Bellissimo Venduta!

We continue to be patient in our apartment search, although the thought of spreading out into more than one room is becoming more and more desirable, and we are definitely starting to get excited about the potential of having an apartment in the near future.

I posted pictures that show the views from one that we are currently pursuing. The apartment is located in a quiet, gated, neighborhood in Posillipo. The #1 thing that appeals to me about it is the fact that it is in such a quiet spot. We did, however, just learn that trucks showed up yesterday at the apartment with scaffolding, to get started on a construction project, the duration of which, we are not yet sure. Since we don't want to end up living in a noisy construction zone, we are waiting to learn more about the project to see if we will continue to pursue this apartment, or continue our search to find an alternative. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the project is a short one, but we'll see.

We definitely want to get settled into a place that we can 'call our own' for the next couple of years, and of course, we want a place that we'll be able to entertain both out of town and local guests in. Having to always eat out or go out gets exhausting, so please say some prayers that this apartment works out!

Is it true? Do horizontal stripes make me look fat?

Abbiamo cenato

On Saturday night, our friends Rosa and Paolo had us over for a fabulous dinner. They live in Portici ("Port", by the shipping port), and from the balcony of their apartment they have spectacular views of Naples, plus partial views of Capri and Sorrento--Bellisimo Venduta (means great view!). If you were in Napoli looking towards Portici, you would see the Portici homes clustered along part of the base of Vesuvio, and it only took us about 20 minutes to get to their apartment from Napoli.

When we got to their place, Rosa gave us a tour of their apartment--a great place with lots of unique design accents i.e neat accent lighting, a subfloor with glass top to display shells they had collected on various trips, cool tile work in the bathrooms etc, all ideas Rosa came up with on her own. Rosa had also taken time to create a great tablescape complete with printed menus and gifts for all of us ( A Napoli bib for Evan, and cool, 3 dimensional magnets for Josh and I of Napoli and Piazza Plebiscito. She had the gifts tied up in mesh bags w/ a 'horn' charm (animal horn, not instrumental horn)--horns being the symbol of good luck here, and many people keep horns mounted in their homes, or dangling from their car's rearview mirror). She has 6 month old Gabriel and 2.5 yr old Manuel, so where she found the time to cook us the feast she had prepared, plus do all the little extras I have no idea! I attached a picture of her tablescape and menu. You will see a picture on the front of the menu of a guy--Rosa explained that every city has a "mascot" type figure, and the one on the menu is the "Mascot" of Napoli. She told us his name (which I forget) and that he is described as being very lazy as well as some other things. She also printed a story/history of, I think, food in Naples, but she didn't translate it, instead, she gave me that as a homework assignment, to figure out what it says:) ha! We told Rosa that she was the "Martha Stewart" of Italy! She's never heard of Martha Stewart, but we explained who she is, and she understood and accepted the compliment:)

Rosa's menu for us consisted of:
"Stuzzichini della casa"--starters
-Tarallini--a type of cracker that reminds me of breadsticks and they are shaped like little donuts
-Sfogliata Rustica-a potato, cheese and bacon torte--Yum!
-Bruschette

Primi- 1st course
-Pasticcio di pasta al forno- wide ziti like noodles with lots of cheese and meatballs

Secondi-2nd course
-Involtini di pollo a modo mio--Rosa called this "Chicken her way!". Chicken rolled up with a delicious sauce.
-Trionfo Campano: Ovvero "Salsicce e Friarielli"--I think that means, a typical dish of Campania (the region Naples is in) which consists of spinach like veggie with sausages.
-Terrina de Patate-layers of potato and ham or bacon ( I forget now, but very delicious). It looked like if you were to cut a marble pound cake.

Dolce-Dessert
Cupola di Profiteroles-- french dish. Puff pastries filled w/ homemade whipped cream and then covered in melted dark chocolate candy bars--so good! I had 4 of them, and then before she started doing dishes, Rosa offered me the spoon to 'clean off'. Kind of like when I used to lick the beaters when my mother would make cakes:) You're never too old to lick the beaters!!

