Apple Mush

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At first it was sorta funny and ironic.  Of course I get sick the day I decide to go on a diet.

But today is day 5 of feeling like death.  I’ll spare you the details of my unfortunate symptoms.  Let’s just say I’m tired of it.

Yesterday, I ate two slices of plain toast, a kiwi, and two bottles of powerade.

Today, I made apple mush.  Apple mush is the weak/lazy lady’s version of apple sauce.

I chopped up two apples (with peel, because I have no energy to peel apples), sliced 1 banana and put them in a small pot, sprinkled them with a dash of cinnamon and added 1/2 cup of water.  Then I let it simmer for 25 minutes.  I mixed it around and broke up the pieces a bit and called it apple mush.

My body hasn’t rejected it yet, but I’m reluctant to even write that.

Hopefully these bottles of gatorade/powerade will help.  Italy has strange flavors…

Green Mango?  It just tasted really sweet, not really like mango.

Arancia Rossa is Blood Orange.  Tastes like a stronger orange flavor. Maybe more like real orange than the regular orange gatorade?

It’s been 5 days of illness now.  Cross your fingers that I’ll be better by tomorrow.  I’m tired of my apartment.  I need some human interaction.

Rough Start

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Countdown to Ibiza started yesterday.  In terms of eating less, it definitely was a success.  In terms of health, not so much.

I had some sort of flu that entailed vomiting, fever, muscle pain.

Therefore, all I ate yesterday was a kiwi.

Source: http://www.giallozafferano.it/images/prodotti/kiwi.jpg

and a cup of juice.

Not exactly what I had in mind to start off a diet but oh well.

Still had a little fever this morning so I’m going to work a little late.

So far today, I’ve had an apple.

I have no real desire to eat anything else.

This is definitely not what I had in mind…

Countdown to Ibiza: Day 18

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Italy has over saturated me with food.  Don’t get me wrong, I love food.  But I can’t do this anymore.  Not only have I gotten a little softer than I would like, I’m just plain tired of eating.

So for the next few weeks, my blog will become a diet blog.

In 18 days, I’m going to Ibiza.

You know what that means?  Bathing suit.

For the next 18 days (and hopefully beyond), I’m stepping it up.

More healthy food and more exercise.  Less carbohydrates.

I can’t wait.

Hostaria Farnese and Sara’s Betrothed

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We basically spent the Biscotti Queen’s last day in Rome just eating.

I’ve eaten so much I don’t even want to look at food anymore.  The thought of pizza makes my stomach turn (more on that later).

But her last night, we made sure to go to Hostaria Farnese, a small restaurant between Piazza Farnese and Campo d’ Fiori.   The Biscotti Queen and her family had been to that restaurant 10 years prior and had take pictures with the family.  Biscotti Queen’s uncle Mark offered to buy us dinner if we went and took pictures with the family.

After a bit of wine (or maybe an entire bottle of sparkling wine between me and the Biscotti Queen), we all (Biscotti Queen, Lis and me) went to dinner.

After ordering, Biscotti Queen pulled out the pictures from 10 years before.

The old man and his son, Luca, were so pleased!  So we got a picture of Sara with the family!  Mission accomplished.

On to the food.  The three of us shared a spaghetti Carbonara (because it was Biscotti Queen’s last day in Rome and she had yet to have it)

Lamb with potatoes

and Artichokes.  They also gave us some of their house flat bread to try (and some wonderful anti pasti that I forgot to take a picture of).  They were awfully generous!

The next day, the Biscotti Queen left and it was back to work for me.  Super sad!

I had such a wonderful time with all my visitors.  It was nice to we around close friends again.  Everyone here in Rome is great, but they’re no match to friends from home.

After all these visits though, I’m sooo tired of food.  I’m starting a mini diet on Monday.  More on that soon.

The Time We Climbed 1 Million Steps…

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Remember that time that decided to take a vacation. We walked, bused, trained, bused again and finally made our way to Amalfi, because let’s be honest, Rome is fantastic but the Amalfi coast is pretty much amazing.

First stop was our hotel.  L’Antico Convitto. 

Then it was time to venture out.  We walked about 200 meters to the Duomo, the main cathedral.

Our vacation ambitions somehow convinced us to shell out 3 Euro to take a tour of the Cloister, Catacombs and Cathedral.

Lovely!   Then of course, we fed ourselves, because Sara’s main goal on her trip to Italy was to gain 10 lbs.

Challenge accepted.

 

For lunch, pizza and gelato on the steps of the Duomo.

After there was no more food to eat (for now), we wandered, because really that’s what we’re good at and that’s what there is to do on the Amalfi coast.   There’s one main street in Amalfi.  We walked up and down it probably 20 times.  After we window shopped enough, we decided to wander through the neighborhoods.

The neighborhoods are not what you would imagine.  First off, Amalfi is built into the side of a mountain.  So the streets are made of tiny corridors full of many, many, many stairs.

After getting lost a few times, we referred to the map to try to get to the neighboring little town, Atrani.  After an hour of stairs, twists, turns, amazing views and a few more stairs, we made it.

Atrani was tiny.  We saw a main square, a bar, some people going to church, a restaurant, and two fisherman.  Then we turned around and headed back to Amalfi.  This time, we walked along the side of the road.  It took about 15 minutes to get back, compared to an hour and a half to get there… Stair free.

A few hours later, our friend Lis joined us!  By this time it was about 10 pm.  Most things were closed but luckily the restaurant we had scoped out in one of the random alleys off the main street was still open.  We then proceeded to have the best meal EVER.

