Skip Day

I took a little vacation yesterday. I decided that I needed a day off of school so I skipped my Italian classes. I didn't feel too bad about it either. I figured I've been a diligent student for over four weeks and I'm pretty much in school 24/7 by just being here. It was a great decision. I slept until 7:50am, which is late for me here. That sun really wakes you up in the morning. It's no wonder I want to sleep until 10am in Seattle. I got up, had a little Italian breakfast (cafe and bread + some nasty strawberry flavored sugar yogurt with whipped sugar cream that my brother had picked out while he was here) and watched a little morning news. After the news I headed out for my first official exercise since I got here. I was feeling a major need to sweat and get moving. I've been wondering if I could count my bus ride as exercise, considering all the pushing, pulling, lunging, and squatting I do just to make sure I don't fall over. I'm pretty certain you don't need to take a driving test to get your bus driver license here. Joe never wanted to take the bus while he was here. Unfortunately I have to take it to school otherwise I'd be walking forever and be sweaty when I arrived. But back to my skip day...
I put on the official exercise clothes and walked to Circo Massimo to run laps. How's that for a race track? I've never been much into running around tracks but the view is pretty good here. (see photo)

It was a GORGEOUS day. Sunny & warm. I had a great run and was actually able to run which is a miracle. Side effect of Palm Sunday mass with the Pope perhaps? Or, it could be that I bought new running shoes before I left the states and took a mini course before I left Seattle on Chi Running. I tried to put some of the philosophies into effect as I ran and I think it may have helped a little. My knee never even began to hurt. It usually hurts immediately.
After my run I decided to visit the Testaccio farmers market. I thought I had read in one of the many guide books that it's the best one. Maybe I misread (highly possible) but it wasn't so great. I also think that I might be spoiled by the Pike Place Market and all the great farmers markets in Seattle and Portland. Anyway, I enjoyed wandering around, trying to speak Italian, and buying a few things. I skipped purchasing the baby pig. (What is with all the baby animals I keep finding in the meat departments here?)

However, I did find some strawberries that look like Oregon strawberries (they are different than the California ones in the store), a Colomba cake for Easter/Pasqua, and another freaking bigne alla crema. These things are turning into my version of crack. If you recall I ordered one of these when I first arrived in Rome. It's the lighter than air cream puff dough, that I think is fried not baked, and then filled with about a cup of egg creme. When Joe was here he went out to buy some sweets for breakfast and came back with these from a local shop. They were insanely good. The one from the farmers market? A waste of calories but it was all in the name of research to find the best one in Rome. I think I will throw the towel in on this research project though. I'll just announce that the neighborhood joint has the best one and stop eating them before my pants split.
The rest of my day was spent reading and doing very little.
In the evening I went for a stroll in my neighborhood to check out some book bars. These are a new concept in Italy. A bookstore where you can also hang out to read and eat something. What an idea! Seriously though, this is a concept counter-culture to the Romans. The book stores were great though and I'm sure I'll go back.
I ended my night with two stops. The first, in a local pub where I noticed all the tables were reserved except for one bar stool at the end. I plopped myself down and then realized that the Roma vs. Lazio football match was that night and they were preparing for it. The last stop of the night and my skip day was to have a pizza for dinner. I know I've been complaining about too much pizza but this place looked so great. No one was in there which is typically a bad sign. That wasn't the case here. I decided on something sort of random for me - anchovies and zucchini flowers. I love that they use zucchini flowers here. They don't really seem to taste like anything but I keep ordering them anyway. I think I just like the idea of eating flowers. I will probably start buying that salad with edible flowers in it at home. I never eat anchovies though and I thought of my mom and brother George who love them. You were in my thoughts while I enjoyed my pizza!