Celebrating Nonna

This October, my sister and I were lucky to visit our family and family friends in Italy. The trip was originally to celebrate the 100th birthday of Nonna Bice. Unfortunately, 2 weeks prior to our arrival, she passed away. We decided that we would take this time to celebrate her life and be with our Italian family.

We arrived in Parma that afternoon and made our way straight to lunch. Our family lives in Langhriano, which is about 25 minutes outside of downtown Parma. They have their Prosciutto factory and a house next door where Andrea, Bianca, Chiara, Giulia and Luca live. After we were greeted by some of the family, we headed up the mountain to Monzano where Paola, Sandro, Francesco and Sarah lived. We usually stay with Paola because they have a spare bedroom upstairs for us to use.

It was 5 days filled with Nonna Bianca’s homemade food, Prosciutto, wine and fun with our family. Grace and I walked around the mountains in Monzano, went shopping with Andrea and explored the Prosciutto factory. We went downtown on the most rainiest day with the kids and had family dinners almost every night, where Grace would sing. Our time with our family went quick but we anxiously awaited our return to Rome! Grace and I both studied abroad in Rome, so you can say it is a city close to both of our hearts. The morning of our train, Paola cut us some fresh prosciutto for the road and dropped us off at the train station.

  

Roman Around Rome

When we boarded the train, we realized that we were on the wrong train! So Grace and I got off at Bologna, waited for our correct train so we didn’t have to pay for new tickets. We arrived in Rome around 2 pm and made our way to the apartment to meet our cousin and his girlfriend, Sarah. This was our first time meeting Sarah, so we were so excited!

We rented a spacious airbnb right across the street from Trastevere and right by Campo di Fiori. It was walking distance to everything! We had two beds, a kitchen and a bathroom. The apartment also had a washer, which was a plus. After we settled in, we headed to the Jewish Ghetto and grabbed a bite at Nonna Betta’s. We had the fried Artichoke, fresh Carbonara pasta and a white fish. After we finished eating, we set out to explore the eternal city.

We walked everywhere – from the Giardino degli Aranci, the Aventine Keyhole, the Colosseum to the Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain and Pantheon. At the end of the night, we were exhausted. But we freshened up for appertivi and headed over to Trastevere. We first grabbed a drink and small bites at Freni e Frizioni. There’s a large outside patio area, where you can sit and drink and people watch. When we finished our drinks, we walked around the streets of Trastevere and found a table outside at Pimms. There was live music and we ordered a plethora of meats, cheese, antipasti and salads.

The next morning, Grace and I woke up early and walked around our favorite spots in the city. We stopped for expresso at Sant’Eustachio il Cafe and then headed towards the Trevi, Via del Corso, the Spanish Steps and Villa Borghese. By that time, we were ready for lunch and grabbed pasta to-go at Pastafica. Then we started head towards the Vatican City for a private tour of the Vatican with Sarah’s uncle.

He recommended having dinner at Da Sabatino Ristorante. It was a family restaurant, that owns a farm outside of the city and brings fresh produce everyday for the dishes inside the restaurant. We were sat next two these two older men, one of whom was on the board at the school Grace and I studied abroad at. We chatted with him while we waited for our many appertivi. Out came fresh mushrooms, tomatoes in olive oil, meat balls, cheeses, olives and peppers. When we finished, we were stuffed. We walked around to see the Trevi at night, grabbed some gelato from Giolitti and ended up at a bar in Campo di Fiori.

The next day was our final day, so we decided to walk through the streets and walk through our favorite spots. I grabbed Dar Poeta that morning as we explored the side streets. Since the weather wasn’t the best, we started in Trastevere and made our way around to Piazza Navona. We grabbed a bite to eat at Flavio Velavo Detto, it was the best homemade pasta I had ever had and the wine was incredible. The spot is a little outside the busy-tourist area, so we were seated immediately. After dinner, we went back to the apartment, packed up a little and then continued exploring the streets. We ended the night in the Jewish Ghetto at Il Giardino Romano. As we wrapped up our meal it began to downpour. We all ran home under an umbrella.

 

Fun in Florence

The next morning, we all headed out early. Grace and I caught a train to Bologna and decided that we would drop off our bags at the hotel and jump on a train to Florence. We were lucky enough to catch an Italo so that we would arrive in less than 45 minutes. We walked around the Piazzas, explored the Boboli Gardens and looked through the shops on Ponte Vecchio. It started to rain, we decided to grab dinner at one of our favorite spots: Trattoria Antico Fattore.

When we walked in, the owner greeted us and we told him that we had ate there with our parents a couple years ago and it was our favorite spot. He told us it had been in his family for 100 years. He told us that whenever we returned to Florence, that we were welcome to his restaurant. As we grabbed one more gelato, we headed to the train. Since we grabbed a later train, we decided to stay in at the hotel.

Grace decided she was going to order the room service, after struggling to translate with the man on the other end on the phone, our meals finally arrived and I couldn’t help but laugh. Grace ordered a club “sandwich” without anything but the cheese, bacon and chicken. There were about 15 pieces of bread and her fries were cold. Needless to say, we were ready to be back on American soil.

The next morning we caught our flights and made it back to the US. It was a great way to spend time with my sister, especially before she graduates college and I married David. I feel lucky knowing that my sister and I will always have Italy.