231 Trastevere, My Flat

You all may know by now that I got to Rome safe and sound, with only a moderate level of excitement. We took a taxi to the wrong address for the housing office then had to drag our gear through the street to a new taxi stop. (You don't flag down a taxi in Rome so much as walk to a sign that says "TAXI" and stand there.) We eventually found the right place and filled out our housing forms with no problem at all. Then we walked with our luggage to our flat, which was like 8 blocks further down Viale Trastevere than we had thought. It was quite the workout.

After napping and showering, several of my flat mates and I went to the grocery store down the street and bought a snack to last us until supper time. We bought the highly stereotypical Italian snack: wine with cheese, bread, and basalmic vinegar dipping sauce. Whilst snacking, the last of our flat mates made it into town, both of them had their luggage waylaid somewhere along the line in the States and had very little clothes... Thank God I have all of mine.

Dinner last night was amazing! (Oh, yes!) Adam, John, Mike, Peter (an ISU student from the apartment below us) and I all went to an Oyster Bar. They had a pizza special last night that was to die for. They had a large stone oven and cooked wood fired pizza, which was very good. We started with an appetizer of antipasti, which in this instance consisted of several cheeses on a plate with preserved meats (bruschetta, salami and a cured ham), grilled vegetables (zucchini, artichokes, onions, peppers and eggplant) and a fried ball of rice with mozzarella and tomato sauce holding it together. All of it was very good, especially after airline food and McDonalds in Chicago. My pizza was a rather odd flavor. It was regular tomato sauce, but the toppings were red pepper flakes, parmesan and some other goat cheese, and little slices of garlic. Magnifico!!!

We have another long day ahead of us here. I still am feeling the jet lag, and slept only in bunches last night. Included are a set of pictures of our flat and the view from our balcony into the court. My room is not included because Mike is still sleeping.

Buongiorno per Roma!!!