Life is Fun in Spain: Rome

OK, more of Rome!

We had another evening stroll by the Colosseum, and the full moon was out.

This is the Arch of Constantine (Constantine was the first Christian Roman emperor), which was dedicated in 315 to commemorate one of his battle victories a few years previous. It is situated right next to the Colosseum. This arch has many reliefs (a sculptural technique that makes the stone or wood look raised, whereas it is the background that is etched away) that were taken and reused from 2nd century imperial monuments. Emperors and their troops would pass through this arch when they returned to Rome victorious.

We visited the Vatican and had a guided audio tour (thus the green straps holding our receivers). Here we are with St. Peter's Basilica behind us. The tour was a good thing. We went in the morning as advised to avoid the majority of tourists. However, as we walked through the Vatican museum, there were so many people that we could hardly turn around in some places. This is why we have to use the receivers, or else it would not be possible to hear our guide. You may know that Vatican City is it's own country (and the smallest in the world). There was a spot along the way that you could mail a postcard and have it stamped that it came from the Vatican country.

Another photo at the Vatican.

Statues at the Vatican.

Here is a purple marble sarcophagus, which is essentially an ornamental coffin. Did I mention purple marble previously in a blog? If not, it is "insanely hard" as I read one person describe it. I read a couple places online that it is worth 20,000 euros per square inch. If it's true, that's crazy.

(Really hard to get a photo without people, since there are so many!)

The ceiling at the Sistine Chapel. No photos allowed. But Ray somehow manages. I don't even try.

Statue of Mary and Jesus by Michelangelo in St. Peter's Basilica

Dome at St. Peter's Basilica

This is St. Peter's Baldachin, a ceremonial canopy constructed of bronze by the famous Bernini to mark where St. Peter is buried.

Again, in St. Peter's Basilica

Swiss guards at the Vatican. They are Swiss soldiers who have been employed for the safety the Pope since 1506. We like their colorful clown-like uniforms. :)

Front view of St. Peter's Basilica with another obelisk from Egypt in the middle of the plaza.

We were intrigued by these leather animal purses.

A nighttime walk to some places we had already been...Plaza Navona...

...Pantheon...

On our last day in Rome, I took a pasta making cooking class!!! It was AWESOME to say the least. I was in kitchen heaven. :) First, we met on a street corner (all three of us participants...usually there are close to 10 people, so we got a private class!), and our instructor, Fredrico, took us to the market, cheese shop, and meat shop for our ingredients for the day. Here we are at the market, where he (in chef's coat, of course) told us about varieties of tomatoes, "Roman broccoli", and "Roman zucchini".

The cheese shop. These are small local shops with great quality product.

The meat shop, where Fredrico bought veal, which is very Italian, he says.

Then we walked to a private apartment where they give the classes. Wow, that place was cool! Fredrico had an assistant, who did a great job chopping what we hadn't gotten to, and cleaning up our messes. He was a happy "kid" and from Sri Lanka.

Forgive me for putting so many cooking photos, but I just can't help myself!

Here we go...

Making pasta from scratch wasn't so hard...

it just takes time and muscle to knead that stuff (by hand) until it is smooth.

Here is the bow tie pasta.

Putting together the zucchini & cheese stuffed ravioli

Here they are, ready to cook

Learning how to use the pasta machine properly

All the pastas ready for boiling

Ravioli plated. Fredrico showed us how to make a carrot sauce (the orange one), and he also used previously made (in other classes) white, red wine, and green/zucchini sauces. These raviolis were about the best thing I have ever eaten. We three classmates agreed that they were unbelievably good, and something we had not ever tasted before.

Tagliatelle in tomato sauce. We learned that the pasta should be cooked in the boiling water for just a minute, then finish cooking in it's sauce. (Not possible with all sauces, for instance pesto.)

The pasta with red sauce plated. This was the most amazingly delicious pasta with tomato sauce that I can ever remember eating. It was divine!! I sure hope I can duplicate it!