Aperitivo Experience with Our Italian Friends!

As part of my program we have cultural interaction assignments with Italian students from Roma Tre University.  Its been a really cool experience getting the chance to interact with these students!  They help us with our Italian, and more importantly, show us around Rome.  They take us to places that only Italians go and that a lot of tourists miss out on.  One of my favorite excursions we had with them was going to an aperitivo in Gianicolense. Me and my friend Lauren went with our Italian friends Monica and Vanessa.  Going to the aperitivo was a completely foreign experience to me.  When we got there, we first paid at the register.  For 10 euros, we received a drink and were allowed to help ourselves to the buffet of food.  It was actually a really good deal, as I was pretty full after the food and used the aperitivo as a meal (although the Italians explained must only use aperitivo as a snack.)  The buffet included finger sandwiches, hot dogs wrapped in croissants, cous cous, bruschetta, and other little snacks.  Everything was very good and fresh!  Vanessa also suggested a new drink for me called Caiprioska.  This is my favorite vodka drink I've ever had by far!!!  She explained to me that there are many different flavors of Caiprioska such as pineapple, peach, and kiwi, but the most popular is strawberry.  I can almost compare the drink to a strawberry version of a mojito.  Its made with crushed ice, sugar, vodka, strawberries, and lime.  It was absolutely delicious and very aesthetically pleasing!  The large strawberry chunks and sugar, in combination with the crushed ice, really hid the large amounts of vodka in it!  Overall, I loved my aperitivo experience.  It was a great way to relax with friends, and have a drink and good amount of food for a good price!  I'll definitely be going to more aperitivos before I leave Italy!

The Smartest Way to Eat Well- Student Menus

Now that I've been in Rome for over 2 months, I am starting to feel as most study abroad students feel at this time... broke.  Despite this, I am still determined to eat well.  To save some money I tried staying in a lot and cooking my own meals.  It was fun for a while and I tried some new inventive dishes, but one of my favorite things to do is go to dinner with friends and relax with a nice glass of wine. That's when one of my friends suggested that we start taking advantage of the student menus at local restaurants.  Until now, I haven't paid much attention to the student/tourist menus and usually just ordered exactly what I wanted.  However, I discovered that at many good restaurants you can get an appetizer, pasta, dessert, and glass of wine for only 10 euros!!  Some restaurants close to our apartments in Trastevere that offer student specials are Le Fate and Buchetto!  One of my favorite student special menus is at Le Fate!  Every day of the week they offer a fixed student special menu, which includes a type of bruschetta, type of pasta (some usual choices are penne arrabbiata, rigatoni cacio e pepe, and a pesto pasta), a dessert (the tiramisu and ice cream are both really good), and a glass of their house wine!  Although the menu is set for the day and you are not able to choose exactly what you want to eat, I have never had a bad meal there!  The food has always been amazing and the student menu even forced me to try rigatoni cacio e pepe, which has become one of my favorite types of pasta!  So for any students studying abroad in Rome I would highly suggest these student menus.  What you give up in lack of choice, you definitely get back in the amount of money you save!  For example, bruschetta on the original Le Fate menu was around 4 euros and pasta was around 9 euros, meaning that if you just ordered these two on the normal menu you'd have to pay 13 euros.  Students get both of these plus wine and a dessert for 3 euros less!  Moral of the story- the smartest way to eat well is to take advantage of the student menus in Rome!

Interior of Le Fate

Review of Le Fate on Trip Advisor

Venice carnival cakes!

This past weekend we took a trip to Venice!  We went during the last weekend of Carnival so the city was crazy and soo much fun!  I loved everything about Venice- the masks, the large crowds, the special shows, and, above all, the Carnival cakes!  I've seen some carnival cakes around Rome, but not like in Venice.  They are literally everywhere- on every street corner and in every little shop!  There are lots of different versions of the carnival cakes, but my favorite is the traditional fried dough balls, covered in powdered sugar.  The first time me and my friends went into a store and shared a stick of them, each only getting one.   We immediately went back to get more, each getting our own stick of the fried dough balls this time.  When you eat them, they immediately melt in your mouth.  I am usually a huge chocolate fan and shy away from any dessert that does not contain chocolate, but I would take these carnival cakes over chocolate any day!  The combination of the sweet sticky balls and powdered sugar is amazing!  Its a shame that these carnival cakes are only found in Italy for the month or so surrounding Carnival.  Its cool that I got to witness such a popular and important festival in Italy.  I love how all parties, festivals, holidays, etc.. in Italy are associated with food.  I absolutely love food and revolve my days around what I'm eating.  Thus, I associate food with very strong emotions and memories and love how all Italians do the same by eating certain foods or practicing specific food traditions at holidays and special occasions.  I will now always associate these fried dough balls with the wonderful time I had in Venice at Carnival!

The Discovery of Kebabs

So today I finally found food an ethnic food here that I like!  I loove the pasta and pizza and suppli here of course, but every once in a while I get a craving for something different.  Perhaps the thing I miss the most is my Mexican food, especially my Chipotle burrito.  In America, I would stop by Chipotle and get a burrito at least once every week or so.  So today I was walking back to our apartment and passed a place that said 'Italian Kebabs' on it.  When I hear the word kebab, I usually think of pieces of gross meat on a stick.  However, I've seen a ton of kebab restaurants in Rome and figured it was about time I try one!  To my surprise, an 'italian kebab' is not a stick with meat on it, but actually very similar to a burrito!  To make it, they shave off fresh meat (I chose chicken) and then add lettuce, tomato, and spicy sauces, wrapping it in a burrito for the final touch.  The only thing I wish that was included was rice, but some places even throw in fries- which I think is a pretty good substitute!  The kebabs I've had are soo good and definitely kick the Mexican craving!  I found a Doner Kebab place conveniently located right around the corner from my apartment!  I will definitely be visiting it again soon!

 Chipotle Burrito

Doner Kebab