I had also brought over Chiachiare and chocolate--the dessert I had mentioned in a previous post that is typical during Carnevale--which continues up until 2/16.

Speaking of Carnevale--Rosa lent me a pumpkin outfit for Evan to wear on the weekends, since all the kids dress up and go out on the weekends of Carnivale. So, yesterday, we dressed him up and walked to the park to see all the other costumes--ranging from Minnie Mouse, to baby brides, Spiderman, Pirates, Band Majorettes etc. The piazzas and parks were covered in silly string and confetti!!

We look forward to spending more time w/ Rosa & her family, and they are looking forward to us getting an apartment so that they can come over for a Barbecue..a cooking technique they are not familiar with and definitely want to try!

I'm not the only "Housewife" in this hotel!

Evan and I exited the elevator into our hotel lobby to wait for my friend Stephanie who I was having lunch with. As I got off the elevator, I saw this girl who I just knew that I knew from somewhere, but I had no clue, from where! Did we go to college together? Was she a friend of a friend? Someone I knew from Boston? San Francisco? Seattle? Summer Camp? Band Camp?(Ha) It was killing me! She had a son who looked to be about 7, and then was attending to a baby in a stroller. I was scrolling through everyone in my head...what moms do I know with kids that age, etc etc.. I couldn't place it, so I just asked her if she was from Seattle. She said, "Nope, I'm from New Jersey". "Oh, OK, it's just that you look SO familiar to me, but I guess you just might remind me of someone else." Then her mom chimes in..."Do you ever watch the Real Housewives of New Jersey? She's Jacqueline!" I have to admit, I love the drama of that reality show, and I did watch the whole season of it. Of course, it's Jacqueline! She was the nicest housewife on the show, and I have to say, she's a lot prettier in person. She was also very down to earth, and we chatted for about 1/2 an hour. As we were talking, Caroline and her husband, another couple on the show, came down into the lobby and also said 'hi'. Caroline also looks a lot better in person--I think the camera really must add 10 pounds, since they looked slimmer in person. Jacqueline and I doted over each other's babies, talked about our impressions of Naples--she said it totally reminds her of The Bronx, she asked for recommendations for lunch spots since she was starving, and then she told me a bit about their schedule while here. They had come in on a cruise ship, and were spending a few days in Naples, and then heading a couple hours North to visit Theresa's family, with all the footage from this trip going into the making of the premier episode for Season 2. I asked Jacqueline if she is used to having her life filmed 24/7 and she said "yes, since the crew has become like my family." She said, you kind of forget the crew is even there." She said they are always around, and gave the example of even as she was throwing up on the ship the night before due to sea sickness, there was the camera man, right in the bathroom with her...not holding her hair back, but videoing the whole thing. Now that is going to be some quality t.v! ha!

The next morning I saw Theresa, her husband Joe, and all of their kids at breakfast. Theresa was all dolled up, with lots of bling, her girls were all dressed to the nines (just like on the show), and her husband looked like maybe he had too much red wine or lemoncello the night before--yet he still managed to dress well, and put on his huge rolex studded w/ what must have been 60 diamonds--Mamma Mia!

Ok..off to find myself an Extra spot in Season 2--be sure to watch the Season 2 opening, maybe you'll see my head bobbing in the background:) haha

The Farmer in the Dell

I've been learning some nursery rhymes to sing to Evan, and Farmer in the Dell is one of his favorites--hence the overalls:) ha

Andiamo a Roma!

On Saturday, we decided to get a change of scenery and head out on a spontaneous road trip to Rome. The fact that we can randomly just drive up to Rome for the day is still something to get used to!

The drive is an easy 2 hours on the Autostrada, and so after a leisurely breakfast at our hotel, we loaded up the car (amazing how much stuff you have to pack just for a day trip w/ a baby!) and headed to Rome with the goal of touring the colliseum and hanging out in Piazza Navona, our favorite spot from when we went to Rome a few years ago.

