Vacation
In April, my good friend Hrubs – er, Holly - came to visit for about a week. I’d been looking forward to this week since before I left the States.
We decided not to run around like crazy tourists but instead to go at our own pace and enjoy a restful vacation. It was beautiful, especially considering that I was deliriously sick for most of Holly’s time in Rome.
We went to the Galleria at Villa Borghese, and it is my new favorite museum in Rome. The sculptures by Gianlorenzo Bernini are incredible. They truly draw you into the action and emotion as soon as you step into the room.
Daphne turns into a tree just as Apollo touches her in Bernini's "Apollo and Daphne."
David hurls a stone at Goliath in Bernini's "David."
Persephone struggles to escape Pluto's firm grip in Bernini's "Pluto and Persephone."
We also admired Bernini’s work at St. Peter’s and inside the Vatican Museum.
An altar carved by Bernini inside of St. Peter's.
Probably one of my favorite rooms in the Vatican. There were several of these beautiful, crumbling angel sculptures by Bernini.
We also went to one of my favorite restaurants for a cooking class which lasted all afternoon. We learned to make two appetizers: breaded and baked onions and bruschetta with pureed mushrooms. The first plate that we learned to make was ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach. The second plate was Roman chicken. For dessert, we made sandwich cookies with Nutella filling. (Nutella is a chocolate-hazelnut spread, similar to peanut butter’s consistency.)
Fresh, homemade ravioloi with a light sage sauce!
Roman chicken. We liked it so much that we ate it for Easter dinner.
Amy, me and Holly holding a plate of delicious Nutella cookies.
I like being a tourist. I think I forget to do that because I’ve been living here for eight months. Hopefully this is only the first of many international adventures with Hrubs and Kerry.
