I realise that already I have neglected to blog, but I do have much to report.
So far, since last I wrote, Mama and I had been enjoying Roma and it's ancient glory. Of which I am still slightly in awe of now even though we left a week ago. I'm pretty sure the soundtrack that best describes my impression of Rome, its history and atmosphere, is - 'Wind Guide You' by Jeremy Soule (specifically 4:14 - 9:00).
Rome as a whole, was a phenomenal experience, if not a bit hot and frustrating when trying to find wi-fi. We spent the days mostly just walking around, encountering incredible things to see at every turn, taking so many photos it's not funny and simply absorbing the culture.
Our apartment, in Trastevere, was situated above some local bars that simply flourished at night! The apartment complex was built in the 16th Century, but had access to the rooftop, where we had dinner every now and then.
Soon enough, a week had passed, and we had to keep moving. We managed somehow to get ourselves to Termini Station by bus, buy tickets that got us to Firenze (Florence) - Santa Maria Novella Station. That was a hilarious day. My suitcase, had my three months worth of stuff inside an ancient suitcase that I am 80% sure is older than me. 'The Brick' as we now call my giant black monster of dead weight, was quite a sight trying to get on and off the train. Cadets from the Italian army were on our train, and it took two of them to help us get the Brick in and out of the overhead storage, since all other storage compartments were jam-packed with more suitcases.
Needless to say, we got a taxi to our apartment when we arrived in Firenze
Ah Firenze! My new home.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by Nicoletta, the landlady of the apartment building. She is a sweet lady who lives directly below me with her little cocker spaniel and black cat. Nicoletta showed us around the apartment, where everything was etc. She supplied fresh grapes, red wine and a packet of pasta as a welcome gift!
My apartment has a name. It is Parigi Orlandini, and no I did not come up with the name. It is also much larger than it appears! It is designed in a 'T' shape. If you can imagine the letter 'T', the bottom part of the 'T' is where my door is, then the top part of the 'T' is the longest length of my apartment, with the kitchen on the left end and the living room on the right. My bedroom, bathroom and laundry sit near the front door.
All of the windows of Parigi Orlandini have gorgeous old shutters. The ones that overlook the street are a dark rusty brown, and the ones that overlook the courtyard are a bright emerald green.
The balcony beside my bedroom overlooks the courtyard of the apartment complex and also a private property. The owners of this private property, own a dog that could easily be mistaken for the love child between a polar bear and a megaphone. The dog's name is Nero; we found that out when most of the residents were trying to tell him to stop barking at everything and anything known to man. I googled 'giant white dog', and he might be a Great Pyreneesbut he looks bigger, fluffier and more wolf-ish than the images provided.
The first night, we couldn't find the cutleryanywhere. It required me to text Lisa, the host of my apartment, to ask where they were before we bought some on our big grocery shop. She referred us to Nicoletta, who then told me I would find my utensils under the table. Of courseI should have known that all of our utensils would be in shelves under the kitchen table concealed by a tablecloth.
Anyway, we amassed my inventory, and found my kitchen, for lack of a better word, lacking. No cooking knife, no kettle. No mixing bowl, nothing to mix with. Oven has all of its markings minus one stove top erased. Nothing to light stove top with either. Nicoletta did provide us with matchesbut that wasn't going to last me three months. Not to mention, entire kitchenlayered with a greasy film that I am sure has been here since its renovation in the 1960s
The bathroom also had a few hygiene issues. My first shower here, didn't feel like I got any cleaner.
Normally I'm not a huge germophobe (my little sister would beg to differ), but I definitely could not live for three months with my apartment in this state. So my mother and I spent the next three days, powering through and cleaning everything. I conquered the kitchen, mama conquered the bathroom.
We did a pretty awesome job mind you, and the task has been a real bonding exercise between Parigi Orlandini and myself! Though throughout those three days, we tried to find oven cleaner at every supermarket we went to but for some reason, the Italians seem to not believe in three things:
1. Oven cleaner
2. Kettles
3. Measuring cups
In fact, we only managed to find a kettle just two days ago. Oven cleaner and measuring cups, still M.I.A. in this country. But I found a measuring jug that with careful calculations, doubles as a measuring cup.
At this point now though, oven is its cleanest without oven cleaner, the bathroom hygienic, and condition, liveable.
In terms of food though, I have been living out of a recipe book I got as a belated birthday present from a very close and dear friend of mine. It is a french recipe book, but I have mostly 'italianised' the recipes. For example, when I made a white wine sauce, it technically turned into a prosecco sauce, replaced Roquefort cheese in a potato and pear galette with parmesan, you get the idea. The book itself is 'The Little Paris Kitchen' by Rachel Khoo, and is the perfect cookbook for my illogically designed, and teeny tiny kitchen.
Adventure-wise, I think the greatest thing so far would be my new 'Amici degli Uffizi' card, which gives me unlimited free entry to all of the state museums and galleries of Firenze for my entire stay. Considering the Boboli Gardens is essentially my backyard, this is PERFECT! The gardens are stunning! And I know they will be a continual source of inspiration for my writing and art during my stay.
Also knowing that I can pretty much just walk into the galleries at any given time is an exciting prospect for an art/history nerd like myself.
That's all my big news in a nutshell, and lastly a few little notes that couldn't quite fit into this post in the natural flow of writing:
The limoncello has been a continual presence pretty much since I landed in Italy, and there's no complaining here.
I arrived in Italy during ferragosto, which is essentially a giant Italian public holiday that endures for an indefinite period of time. Though slowly stores are opening up again, revealing gems of stores that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. I can't help my imagination running away with me and allowing me to believe that the streets are slowly blossoming and unfolding again due to my presence. Far fetched I know, but hey a girl can live in her own fantasy.
One of the shops that has recently revived from ferragosto on my street, is a butcher who locally sources his meats. He also sells rabbit, my favourite meat. I just had rabbit leg crusted with mustard and bread crumbs (from my french cook book) and it was DIVINE.
Another shop is 'Tealicious', an artisan tea store run by an Argentinian woman, who upon arriving in Italy, found a sad lack of tea availability and started up her own shop. She blends her own teas at exceptionally affordable rates. She will be seeing a lot of me.
I have three little pot plants that I bought that sit on my balcony. A basil plant, rosemary and chilli.
Mosquitoes are evil. But that's nothing new. Glad the Italians at least believe in Raid, and that after so many years, I am sure that by slow and gradual exposure that I am immune to the toxins of Raid.
I want to take all of the utensils I bought home with me after all this. But that may result in trying to manage another suitcase on top of the Brick and paying for excess baggage with Emirates
That's all for now folks!
-M
NOTE: Since I have waaay too many photos, I will post pretty much all of my photos on Instagram, my username is maryjgrul and not on private so you can see them all
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