Category: italy

I first met Jerrick at Tech65’s 50th podcast about a year back. At that point of time, I already knew a number of their crew. After the recording, a tall, friendly and gregarious person approached me, inviting me to try the cakes that he made. We talked and I found him to be a very interesting person.

I’m surprised at how well we get along together on account of how very diverse we are. Regardless, I really do enjoy his company. I still remember having pizza together with his friends on his 20th birthday, he was my date in the Money No Enough event and even participated in my lipdub project.

Anyway, Jerrick stayed over our place in March and we had quite the splendid time then. And he decided to stay over our place again last weekend. I was naturally very happy. It was so nice having a friend over.

He arrived Saturday evening and off we whisked him to La Gianicolense, one of my new favourite place to eat on account of their fantabulous pizza!

It was a long long long wait for an empty table. I forgot that it being Saturday, it was a busy day for eating places. We didnt reserve in advance and had to wait almost a full hour outside. But boy was the food worth the wait.

Mmm … Tuna and Onion pizza. I’m totally hooked!

Here is Cart and his cakes

Here is Jerrick in my trademark pose

And this is me being all excited about my food. But its so wierd having such a large plate for such a small dessert

The next day we had a leisurely morning with the glorious cappuccino that Cart made. And that was when we noticed how very spikey Jerrick’s hair was after sleeping. He looked like a rock star! Naturally Cart took out his guitar for him to pose with.

In any case, we thought that it would be a nice day to spend the time outside of Rome and thus we headed off to Castelli Romani. We’ve already been there in August, but it was still a nice place to visit again.

It was a rainy day that Sunday. As we were passing through the bridge, Cart suddenly chimed out :

Cart : Do you know why this bridge was infamous for?

Me : What?

Cart : It was for jilted lovers to jump over

Me and Jerrick : What?! *horrified*

Me : Man, its so deep down. What a horrible way to go

Our first stop was at Trattoria dei Cacciotori – where we had really wonderful food the last time we were there. We were greeted by a little diorama which initially I thought was a nativity scene since it was getting close to Christmas.

But looking closer it turned out to be of a figurine of a man in a trattoria of the yester-years I suppose. I love trattoria! Here you don’t need to bother so much with the menu, while the waiter would recommend you what they were serving with what was in season.

By the time we were sitting down, I was famished and so looking forward to eating the food there.

By the way, do you like my brooch? My friend Lynn made it and I love it! Check out the other Rinaz stuff I have. If you can craft items, please let me know. I’d love to have more Rinaz stuff

So while waiting for the food to be ready. Cart decided to have a little fun posing like a mafia.

Cart’s nose looks sharp enough to cut a slice of cake.

Jerrick on the other hand was fingering his iphone

But at long last, our food arrived and I dug in.

This is Cart’s ravioli which is stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach and drizzled with tomato sauce.

While Jerrick had Pappardelle al ragù di cinghiale. Ehm. For sure its not halal. But it sure looks hearty though.

I don’t remember the name of the Pasta that I am having, I think it was the Piccantine ai funghi porcini which was listed all the way down the menu. Cart was hypothesizing that food listed at the top would taste the best since most diners come here mostly for the game. That made me wonder about my choice. But that’s the only few things that I could eat there since I can only eat vegetarian or seafood when I go out.

Anyway, it might look quite simple in the picture. But I love my pasta! The porcini mushroom was slurpiliciouslly wonderful and there was a dash of chilli in the egg pasta to make it interesting! Want MOAR! I loved gnawing on it.

We ended our meal with a nice plate of tiramisu. You have to be careful though and always ask, as some places like to add alcohol in their tiramisu which is strange as the original recipe shouldn’t have alcohol in it. But what can I say? I used to think that tiramisu is a Japanese food on account of how Japanese sounding it was

After our exceptional meal, we headed off to Nemi, which was just a few minute’s drive away.

Nemi is an interesting place to be. It is famous for its tiny strawberries and there is a picturesque lake near it. Its such a charming place with cobblestones. And everywhere you go, you’d see quaint little buildings.

I can visualise a cute little European girl wearing a bustle carrying a cute little embroided umbrella coming out of this door.

