Falling For Rome - Literally

It was Thursday, our third morning in Rome,

and we were due to have an 'Instagram meet' with Diana in Piazza Navona at lunchtime.

We'd taken the Metro to Colosseo & walked up to

Piazza Venezia (after a slight detour into

the Basilica di Ss Cosmo & Damiano - well worth

seeing). 

Taking the lift to the top of Vittoriano was on my 'Bucket List' & today I hoped to tick it off. 

I was in luck - there was no queue & it didn't take much to persuade hubby it was going to be

worth it for the views - it is not called 'Roma al Cielo' 

for nothing.

We stood and 'oohed & aahed', took the 

obligatory panoramic photos, then headed back down and slipped into the church tucked in behind the monument.

By now it was almost 11.30 am - time to pop into 

a bar & grab a coffee, before heading to Piazza Navona. 

We waited for the pedestrian lights to turn to green

and made our way across the road. Two thirds of the way across I could feel myself falling forwards,

in what seemed like slow motion. I put my left hand out to stop myself from landing on my face

and, as soon as it hit the cobbles, I knew it was broken. The fact that my ring finger was also jutting 

at an odd angle should have indicated that it was dislocated.  

A trip to Umberto I Policlinico confirmed that I'd managed to fracture both my middle finger & ring finger. A few tears when they said they'd have to

cut off my wedding and engagement rings 

soon had them agreeing to persevere with easing them off. 

I am now sporting a rather attractive splint, (hint of sarcasm there)

and face the prospect of an operation on my ring finger when the fracture is healed, as they can't manipulate it to cure the dislocation.

Needless to say, we didn't manage to meet up with 

Diana - we'll just have to return again in the not 

too distant future. 

Freedom Is A State Of Mind

We go for a walk by the sea most afternoons,

and I tend to take a few photographs

on my Smartphone, in case

one of them turns out to be my

'365 Days of Happy' moment.

The trouble is, the sun is usually so bright,

it proves difficult to actually see what 

I'm capturing.

Yesterday was no exception, and,

although I knew there was a bird 

flying past as I was clicking away,

I had no idea that it had just flown into 

shot as I hit the button.

But it had......

Freedom is a state of mind

And I thought the quote fitted it perfectly.

Il Veliero

Il Veliero

Hubby announced last Friday that we wouldn't be

going to La Torretta for lunch on Saturday, 

but would go out for Sunday lunch instead,

although he hadn't decided where we'd

be dining.

Come Sunday morning, we both decided we'd

like to head to Acciaroli & try Il Veliero

- The Dawn Treader - overlooking the port;

it's rated the best place to eat in Acciaroli on TripAdvisor & came recommended by our butcher.

We booked a table for 1 pm, which gave us an hour 

to wander around the port, sit & enjoy a coffee and

take a few photographs before eating. 

We were, as ever, first to arrive and were given 

the choice of any of half a dozen tables. Duly seated & handed the menu, we discussed which starter

we'd like to share (not because we're trying to 'eat on the cheap', but simply because we still can't manage to eat Italian style).

We settled on Parmigiana alla Spada,  

and when it arrived, we were glad we'd chosen to 

share it - it was a good size & rather filling,
and very flavoursome too.

For 'il primo' hubby chose Spaghetti con Vongole

& I opted for Nero - Black Spaghetti with Shark -

we decided on a side order of Zucchine, but, as is 'the norm' here, this wasn't brought to the table

until our primi piatti had been cleared.

My 'Nero' - the flavours were just awesome

Unfortunately, when they brought our dishes, they'd got hubby's order wrong & tried to tell him he'd ordered Spaghetti con Gamberetti,

but they were quite apologetic when they realised 

that they were wrong. 

When it eventually arrived, it looked

absolutely delicious. 

Freshly caught vongole are just so tasty

And the wine to accompany such a 'mouthgasmic' meal? 

An excellent Trentenare 2013 Fiano di Paestum - 

 I love how we have so many local wines

on offer

Capturing The Moment

As we went for our afternoon walk yesterday, 

there was a wedding party hanging out at Bar L'Ancora, 

and movement on the rooftop terrace

of Torre Perrotti. 

