Misc. Winter in Rome

A few misc. pictures from November-January...

 Katie, Dave, and I took it upon ourselves to cook a full and traditional Thanksgiving dinner for everyone, which turned out to be 16 people.  There were only 4 Americans, and 1 Canadian; the rest were Italian, and for them it was their first time eating turkey prepared in this way.  Italian kitchens, and everything in them (i.e., the ovens) are quite small, and the smallest turkey we could order (yes, you have to special order a turkey here) was 7 kilos.  We were terrified that it wasn't going to fit, but miraculously it did.  Luckily we also had a toaster oven that we could use because nothing else was fitting in that oven when the turkey was in there.  Dave was in charge of the bird, and he did an amazing job.  It was delicious.

 All in all we had turkey with gravy, green beans with garlic, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing (thanks for the recipe mom!), and broccoli with melted cheddar on top.  Cheddar cheese is also ridiculously difficult to find in Italy; there is one store I know of that carries it, and it is imported direct from Cheddar England.  It's obviously much more expensive than we pay in the states, but wow is it good and worth it.  Again, this was another first taste for the Italians.  For desert we had brownies and pumpkin pie.  It was a huge feast!

 The tree being decorated at St Peter's.  The temporary wall just to the left of the tree enclosed the nativity as they were still constructing it.  Unlike other nativities around the city (and the country) that decorate every church for the entire season, the one at St Peter's is only revealed on Christmas Eve, and only stays up until Epiphany on the 6th, and therefore I have yet to see it in person.  I hear it's quite elaborate and beautiful.  Next year!

In mid-December we read about an ice-skating rink set up near one of the concert halls north of the city, so of course we had to try it out.  Fun, but freezing!

 Moving day!  From the shadows of the Vatican in Prati to the cobbled streets of Trastevere.  Claudio, Katie's boyfriend, was able to use his parent's car, and so it made moving a lot easier.  We crammed that Fiat full to the brim!!

 Christmas market set up in Piazza Navona

 Flurries of snow in late December.  It has now snowed twice since I've been here-- last February, and then in December.  Before this it hadn't snowed in Rome since 1986, so both times were quite a big deal-- as you can see, even this gladiator had to stop and take a picture.  The day it snowed in February was the day of our Fulbright mid-year meeting, and so we were unfortunately trapped inside all day and couldn't enjoy the rare weather.  This time, Katie and I made a mad dash to the Pantheon to see the snow fall through the oculus in dome.  It was amazing, but unfortunately, not something that could be captured on camera.

A Jersey reunion in Rome!  On the right is Dave (the mustache is new), and on the left is his best friend Lou.  I've met Lou a few times and he is such a great guy.  It was so much fun to hang out with the two of them for a week.  (Dave has been living in Rome on and off for the last year or so.)  We ate delicious food, (since both are quite the foodies), made a day-trip to Orvieto (next blog post!), and laughed a lot.  They are some of the best friends a girl could ask for!