Alas, it was raining and too cold to stay outside, it was probably like 8 degrees C out, thus we had to find respite and we found a cosy little bar.

What a charming little place! While waiting for the rain to subside, we had a piece of strawberry tart and a hot chocolate each.

Om nom nom nom! Makan jer! Tak ada kerja lain! Yeah, I know that we probably ate too much, but what else was there to do when you are stuck with the rain out?

Regardless, the tart and the hot chocolate was spectacular. A little on the expensive side though, but the ambient was really lovely! There was a nice little fireplace next to our table and I happened to be wearing a red dress and the whole setup looked very xmassy.

I look like a taitai! Unfortunately, we are not rich enough to qualify to be one

With the rain easing out, we stepped out to admire the Nemi lake. Woah, it was totally my moment to see it in daylight. Since 2006, every single time I was in Nemi, it was either too dark from the nightfall or too crowded to even enter during the Ferragosto.

And I admired the beautiful scene in front of me. Breathtakingly calm. Even with the rainclouds forming in the distance.

That was when this friendly cute little cat came up to me and snuggled up to me. How adorable! I picked her up. She seemed so comfortable. And then she promptly clawed my scarf

I still love her though.

Its my first time experiencing fall after being in a tropical climate all my life. Its already quite interesting just walking outside of the house looking at the trees changing their colours from greens to goldens, reds, yellows and browns.

Cart thought that it would be a good idea to spend some time to admire the colours, and thus, a couple of weeks ago, we headed off to Bomarzo.

Bomarzo is a town out of Rome and it takes about an hour to reach there from our place. In Bomarzo, there is an attraction called the Bosco dei Mostri (Monster’s Grove) on account of the amount of large sculptures here.

Some of them interesting :

Like this mausoleum-like build which was constructed in the 16th century. I’m not certain if there are any bodies being cremated here though.

This statue was huge! The mouth was as tall as I am. Unfortunately the statue was fenced in so we could not get enter without climbing in.

Its much more evocative in real life to see the stone pegasus and the giant turtle in the background. All those moss makes it so much more charming. Like a real life Tomb Raider set. My pictures doesn’t do it justice unfortunately.

This is like the mouth of truth only much much much bigger.

Regardless, my favourite scene would have to be this one :

It’s a leaning house which you could enter. But once you are inside, your mind starts giving you this vertigo feeling.

Because inside the house, its hard to gauge which is a flat plane or not. After a while in the house, its easy to feel a little dizzy.

And then suddenly, Bomarzo reminded me of Haw Par Villa, a park of dioramas in Singapore. It might not be exactly the same, but it had the same nice magical feeling to roam around in.

15th of August is a special day in Italy. Italians call it the Ferragosto and it is a holiday all throughout the country. And on this day, Cart and I decided to take the day off to visit Castelli Romani.

Literally translated, Castelli Romani means Castles of Rome. Over here, there are a group of towns and the area is unique for its volcanic crater. I was excited to explore the area after the trip to Bracciano where coincidentally, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes got married. But first, Cart and I needed to fill our engines.

We stopped by this quaint little place called Trattoria Dei Cacciatori. This place was special to Cart because his family likes eating there and it was famous for its game.

The place was really crowded. We were very lucky to have an empty table. As we sat down, I looked around, there were many families having a meal together.

Having a meal in a trattoria is very interesting. Its a small family owned place where the foods served are different every day according to the season. How it works here is that the cameriere will verbally list to you what they are serving and you choose among the list. I quite like this method actually because there is no need to boggle the head with a menu. Just give me my choices and I choose one. Very simple!

We started with this pasta with funghi and romano cheese.

I will box anyone who pronounces this as funn-ghaii

Cart enjoyed his pasta very much since he’s always iffy about pasta being al dente. I like how fresh tasting the mushrooms were.

Later we had a side dish of Melanzane alla Parmigiana which I dare say is the best one that I’ve ever had. It was so soft and tasty that I gobbled it up and forgot to take a picture of it!

We ended our meal with tiramisu. The original recipe should not have alcohol in them which makes Cart wonder why there were so many restaurants that uses them in tiramisu.

