backpack, and Greta unable/unwilling to walk faster than a snail's pace, i thought we had better just walk the mile back home. however, i did not tell this to Greta. in fact, i purposely kept up the ruse that we were looking for a bus by telling her we only had to walk to the next bus stop, where we would pause for a few minutes so she could rest, and then i would sigh and say, "well, i guess our bus doesn't come to this stop -- let's try the next one up there" and so it went, for an hour, bells on bobtails ring, lying all the way. sorry, kiddo. ninety minutes after we left the Trastevere bus stop, we finally stumbled into our blessedly air-conditioned apartment, and had lunch, and didn't go outside for the rest of the day. and i whipped out my phone to determine what happened to that godforsaken 115 bus and found this:
guess it's time for this SUV-driving suburbanite softie to toughen up and come up with Plan B, Plan C, and Plan D for public transportation options before we leave the house.
Tuesday night's dinner was lemon lentil chicken and rice, which was not very photogenic but was surprisingly delicious. i used a package of chicken pieces with kebab seasoning that Todi's had on sale, which probably helped give it more depth of flavor.
Wednesday was a low-key day around home, cleaning, doing laundry, etc. i went for a treadmill run at the gym here in the afternoon. it sort of killed me to be inside when i could be out exploring the city, but i had a specific window of time to exercise before Nick had to leave for his next obligation, and didn't want to risk getting lost out in the city somewhere. plus, it was 89 degrees and i figured i needed air conditioning if i was actually going to run without stopping for any self-respecting length of time. and the view from the treadmill is not too shabby:
on the way back from the gym, i stopped to admire the redwood tree planted here by Pope John Paul II in 1980. there is so much beauty here on campus. it inspires peacefulness, thankfulness, and the desire to cultivate inner beauty. Greta in particular is sensitive to her surroundings, and i'm sure it influences Cecilia too, even if she isn't consciously aware of it yet. this is one reason why we visited Phipps Conservatory so much back in Pittsburgh. here at the College, i feel almost as if we live in a conservatory -- obviously there aren't as many flowers, but the grounds are so serene and idyllic.
on Thursday, we joined the seminarians for pranzo (lunch) as will be our habit twice a week. we've decided just to keep to the same days the previous family did -- Thursdays and Sundays. while this is mostly to foster community and friendship between our family and the seminarians, sharing lunch with them also saves me meal prep and cleanup, gives me recipe inspiration for traditional Italian foods, and helps us teach the girls how to eat like civilized creatures. today's lunch was a more casual, buffet-style affair as the staff have been busy preparing for Thursday night's formal welcome banquet. we ate turkey, baked ziti with a spicy red sauce, and lots of fruit.
the banquet was quite the affair. Nick joined the other men for cocktail hour at 6, and i brought the girls over to the patio outside the chapel for dinner at 7. the second-year seminarians served dinner to the first-year students, faculty, and other guests (including our family). i think this is the first time Cecilia's name has ever been on a name card. she devoured her caprese salad and lasagna. by the way, i need to get the recipe for this lasagna. it is hands down the best lasagna i've ever tasted, with a creamy white sauce, noodles that melted in our mouths, and perfectly seasoned meat. the third course was saltimbocca alla Romana (veal with prosciutto and sage), served with spinach and roasted potatoes. our trusty second-year waiters kept us well supplied with delicious red wine, and graciously picked up Cecilia's napkin and bib and various other accoutrements she tossed on the ground.
finally, the meal concluded with the largest cannoli i've ever seen. we toasted the Italian kitchen crew, and then an Australian first-year seminarian toasted the second-year orientation crew with a hilarious speech in which he rued the double culture shock he faces, moving to Rome but living in "Fortress America" as he put it. the girls behaved very well (despite Cece's antics) and were excited to see a few of the nuns we met last week (one of whom just joined the staff this year as a psychologist, and one who is a theology student herself). as we cleaned up, a sprightly septuagenarian priest (i later learned that he hails from the Bronx) pressed another cannoli wrapped in a napkin into my hand, whispered "for the girls!" with a mischievous nod, and disappeared with a jovial wave. the rector of the College laughed when i told him this story a few minutes later and assured me the girls will be spoiled to bits while they're here!