We had checked the weather before heading out, and there was 30% chance of showers, and temps predicted in the upper 40s to low 50s. We drove through a few terrential downpours, and experienced a few once we were on foot in Rome, but for the most part, the weather cooperated.

Upon arrival, we found easy on-street parking just a couple blocks from the Colleseum, and paid the meter about 2 euros for essentially 8 hours of parking--I guess the parking angel was on our side that day! We were floored by how sane and orderly the driving seemed in Rome. I can remember being there years ago, when I almost had a heart attack driving in a cab in Rome and thinking that driving in Rome was crazy, but ohhhh, how two months in Napoli changed my perspective!! Rome seems like a drive in Pleasantville compared to the chaotic streets in Napoli.

Once parked and geared up w/ our baby stuff, we headed off to find some lunch. It was great to have some new menu items and some more, what we consider, traditional Italian dishes, such as meat lasagna, to choose from. We had a great lunch--Josh indulging in meat lasagna and a sausage w/patate (potato) dish, not to mention his vino rosso de la casa (house red wine), and I had the pasta a fagioli (pasta and bean soup) with a nice helping of fresh parmesan on top, and a salad with lots of toppings on it (which is hard to find in Naples where a salad is often iceburg lettuce on a plate). We noticed that not one person in Rome interrupted our lunch to come and stare at Evan, rub his cheek, or lean in to give him a big kiss--the typical scenario occuring at least once..usually much more than that, per meal, in Naples. Not to go off on a tangent, but on my walk yesterday, a car actually pulled off the road, asked me to open the stroller visor, so that this woman and her husband could peek in to see Evan. They went on and on about him--Bello, Bellissimo, Complementi etc etc, and wanted to know how old he is etc. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Neopolitan's LOVE babies! Going out w/ Evan is like having a celebrity in the stroller!

Ok..back to Rome. So, after a satisfying lunch, we headed to the colliseum. It is so impressive, and as you approach it, it almost doesn't look real, as if it is superimposed in the landscape. We walked around the various levels of it, reading about it's history, and how everything from Rhinos & Hippos, to the more infamous lions and tigers would be sent in to the arena to hunt down the prisoners there to be executed. I hadn't realized that right after an 'execution' the animals themselves would be slaughtered, the meat then given away for free to attendees of 'the games'. Also, during gladitorial fights, the loser's blood would actually be soaked up with sponges, and then sold, as many Romans believed that the gladitorial blood would in some way protect or heal them from disease. Sounds gross to me, but hey..what happens in Rome, stays in Rome! They also had a lot of interesting artifacts on exhibit, such as sheep knuckles--used as part of a game, bone dice, glass "poker chips" etc all game pieces attendees would use as they sat in the stands, waiting for a show to begin. I found the chunks of marble with 'graffiti' carved into them interesting, since I think it would be hard to not get caught doing graffiti back in Roman times, considering you had to carve your 'tag' into marble!ha

After the Colliseum, we walked about a mile to Piazza Navona. The sun was starting to set, and the air was turning cool, so what better way to warm up then with a gelato! We hit the gelato stand, walked around the Piazza a bit, and then headed home. All in all, it was a great day, and we look forward to heading up there more often whenever we need a change.

Red Rover, Red Rover...

"Red Rover, Red Rover, sending Kimmy and Evan right over"...I often feel like yelling that as I approach families of 5 strolling arm in arm, or 6-7 school girls (or boys) walking along holding hands, or with arms locked...creating a kind of moving road block that we have to navigate through, just like the childhood Red Rover game.

I find it refreshing,in a way, to see so much hand-holding, linked arms, and yes, even people making out in the streets, on a daily basis. The affectionate body language, and lack of need for personal space, is nice to see...it makes you feel like singing, "love is in the air"..:) ha! I know Josh and I hold hands or stroll with our arms locked a lot more these days, just to fit in if nothing else:) ha!