Mini Break Time

Ciao Stranger,

April 7: Monday

Usually nothing special happens on my weekdays, especially on Monday since I have two back to back classes. After sitting in 4 hours of the dullest classes possible where I'm zoning out and playing on my phone the whole time, I lose all interest to go out and party afterwards and normally just want to head home and nerd it out for the night. Just when I thought my night was going to be serene, I get dragged out into our kitchen to drink with my room mates. Filippo, the lovely Italian in the middle of the picture is the guy who used to live in my room before me. Well known for being the classic 37 year old single guy who would smoke and drink in the kitchen all day long. If he catches you, there's no escaping: you'll be drinking too. He came back to visit everyone and let's just say I couldn't escape.

April 8: Tuesday

I never go to my Tuesday class, and apparently I'm not the only one because Matt called me at noon asking to hangout with him and Sean, who were both supposed to be in class as well. Don't worry mom, I'm not putting my tuition cost as waste. I'm learning a ton in Rome, like how to make different varieties of pasta. Matt cooked carbonara. I have to say, it's definitely become one of my favourite types of pasta now. The richness of the cheese and egg combination is to die for. I must master this recipe and cook it when I miss when I'm back in Vancouver, crying over Rome and all its gloriousness. 

Here's the carbonara Matt made. Delicious!!! Better than the stuff they make in the restaurants in Vancouver, almost as good as Ascenzo's (my room mate's)...almost.

While the three of us were watching a movie, I made a few batches of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Not going to lie, with no measuring cups (and baking is all about precision) I thought they might turn out sour, but hey, they were pretty delightful little treats. At least that's what I thought, and I might be biased. So much for sharing because I think I ate 50% of the cookies I made...hehe...oops. With our stomachs filled with pasta and cookies, we went over to Matt's to spend the evening playing cards together. A day well spent if you ask me.

April 9: Wednesday

The Wednesday before, we went to Trastevere (a local eating area known for its cheap restaurants and awesome Roman atmosphere) and it was so delicious/cheap that we went again the following Wednesday. A whole fresh margherita pizza for 3 euros? Pasta for 5? How can anyone say no?! Tourists flock the centre and the restaurants raise the prices to outrageous numbers because they know people will fall for the classic "I'm eating right by the Vatican City" ordeal. But if you want the real deal, go to Trastevere and you'll realize the streets are filled with locals, street vendors, and street performers, all intertwined together in the vine filled alleyways. Just look how Italian the restaurant is! If this doesn't scream authenticity, then I don't know what does.

And what do these 3-6 euro pizzas look like? Here's a classic example. Nothing like the pepperoni or hawaiian pizza you'll find back home. I've told a couple of my Erasmus friends about our pineapple pizzas and they have all frowned in disgust at our repulsive combination of food. I don't blame them, if you ever taste a real Italian thin crust pizza, you'll can never look at Boston Pizza/Domino's the same again.