the night concluded with digestivo and caffè in the cortile (the central garden). i was looking forward to my first caffè corretto -- espresso with a shot of grappa or some other liquor -- but Cecilia started throwing tantrums when she wasn't allowed to hold a ceramic teacup by herself and i took her back home to bed. Greta, however, was enchanted at the thought of drinking milk out of a real cup with the grownups, and stayed with Nick to socialize for another hour. just like her mother, she is an extroverted introvert to the core!
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| low-resolution screenshot of Nick in action -- photo credit goes to seminarian Matt (go to the PNAC Flickr site to see the original!) |
the bus was nearly empty, and Greta immediately hopped up onto a window seat. she was laughing uproariously and throwing up her hands like it was an amusement park ride as the bus lumbered around switchbacks to get to the top of Janiculum Hill. at the top, we disembarked (and i spotted a little carousel we didn't see on our nighttime walk to Piazza del Garibaldi -- we'll have to go back!). and as luck would have it, the 115 bus pulled up just behind the 87o so we hopped aboard and completed our ride down into Trastevere.
the girls played for almost an hour in this shaded, enclosed play area. poor Greta was disappointed that they didn't have a swingset, but she had a good time nonetheless. there are lots of ride-on toys, a play house, a little book library, and even several pairs of skates and rollerblades that are free to use within the playground. Cecilia made friends with a beautiful toddler named Vittoria, and later with a little boy whose mother turned out to be an American expat who has lived here for eleven years. she said, "don't worry, it's not that glamorous" and we had a laugh about Italian bureaucracy.
the bus tickets are good for 100 minutes after you validate them on the bus, so i finally had to hustle the girls out of the play area so we could get home on the same ticket. we stopped into Todi's to pick up some grocery essentials (milk, bread, fruit, and gummy candy -- all equally necessary) and then back to the bus stop to wait. this stop had a fancy electronic display so you could see when the next buses were arriving (who needs wifi?). four buses expected within the next 30 minutes, and none of them the 115 (nor any of them going close to our house). i thought that was odd, and we waited for about ten minutes while i alternated between staring at the screen and gazing wistfully down the street, willing a 115 bus to approach despite not being listed. the girls were starving, and happily chowed down on some of the food we had just bought.
finally i accepted the inevitable, that service was either canceled or delayed. Cecilia was ready for a nap and we all needed an actual lunch. so i decided we would walk to the next major road, Lungotevere Gianicolense, which runs along the Tiber river. many bus routes travel this road and i knew we'd be able to hop aboard and at least get to the bottom of the Janiculum Hill. ah, the perils of being a pedestrian ... i didn't realize that the Lungotevere goes one-way, downstream, and we needed to go upstream, so to speak. the next hope of catching a bus would be to walk all the way across the river and then try to find something that would go up the river and back across the bridge. with Cece in the Ergo, twenty pounds of groceries in the backpack, and Greta unable/unwilling to walk faster than a snail's pace, i thought we had better just walk the mile back home. however, i did not tell this to Greta. in fact, i purposely kept up the ruse that we were looking for a bus by telling her we only had to walk to the next bus stop, where we would pause for a few minutes so she could rest, and then i would sigh and say, "well, i guess our bus doesn't come to this stop -- let's try the next one up there" and so it went, for an hour, bells on bobtails ring, lying all the way. sorry, kiddo. ninety minutes after we left the Trastevere bus stop, we finally stumbled into our blessedly air-conditioned apartment, and had lunch, and didn't go outside for the rest of the day. and i whipped out my phone to determine what happened to that godforsaken 115 bus and found this:
guess it's time for this SUV-driving suburbanite softie to toughen up and come up with Plan B, Plan C, and Plan D for public transportation options before we leave the house.