Mussels with lemon and pepper.

Pasta with tomatoes and mussels

Grilled Calamari

Arancini (Risotto balls)

 

Then we proceeded to pass out in a food coma.

Life is good in Italy.

Friends Visiting

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I’ve pretty much had the best week ever. As much as I love Rome, it can definitely get lonely.  But this week has been full of friends!

My friend, Ali, visited.  Sadly, while I went to work she wandered around with her brother for a few days.  But we did get a chance to see some sites together!

 

And last weekend, we headed to Napoli and made a side trip to Pompeii.

I had been before, but it was super fun the second time around.

 

Then we went back to Napoli for one reason: Pizza.  Obviously. Because I’m obsessed with food…

Somehow we ended up in the Eat, Pray, Love pizza shop, completely unintentionally.

And yes, we each ate an entire pizza.

 

It was amazing, except they only offered two kinds of pizza: Margherita and without cheese.  Although I discovered a pizza place in Rome that I like more.

Then sadly Ali had to leave, but they day she left, Biscotti Queen (Sara) arrived!

Tomorrow we’re headed to the Amalfi coast!  Stay tuned for our adventures!

Tuscany

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They didn’t lie.  Tuscany is beautiful.

This must be why everyone (or at least in the movies) has a midlife crisis and moves to Tuscany.

It might also have to do with the food.  This is probably the best pasta I’ve ever had in my life.

Pici, a hand made pasta, apparently is a Tuscan specialty.  So when we stopped in Pienza for lunch, I figured, why not?   After a delicious lunch, we found all the shops to be closed (as is normal in the middle of the day in Italy).  Sadly we could not get our hands on any of the Pecorino cheese that Pienza is so famous for.  Instead, we had a photoshoot with the great view:

Apparently, I can’t take a normal photo in Italy. Sooooo windy!

After our photoshoot, we headed to San Gimignano where it started to rain pretty soon after we got there.

Lovely medieval town, sadly not so lovely weather.  The next day, the weather was not much better.  The combination of no photos allowed inside museums and rain meant I didn’t take too many pictures.  Only a few at the top of a look out point and the tower.

Amazing view!

I feel like I need to go back to Tuscany when it’s sunny to enjoy the landscapes and out doors.  In the meantime, I’m back in Rome where the weather is warmer but still rainy.

I can’t wait for summer!  I want to wear a dress without tights under it, shoes other than boots and no more jackets!

In the meantime, I’ll survive, especially since I have a friend visiting tomorrow and another next week!

The Most Disgusting Pizza I’ve Ever Had

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Who knew there could be terrible pizza in Italy.  But trust me.  There is.  I witnessed it tonight.

I’m going to blame all this on the fact that I don’t speak enough Italian to ask “what is on this pizza?”

I saw artichokes and thought hmmm that looks delicious.  I’ll have that one.

Upon arriving home with my pretty little piece of pizza slices wrapped in paper,

I took one bite to find that the topping was something fishy.

Like some sort of tuna salad with mayo (but fishier), slathered on top of a perfectly good pizza base.

I couldn’t even eat it.  I even tried scraping off all the topping but that fishiness was all up in there good.  Into the trash it went.

I feel ill.

This must be God telling me that I shouldn’t be eating pizza during the week.

I should have stuck with the canned soup I originally intended to have.

My First Time in an Italian Gym

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After a desperate weekend of not feeling too great about myself, today I went and signed up for the gym.  I was so enthusiastic that after a reception where I stuffed my face with mini sandwiches, I made my way to the gym for my first work out in an Italian gym or palestra as they are called here.

I decided to start out slow after over a month of not exercising any more than simply walking.  So I did 25 minutes on a cardio machine that somewhat resembled an elliptical machine.

Now let me tell you a few things about Italian gyms, based on my first observation.

First off, you need to have a medical certificate to join.  Luckily, I could get one of those at work (they call it a medical certificate of fitness for non-competitive sports, makes me feel like weak sauce but alas I’m not competitive in sports.  So be it.).   It was sort of a waste of time.  The doctor asked me if there was anything wrong with me.  I said no and she promptly signed the form… One of the many markers of Italy’s inefficiency (not that the US isn’t either).

So with my medical certificate, I signed up.  The gym has a rule that you should bring shoes only to wear inside the gym.  I’m not sure how strict this rule is but on the first day, I figured I would follow the rules.

Shoes packed in a Zara bag, because I’m classy like that.

Then for storage… you need to bring a lock.  Italy is not like the US.  You can’t just go to Target and pick up a lock, a pair of socks, sunscreen and some peanut butter.  I had no idea where one goes to buy a lock in Rome.  Luckily, Cornell in Rome saved me and just gave me one to borrow.  They also mentioned I could have gone to a locksmith.  Who knew?

Case in point.  I now have a lock in my possession.  Hooray!

So after locking up my Zara bag that held the green flats I wore to walk to the gym, I jumped on the first familiar-ish looking machine in sight.  After fumbling with the buttons, I figured out how to enter all the information.  I was good to go.  From here, I realized three things:

  1. I am horribly out of shape.
  2. I forgot a towel.
  3. Italian men are ridiculous.

Let me elaborate on the third point.  Italians are really animated when they talk, which I appreciate.  The gesticulation carries on to the gym.  They’re also really obvious about certain things, like wearing short shorts and shamelessly checking out ladies.

I’m sure I’ll have some better observations when I made my way to the weight room tomorrow.  Wish me luck.