Rome, Day 15

I’m in Rome! The last leg of my trip has officially begun – albeit a bit early because Andrea cancelled my Bologna plans. Last night at the hostel, I was fortunate enough to run into a girl from Iowa! Her name is Allison and she goes to Kirkwood but is studying in Italy for two months this summer. She and I decided to take the train to Rome together; it was nice to have company for the five hour ride. When I got to Rome, I called Andrea’s friend Frederico and he told me he would be waiting for me at the metro in his little blue Mini Cooper. I didn’t have any idea what to expect, as I knew nothing about Frederico other than he was Andrea’s friend.

Things could not have turned out better! I had a wonderful night tonight. Frederico has a huge flat on the outskirts of Rome and he has treated me like a queen – even though I basically got dumped on his doorstep practically homeless today. We went to the supermarket so I could pick up things to make sandwiches with while I see the city and we also picked out some pasta to make dinner with tonight. Frederico’s friend, Gennaro, an excellent cook, came over and made pasta a la dente with roasted eggplant and ricotta cheese.

The "perfect housewife"

It was phenomenal! I learned what a la dente pasta really is – it means the pasta is “undercooked” (turns out we just overcook our pasta) so it is a bit more firm than I’m used to. I loved the new texture of the noodles and the ricotta cheese was devastating. Frederico also had a block of parmesan cheese that I shaved so we could dip it into balsamic vinegar - simple but delicious!

I immediately hit it off with both guys and we never had a dull moment all night. We finished a nice, leisurely dinner with gelato served with a splash of rum – something I’ve never heard of but will definitely bring back to the US.

Frederico relaxing after a wonderful meal:

I also got to use the internet to finally call home – I’ve been out of touch for a few days. It was nice to hear from everyone.

Tomorrow all three of us are going out for a big breakfast of cappuccino and Italian-style pastries. On the menu for dinner is pasta carbonara and when they found out I can make sushi they want to give that a try one night as well. I am so lucky to end up with these guys who have welcomed a complete stranger with open arms. The only problem is I have a feeling I’m going to gain 10 pounds in the next five days before I head home!