So we speeded up our walk along the lungomare

and headed back, just in time to see the guests

heading towards the tower.

I love nothing better than seeing the bride

going through the doorway on the

way to making her vows, and 

capturing that moment that no-one else does......

Il Menu di Mare Pasqua

Not a bad view for Sunday lunch

As with most restaurants at Easter, Lo Sparviero was offering 2 set menus - 

'Il Menu di Mare' and 'Il Menu di Terra'.

We'd already decided when we booked a table yesterday that we'd both go for the 'Menu di Mare'; after all, Lo Sparviero is renowned as a fish restaurant, so it seemed the obvious choice.

Welcomed with huge smiles and lots of calls of 'Tanti auguri', we were shown to our table

on the first floor - as usual, we were the first diners

to arrive. 

Asked whether we wanted acqua liscia or

gassata, a bottle of the fizzy variety promptly

appeared, along with a bottle 

of Falanghina di Beneventano - the perfect

accompaniment to a fish menu.

The waiter ran through the menu for us
& we confirmed that we both wanted the
Menu di Mare Pasqua. The wine was poured
for my approval and a few minutes later the entree of Vellatuta di ceci con calamarelle in intingolo al rosmarino appeared...the aroma was
mouthwatering

This was followed by antipasto of
Mattonella di Alicia di menaica con impanatura
saporita, provola e pomodorini confit -
a total contrast to the entree

Then came the Primo Piatto,
a beautifully creamy yet still 'al dente'
Risotto con seppie e carciofi.
Hubby found it difficult to finish this,
but I managed to clear my dish, eventually.

And then came the 'Secondo' -
Filetto di orata al cartoccio con
vongole, cozze e gamberetti
(that's sea bream with mussels, clams & prawns
to you & me). And that was by far the best
course, as one would expect.

The Falanghina was gradually going down, but as hubby is teetotal, it was going down rather slowly, so I decided that I'd bring the bottle home with me,
although I did feel a little self-conscious
walking along the Lungomare with
a wine bottle sticking out of my handbag.

'But what about dolce?' I hear you ask,
because, of course, the Italians excel at dolce.
Well yes, there was Dolce di casa,
which was their take on Pastiera,
and very yummy it was too!

San Severino - Campania's Matera

It was a beautiful sunny morning, so we grabbed our cameras, jumped in the car & headed south
for San Severino.

Perched precariously above the Mingardo river,
this 'borgo medievale' dates back to the
10th century and thrived on trade with Bulgaria.
The first sight of it (in the photo above)
took our breath away.

The hamlet began to be abandoned at the end
of the 19th century, when the railway was built in the valley below, but some homes remained occupied until 1977, although the state of disrepair
gives the appearance of having been
abandoned long before that.

We stopped for a coffee in a bar in
'modern' San Severino before
discovering that the footpath up to
the borgo was barricaded &
off limits to the public.
But hey, we're English, and we didn't
understand the signs, did we?
So we climbed up, exploring the ruins
and admiring the views.....

And what we found when we reached the 

end of Via Croce just totally blew me away....

Now Is The Winter Of Our Content

Yes, I know Spring is in the air, somewhere,
but we've had 48 hours of galeforce winds
with windchill factors of up to -10°
(or should that be down to?),
and cloudy skies, so it has still felt like Winter.

Anyway, let's get down to the subject of this blog, which is to talk about our
'stufa di pellet' (wood pellet burning stove).

When we were having Il Sogno finished to our specification, we were quoted €10k
to have a stove & radiators installed;
as wall space for placing furniture was at a premium, we decided not to go with that option, and had an open fireplace instead.
And while we found a log fire to be a very romantic option on more than one occasion, it really didn't warm up much of the house.

So, last October, we finally had a stufa fitted, with pipes in the loft vented to
each of the bedrooms & the bathroom -
if only we'd been told that this was
an option back in October 2010, we'd
have felt a lot warmer those first two
cruel winters!

The stufa may look like an oversized microwave, but it has made a vast difference this winter, and Il Sogno has
been the cosiest she's ever been.