In any case, one bite and I was in heaven … mmmm… it was orgasmic! I can has moar??

By the end of the meal, both Cart and I were so stuffed that we felt sleepy. And we decided to take a walk around the area. Unfortunately, being summer, it was still uncomfortably warm and I felt sticky and didn’t feel like taking a lot of pictures. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve lost my tolerance to the Singapore heat. I hope that I’d be fine when I return back to Singapore in December.

Notice that we drive on the right?

We then decided to drive through a town called Nemi which was nearby. Nemi is special because of the lake near it.

Because of the volcanic craters, Nemi is also famous for its unique strawberries. The first time I encountered it, I was curious because it was so tiny! Regardless, it was sweet and ripe and really good in my gelato!

We stopped a while by the roadside to take a look at the beautiful lake in front of us. It was really a sight to behold.

Its really gorgeous. The blue of the lake, coupled with the gentle breeze made it feel so tranquil and serene. People living around this area are so lucky!

In the distance, I could spot out a yacht going by.

My gosh, how nice it was to just go sailing and enjoy the breeze.

I also saw something in the air. Was it parachuting? Parasailing? Para-para sakura?

Regardless of what it was, it looked like a lot of fun. Gosh! I wanna do water sports! Its been such a long time. The last time that I did something like that was in Thailand with Juli and Hema some years back.

I hope that there is something like that in Italy too and hopefully, doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

In any case, as we approached the town of Nemi, it was crowded! Cart couldn’t find parking anywhere! There was no parking even some kilometers away from the town. Oh my gosh. Apparently, this was THE place to be during Ferragosto.

Reluctantly, we had to leave Nemi. Maybe we’ll be here again another day.

Recently Cart and I had a walk in a little place in Rome called Quartiere Coppede.

It is an interesting place filled with gothic looking buildings.

At first glance, I thought that the area was a palatial building judging by the style. It looked as if it was built during the dark ages, opulent and thick styled decorations all around the angular building. I could even imagine several guardsmen on horses trotting through.

Thief : The Dark Project would totally be at home here.

Surprisingly, the buildings were constructed in the 1920s which is relatively quite modern compared to many of the builds in Central Rome.

Turns out that the designer of the building, Gino Coppede, whom had an eccentric and over the top style, wanted to have something unique which certainly reflects on his last architecture.

Check out this building below, the curved entrance looks as if it was going to draw you in. It was actually a little bit spooky.

It was then that Cart told me that we were in the same location where Dario Argento filmed his horror movie, Inferno. We were in the same place where a movie was filmed. Cool!

Looking through a couple of youtube videos, it looked really B-Grade horror though. Which is not so bad for me since I actually like shows like Tales from the Crypt.

By the way, Dario Argento is an Italian film director who is well known for his influence in horror films. One of the films that he produced is Suspiria, which is voted one of the top scariest movies of all time.

Growing up, horror movies was a staple for me. There was a time when my family and friends would have a little gathering watching movies like Sundel Bolong with the queen of horror, Suzanna.

Nowadays I dont have the strength to watch horror shows anymore though ever since watching the Japanese version of the Ring and The Grudge. Because of that, I couldn’t sleep for about 3 days. Yeah, I’m weak, I know

Anyway, I’m actually feeling a little queasy right now so I’ll get back to Quartiere Coppede.

Regardless of how gothic that the area looked like, I think that its a rather charming place for a photoshoot. I can imagine a bridal photoshoot going on here already. Would be very lovely, don’t you think?

I wish I was a good photographer

And to end this post, I’ll put a picture which is completely unrelated

A very pretty sunset at Villa Borghese

August is the warmest periods in Rome. With temperatures soaring to almost 40 degrees celcius, the norm for many Romans are to head off for vacation. But at the same time there are a couple of events going about called the Estate Romana. And though it was a balmy evening last week, I really enjoyed myself exploring the passageways at Castel Sant Angelo with Cart and his friends.

Castel Sant Angelo is a fortress filled with weaponry. There is a long connecting passageway from here to Saint Peter’s Square. Cart tells me that the pope could run to it for protection from enemies the during times of emergencies such as the war.