Tuesday night's dinner was lemon lentil chicken and rice, which was not very photogenic but was surprisingly delicious. i used a package of chicken pieces with kebab seasoning that Todi's had on sale, which probably helped give it more depth of flavor.
Wednesday was a low-key day around home, cleaning, doing laundry, etc. i went for a treadmill run at the gym here in the afternoon. it sort of killed me to be inside when i could be out exploring the city, but i had a specific window of time to exercise before Nick had to leave for his next obligation, and didn't want to risk getting lost out in the city somewhere. plus, it was 89 degrees and i figured i needed air conditioning if i was actually going to run without stopping for any self-respecting length of time. and the view from the treadmill is not too shabby:
on the way back from the gym, i stopped to admire the redwood tree planted here by Pope John Paul II in 1980. there is so much beauty here on campus. it inspires peacefulness, thankfulness, and the desire to cultivate inner beauty. Greta in particular is sensitive to her surroundings, and i'm sure it influences Cecilia too, even if she isn't consciously aware of it yet. this is one reason why we visited Phipps Conservatory so much back in Pittsburgh. here at the College, i feel almost as if we live in a conservatory -- obviously there aren't as many flowers, but the grounds are so serene and idyllic.
on Thursday, we joined the seminarians for pranzo (lunch) as will be our habit twice a week. we've decided just to keep to the same days the previous family did -- Thursdays and Sundays. while this is mostly to foster community and friendship between our family and the seminarians, sharing lunch with them also saves me meal prep and cleanup, gives me recipe inspiration for traditional Italian foods, and helps us teach the girls how to eat like civilized creatures. today's lunch was a more casual, buffet-style affair as the staff have been busy preparing for Thursday night's formal welcome banquet. we ate turkey, baked ziti with a spicy red sauce, and lots of fruit.
the banquet was quite the affair. Nick joined the other men for cocktail hour at 6, and i brought the girls over to the patio outside the chapel for dinner at 7. the second-year seminarians served dinner to the first-year students, faculty, and other guests (including our family). i think this is the first time Cecilia's name has ever been on a name card. she devoured her caprese salad and lasagna. by the way, i need to get the recipe for this lasagna. it is hands down the best lasagna i've ever tasted, with a creamy white sauce, noodles that melted in our mouths, and perfectly seasoned meat. the third course was saltimbocca alla Romana (veal with prosciutto and sage), served with spinach and roasted potatoes. our trusty second-year waiters kept us well supplied with delicious red wine, and graciously picked up Cecilia's napkin and bib and various other accoutrements she tossed on the ground.
 |
| another screenshot from the Flickr photostream |
finally, the meal concluded with the largest cannoli i've ever seen. we toasted the Italian kitchen crew, and then an Australian first-year seminarian toasted the second-year orientation crew with a hilarious speech in which he rued the double culture shock he faces, moving to Rome but living in "Fortress America" as he put it. the girls behaved very well (despite Cece's antics) and were excited to see a few of the nuns we met last week (one of whom just joined the staff this year as a psychologist, and one who is a theology student herself). as we cleaned up, a sprightly septuagenarian priest (i later learned that he hails from the Bronx) pressed another cannoli wrapped in a napkin into my hand, whispered "for the girls!" with a mischievous nod, and disappeared with a jovial wave. the rector of the College laughed when i told him this story a few minutes later and assured me the girls will be spoiled to bits while they're here!
the night concluded with digestivo and caffè in the cortile (the central garden). i was looking forward to my first caffè corretto -- espresso with a shot of grappa or some other liquor -- but Cecilia started throwing tantrums when she wasn't allowed to hold a ceramic teacup by herself and i took her back home to bed. Greta, however, was enchanted at the thought of drinking milk out of a real cup with the grownups, and stayed with Nick to socialize for another hour. just like her mother, she is an extroverted introvert to the core!
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