UPDATE #3
Security
There is definitely more security around than before. This photo is of the top of Via Corso at the entrance to Piazza Popolo. The military vehicle is parked across the entrance to the road and the personnel have automatic rifles.
This is the entrance to the main train station.
Police Anniversary Celebration
The King while on a bike one day saw them setting up for an event the next day. There were no signs indicating what the event was going to be but I learned that it was the next day at 1 PM. The location was the Pincio which is at the top of Piazza Popolo and I told the Queen we should go.
It turns out it was a celebration for the 165th anniversary of the founding of the Rome police department. They had a police motorcycle that kids could get on and have their picture taken. We decided that it would be a nice photo if the Queen got on. As soon as she did that other adults started to line up to get their picture taken.
They also had on display a police car that was a Lamborghini... not sure how many of these are actually in service or if this was a one of a kind.
Before the start of the concert by the police band there was a great deal of excitement around an arrival. I thought it must be the Chief of Police or the Mayor of Rome. It turned out to be Claudio Baglioni who is a very popular singer in Italy. The police band first played lots of Beatles music (???) and then he sat down at a piano and started to play and sign. He sounded like a very good lounge singer and reminded me of Bryan Ferry who I always liked.
Kentridge Defaced
Last year along the banks of the Tiber River the artist William Kentridge put up a very interesting exhibit. It was figures that showed a lot of the history of Rome on the river bank walls. They were done by putting up a stencil and then sandblasting the remainder so what was left was just the dirty blackened part of the wall. Someone had graffiti-ed part of the installation and they were cleaning it off.
New stores/restaurants
In our neighborhood there are very few vacant storefronts and those that are do not stay vacant for a long time. On this trip we noticed at least three new restaurants have opened and on a walk we discovered a new Sicilian pastry shop and a new supermarket. Located on the same block, they both had balloons in front and were giving out free samples. The pastry shop had free gelato and free cannoli among other things. I had samples of everything.
The pastry shop had a very interesting holder for sugar.
The supermarket was advertising that everything was 25 discounted that opening day so we shopped for some incidentals we needed. We now have a supermarket about one block from our apartment as opposed to having to walk several blocks. Cannot decide if that is good or bad.
Casatiello Napoletano
The photo shows this Easter delicacy that appears at this time of year. It is an Italian stuffed bread that is stuffed with ham, bacon, olives, spicy pepers, etc. I am not sure what it tasted like since I do not eat bread during Passover and I do not eat ham or bacon. It looks good though.
La Boticella.
This year we had pens made for La Boticella one of our favorite restaurants in Trastevere. When we walked in I had one pen with the name of the restaurant in my hand and I told the owner Julia that it was a 'regalo' (gift) for her. She was overwhelmed that I would do that. Then I gave her the bag of 100 pens and she was even more surprised.
For dinner I had my favorite dish at this restaurant ? cacio e pepe, a pasta with cheese and pepper served in a baked Parmesan cheese shell. Portions are huge here and we wound up taking a good bit home for lunch the next day.
When we left Julia gave me a bottle of her house wine which is excellent.
Trip to the Casale
Our friends Peter and Gretchen who used to live in Rome and their downstairs Italian neighbors Beth and Sefano bought a run down farm house in the country side near Lake Bolsena. It is about an hour north of Rome by train. They have now spent 8 years renovating the casale and it looks fantastic. Just to give you some idea of the size it has eight bedrooms.
Beth and Stefano have added some fantastic details to the casale. This is some tiles that they put on the floor that Beth did. There are other tiles on the outside walls and they have tried to use the old doors from the casale.
We had a very nice lunch in their large kitchen. It is one of two full kitchens in the house.
The bike ride from Orvieto where we got off the train to the casale was only 20 kilometers (12 miles) but it was almost all uphill. The first 10 kilometers was especially steep with many switchbacks. This is the view from the road looking back to Orvieto.
There were quite a few bikers on the road with us but not many cars. They were real bikers unlike the King and Queen.
The bike trip to the casale took over two hours. The trip back to the train station took about 45 minutes since it was all downhill. We did stop at one overlook to take a photo with Orvieto in the background.
There was another couple there and he convinced his girlfriend/wife to climb up on the wall so he could take a photo of her. It was quite windy and I took a photo also because I wanted to possibly snap the last pic of her before she fell off.
Sometimes if does not pay to be cheap or a visualization exercise or now I know what happens inside a self-cleaning toilet: Last week the Queen and I decided to visit our Italian and American friends who bought a casale (small farm house) about an hour north of Rome near Lake Bolsena. We decided to take the train from Rome to Orvieto and then bike the 12 kilometers to the casale. When we arrived in Orvieto both of us needed to go the bathroom. We found the bathroom at the train station but this one cost 1 euro to use. Most are free. The King decided that the Queen would go in first and then when she exited the King would sneak in before the door closed ? saving one euro. The Queen put her euro in and pushed the button and the door opened. I did notice that the floor was a little wet but I did not think anything of it. I also did not notice yet that there was a sign indicating that this was a self-cleaning toilet. When the Queen was done she pushed the button to exit and before the door closed I went in. Just as the door closed I saw the toilet recede into the wall. I thought that was odd and before I knew what was happening about ten jets of water from about one inch off the ground started spewing a torrent of water across the floor. Before I could do anything my feet were soaked and as the water hit my sneakers the water splashed up to my knees. I guess I started to scream because Hynda heard me and said she had no idea what was happening inside. After the water stopped the toilet came out from the wall and I did my business and went to exit. It occurred to me that the button to exit may not work at that point and Hynda may have to put a euro in to get me out. The button worked and I exited very wet.
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