But with Angels and Demons fresh in my head, I was on a personal quest to find the insanely hensem Camerlengo Ewan Mcgregor.

There was already a crowd building up at the entrance of Castel Sant Angelo, but after queuing up for a while, we finally headed towards the passageway. I was excited. Initially I wanted to take a video of the exploration ala tv-documentary style. But it was impossible as it was really quite dark inside. Ahem. One would have thought to install some lights inside with the budget that they had.

And yet, it was rather interesting walking through the passageway. It was quite easy to imagine oneself as royalty during the 18th century getting through the areas. Just try to ignore the throngs of other people passing through, taking pictures and whatnots

The first part of the passageway was sheltered and quite dark and the only source of illumination was from the lights outside. Do be careful when you’re here!

After a short walk, we reached the open part of the passageway. And I was a little surprised. What the movie doesn’t explain is that there are housing really close by the passageways. It was so close that I can peek through the window and see what the occupants are having for dinner. I wonder if they feel intruded with so many gawking people looking in.

Above is a picture of a house that got destroyed after the antimatter bomb exploded. And then, I quickly looked around. This must be the spot where the assassin climbs out of the passageway into the streets below.

It looked eerily similar. The sights were the same, the streets was the same … but where are you Ewan Mcgregor? And are you sure that your assassin would be able to climb out of the passageway undetected? It’s always crowded with people here.

Anyway, a bit more walking and we reached as far as we could go at the passageway. Any further, we’d be chided by that dude sitting there in the corner. But what a shame though. I’m really curious to know how it was like walking all the way to Piazza San Pietro.

We turned back and returned to Castel Sant Angelo. When we reached there, there were a number of buskers performing.

We say a number of acts, such as tapdancing ladies, a jazz singer, some comedian guy who wasnt really all that funny. And this fire eating act. This guy is probably praying that he doesnt burn his luxurious hair.

We then walked down below to see the prisons. Interestingly, the temperature got cooler as we went deeper below. It was like a natural air conditioning.

What was interesting about the prison is that the entry was so tiny that I had to bend down just to get in. This was rather puzzling to me as Europeans are rather large size. Alessandro, Cart’s friend postulated that the doors were small possibly as to make it easier to defend should there be fights happening.

I do wonder how really tall people get in and out of these.

We then reached a room where there were many jars such as these although I’m not too certain what the function of these barrels are? Are they toilets? Where the 40 thieves hid to assassinate Ali Baba? Alessandro thinks that they are used to store grains and food.

At length, we headed up to the top of Castel Sant Angelo. It was nice and breezy here and you could see heaps of monuments around. San Pietro at the distance, the Vittorio Emmanuele II in the corner, the night scenes and lights outside – looking at all the sights makes me understand why Rome is dubbed the eternal city.

And here is an angel making shish kebab.

I’m kidding!

The angel statue was conceived when Pope Gregory I saw the Archangel Michael appearing and putting the sword back into the scabbard. And it was prophesied that it was the end of the pestilence.

And that marks the end of our exploration. I had such a lovely evening roaming around the different areas in Castel Sant Angelo. But unfortunately for my feet, it was screaming out in pain from all the vigorous walking.

But it was worth it, even if I didn’t get to see Ewan Mcgregor. Where are you Obi Wan? I hope that we shall meet … one day

August marks one of the most warmest period in Italy. Cart warned me about temperatures soaring to about 40 degrees Celsius. Madness! With this comes a sort of tradition in Rome for its inhabitants to go on vacation during these times to find respite.

One of the popular destinations are the beach. Italians seem to love to tan! And you’d see loads of brown-skin Italians going by. But I still can’t get used to seeing Caucasians as dark as or even darker than I am.

It’s funny how when in the first three months, I don’t feel like going out because of the cold, nowadays I’d just hide away at home from the scorching heat. Hence, its a great time for some backdated posts! And today, lets explore Saint Peter’s Square or also known as Piazza San Pietro.

When we hosted Jerrick in March, we decided to head over to Piazza San Pietro on a Sunday afternoon. Although I’ve already been here, it still amazes me at how large and opulent the place was.

