Gelato Crawl

{ neither thin & crispy nor thick & softy? count me in }

For the past few days, Remy and I have been reacquainting ourselves with our long-lost city and attempting to get onto Roman time. Monday consisted of a failed attempt to re-explore the city, for within three hours of stepping out the door, we decided we had exerted ourselves too far and need to go back to Sean’s to curl up for a nap. That night we made it to Trastevere, and shared a cheap, yet delicious meal at Dar Poeta. Afterwards, we headed to Scholars to say hi to Olly, and then made our way to the Drunken Ship. Someone who works there had a pleasant exchange of words with Remy and I, and boy, was that amusing. We ended up turning in fairly early, hoping to get a good night’s sleep.

{ our attempt at locating and traveling to an apartment we were looking at }

The following day we woke up around noon and went down the street to purchase some fine Italian ingredients to make omelets. After our brunch, we figured it would be rude and completely un-Italian of us to not take an afternoon nap. So back to sleep we went. After waking up, we got dressed and journeyed out of the house to view an apartment we had found online. Turns out, after carefully navigating our way to the location, no one showed up to let us view it. Bummer. To fill the time we headed to Trastevere and purchased some much needed gelato at Fior di Luna. Ahh-mazing. We then made our way to Piazza Navona, and went to the Abbey Theatre to meet up with Oliver. When Olly arrived we headed down the street and stopped at a small restaurant to eat. It was so good! Olly was quite the gentleman, and treated us to the fantastic meal. After another hangout at the Abbey, we wandered over to Scholars for karaoke night. Even though the place has been expanded, it was as crowded as ever. A little too overwhelming, if you ask me. After a quick visit to the Ship to say hi to Fabio and Felipe, Remy and I headed home early, yet again. This time we got a little bit lost, but thanks to Google Maps, all turned out okay. Along the way we met some Sicilian friends, and Remy did an impressive job of carrying a conversation with them…I did a great job of nodding my head and inserting a few Italian phrases here and there. Va bene.

Yesterday morning was quite the same. More omelets, more hanging around. Remy and I decided it would be the perfect day to spend some time at Villa Pamphili (a gorgeous park), so off we went. We basked in the sun for a couple of hours, and got some thumbs up from Italians urging, “A bronza!” Afterwards we decided to head back for a shower. Turns out, I lead us in the wrong direction and we ended up at via Carini, right next to AUR (American University of Rome–the university I studied at 2 years ago). Simone’s Pizzeria just so happened to be a couple of steps away from us. How convenient. So, for the first time since studying abroad, I was able to reunite with my one and only sun-dried tomato pizza. Heaven.

After spending the rest of the afternoon at Sean’s, Remy and I decided to head to Trastevere before we had to meet up with people for our friend Lovisa’s birthday dinner at 9:15 PM. As we were about to pay for our gelati, I realized my wallet was no longer in my bag. I tried to retrace my steps, and realized that perhaps I hadn’t brought my wallet out with me after all. I called Sean and asked him to look for it in his apartment, but no luck. I thought that maybe if I looked around I’d be able to find it. So Rem and I trekked back to his apartment. We tore through everything, and I admitted defeat. Such a bummer. Two hundred euros gone, as well as credit cards and identification. Not so stellar.We then drudged back to town, and met up with the gang to celebrate and eat Indian food at Rajdhani. The dinner was a lot of fun, and it was great to see people again. After a filling meal, we went to the Ship to continue the celebration. Luigi, a friend of mine from last time, decided to come to the Ship as well to say hello. It was so good to see him! Continuing our trend of turning in early, Luigi drove Remy and myself home a bit past midnight.

Today, Remy and I are going to attempt to run some errands on Via del Corso and then look at two apartments later this evening–one right near Campo, the other in Testaccio. Hopefully all goes well!

***

10 hours later….Apartment found! The one we chose is right in Campo de’ Fiori and a 45 second (max) walk from the Drunken Ship. Unbelievable/awful for our livers/so convenient, say what! But seriously, this could not be a more perfect location. Remy and I will no longer have to use up our data plans with our incessant google map searches–not that they help us much anyway, as we seem to take the longest route possible every time (it’s not that we get lost, we simply enjoy the scenic routes). Not to mention, I think I am going to take my Italian classes at Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci, which is a five minute walk down the road. The only drawback to this apartment is the size–35 square meters. But we’re fine with it, and have unofficially dubbed it the “Hobbit Hole.” We find out tomorrow if our offer is accepted, so we’re hoping for the best.

{ the beautiful trevi fountain }Before our apartment search, we went on a casual, oh, four hour walk. We essentially strolled all around the city center and visited numerous places such as the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, Via del Corso (a street filled with shops, my absolute favorite of the day being, “Brandy Melville”), and many winding roads and random piazzas. Along the way we were sure to stop at a gelato place…or two…or three…ultimately deciding to invest our precious euros at San Crispino. At our final gelato stop, I had an epiphany. There was no longer a need for me to search for any type of job in Rome, for I had come up with a brilliant business opportunity–”Lex’s Gelato Crawl” (or “Gelato Crawl delle Sorelle” if Arielle wants in once she arrives). Essentially, it would be run like a pub crawl, but instead of visiting different bars and sampling different shots and drinks, I would take people around to the most delectable gelaterie! People would be allowed 3-5 samples at each gelateria, and would then get to choose the smallest size (about 2 oz) of their favorite flavor. Each “crawl” would consist of about five different gelaterie. At the end my customers would get a gelato/ ice cream cup (reusable) and a shirt with some witty phrase that I will soon come up with. Genius, or what? (Dad, if you’re reading this now, don’t shake your head quite yet. Take a second to imagine how profitable I could be in, say, a year or two.)

But until someone invests in this business of mine (any takers?), I will continue to wander the Roman streets in search of a decent paying job. But hey, they say Rome wasn’t built in a day, so I have some time to make this work.

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