It makes me wonder, how on earth was this build constructed? Considering that when it was designed in the late 1600s, building technology was not so advanced. Just carrying the sheer amount of marble alone on a horse and carriage is a Herculean feat.

I spotted a couple of Swiss Guards outside the build to protect the Pope.

Cart tells me an interesting information about Swiss Guards – it was a requirement for them to be Swiss, Catholic and between 19 to 30 years old. But nowadays, I suppose that their function is more as a decorational tradition since the pope has another set of bodyguards. I even saw a couple of tourists trying to persuade the Swiss Guards to pose and take pictures with them. You cant do that!

Entering San Pietro requires a number of rules to be fulfilled. One of them being that the visitor must be decently dressed. Not such a problem for me since I was all bundled up in the semi winter weather.

There was also a queue that you had to get in where they will do a metal detector check and x-ray bag checks. I was unfortunately carrying a small bottle of tabasco sauce that day and the guard was looking at the screen and then me quizzedly.

Luckily for me, I passed through. Phew!

I guess it was rather fortunate for us to go to San Pietro on a Sunday since there was a mass. I’ve never seen a mass at San Pietro before.

If it was opulent outside, the inside was extremely grand to me. Everywhere you walk, there were always be something to see – be it a fresco or a decoration. One big mistake that many tourists do is that they just walk through quickly. Slow down and really take a look at these crafts. Cart tells me that San Pietro is never completed anyway, as in the build is always ever expanding.

Similar to the Santa Sabina Church that Cart and I visited in Circo Massimo, there were tombs dedicated to the popes in San Pietro. To be honest, I find it a little bit creepy.

I finally saw a working confessional booth

It probably is not such a big deal. But the only ones that I’ve seen are the ones from television. In any case, we reached the area where the mass was.

It was cordoned with a velvet rope. I wanted to go in and take a closer look but Cart doesn’t seem to be comfortable with the idea since the three of us weren’t Catholics. So we looked from afar. I couldn’t see anything.

At length, there were a couple of men in black suits cordoning us as the mass was going to do a procession. I quickly readied my camera.

Okay, it wasn’t that long, but it was still rather interesting to see. Cart tells me that the procession was according to age, youngest first and the eldest are at the back.

All in all, it was a pretty cool day. I quite enjoyed myself 🙂

Related links :

• A map of Piazza San Pietro

If you like this post, you might enjoy :

• A day in Circo Massimo
• A day in Bracciano
• Celebrating Cart’s Birthday in Garbatella
• How I see Piazza Navona

I was at my in law’s place when I noticed a Geography book on the table. Flipping it open, I saw various maps and was trying to spot Capri – A place where Cart and I visited some years ago.

Somewhere in the corner, my eyes were drawn to a large lake on the left which was not too far away from Rome.

View Larger Map

As the trip to Capri took us about 5 hours, I asked Cart how long it would take to go to Lake Bracciano. Somewhere along the conversation, Cart actually suggest that we would go there!

Hence, last Monday, being a holiday in Rome due to the Patrons Santi Pietro e Paolo, Cart and I went to lake Bracciano.

It took us about less than an hour to reach there by car. Already I was amazed to see this charming view in front of me.

Cart told me me that that was a common sight. In every region in Italy, the highest peak usually has a castle on it and villages surrounding it.

We took a short walk towards the castle. The housing area looked quite lovely with the slopes making the staircases look uneven. I quite like the old look and feel of the area.

We stopped by this small family run restaurant to have a quick lunch where I had a nice plate of Pasta alla Pescatora which was made of various type of seafood in tomato sauce.

Cart on the other hand had Pasta with truffles and after our lunch, we headed to Castle Odeschalchi which was just a few minutes away by foot. The gates were closed and we realised that we needed to have a ticket to have a guided tour inside the castle.

It was such a beautiful place and it was easy to imagine the kings and queens walking up and down this path. The view of the lake was just breathtaking and postcard perfect.

It was interesting going through the castle, completely immersed in the feeling of the medieval vibe of the place. I liked looking at the furnitures on display that were actually used during those times.

Unfortunately, guests were not allowed to take pictures inside the castle, so I am unable to share it on this blog. Nevertheless, the guide was retelling about the history of the castle, and there was one that was extremely memorable to me.

She showed us a bedroom where the daughter of the Duke, Lady Isabella slept. It was said that she had many lovers. And after a night of passion, she would lead them to a room nearby and then push him down a well, full of spikes and blades.

And before we knew it, we were lead out of the castle and the door was promptly shut. While I enjoyed the tour, I wish it wasn’t so rushed.

Cart and I went back to the car and headed to the lake next, which was just a few minutes drive away. If it looked quite lovely in the map, it looks even lovelier to be seen in real life.

There were a number of people suntanning and taking a dip in the water. A number were boating and playing with water rides. It kind of reminded me when I was a kid when I lived in Jurong. Lakeside, and was always full of water rides.

Its so peaceful. Even with the fairly large amount of people there, it was very tranquil just to have the wind in my face and looking at the smooth waves on the water, which by the way, is interestingly clear!

I hugged Cartcart since Braccia means hug in Italian and as a sidenote, this is a nice site to make Abbracci cookies.

After the walk along the promenade, Cart and I decided to stop by for a gelato and that was when I spotted this :

I didn’t know that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes got married here. In fact, I didn’t even know that I was in the same castle where they got married. I wonder why the guide didn’t mention this to us.

The post about Angels and Demons gives me the inspiration to blog about one of Rome’s spot to see – the Piazza Navona.

I am not an expert of Rome, so I’ll try to describe it the way that I see it. But there is a plentiful of interesting things to see here.

Usually, Cart and I would usually take the tram. Trying to drive and find parking in the city centre is a maddening, frustrating chore.

Taking the tram, by itself is an interesting experience. Each journey costs 1.50 euro regardless of how long or short it is. You buy a ticket from the dispenser and need to get it validated with the machine inside the tram. Grab a seat and enjoy the view. Sometimes you’d spot interesting scenes like this :

And when you are at your destination, you’d need to press a button or the exit doors will not open. The doors aren’t automatic.

Stop at the end of the line which is the Via Di Torre Argentina where one of the first things that you will see is an ancient Roman Ruins where Caesar was murdered.

This place is also memorable for the amount of cats here. Cats are very special in Rome and below you’d find a cat sanctuary where you  could play or even adopt cats.

If you walk a little bit further, you’d see a statue covered with paper. This is called the Pasquino.

What is interesting about the pieces of paper is that written on it is complains about the pope and the government. In the old days, it was probably dangerous to speak out openly. Hence it became a “talking statue” to express dissatisfaction. Could this be the inspiration for “the head” in Art Attack?

Moving further along for a few minutes, you’d see the pantheon.

It is impressively big. My guess is that you could stack at least 50 people on their heads before they could even reach the top of the ceiling.

What’s interesting to me about the Pantheon is that on the top, is a dome. And there is a hole in the middle of it. I’m not sure why the reason for that is. But it makes me amazed at how well preserved the pantheon is, despite the risk of rain splashing in.

And moving along the way, you might find a few interesting things :

Jerrick and I stumbled upon this little shop selling all sorts of wooden things! He’s a little creeped out by Pinocchio. But I thought it was charming. Did you know that Pinocchio is an Italian Fairy Tale?

This statue reminds me of Thief, the Dark Project.

And at length,  we reach Piazza Navona.

It’s easily distinguishable because there are always loads of people here. There are restaurants all around the area and there are also a couple of people selling toys and flowers. You’d have to be careful though, since they can be very persistent in selling their stuff. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you might find interesting buskers :

For me, one of the memorable thing about Piazza Navona is the number of talented artists there.

I like looking at the different artworks, especially the caricatures that the artists drew, on the spot. As I loved caricatures, I had a caricature of Cart and I done one time.

Piazza Navona is an interesting place to be. I’ve been told that in the old days, the area will be closed and flooded and there were boat races going on. 

I wonder how they did that.

Visualizzazione ingrandita della mappa

If you enjoyed this post, check out :

• A day in Circo Massimo
• Tony’s Gelateria – Possibly the best ice cream in Rome