Spiaggia :: Beach

Visiting the small, rocky beach below our hotel was one of my favorite parts of visiting Sorrento.   Although the beach wasn't much to look at, the pieces upon pieces of sea glass and Italian tiles washed up on the beach were truly treasures.  My little sister, Margaret, took some amazing photos of the rocky little beach:

 Aren't they gorgeous???  Thanks for sharing your photos, Marge!

Interested in seeing more photos of Sorrento?
Colors of Sorrento // Sorrento Brights // Bay of Naples & Treasures


Photos by Margaret Parkinson for C Squared W.

Dinner in Rome

One of my favorite dinners in Rome was one that Margaret taught us to make in our apartment one evening.  Having had the opportunity to take a handful of cooking classes while spending the semester in Rome, Margaret eagerly shared her skills and taught us how to make homemade orecchiette pasta ("little ears") like an Italian grandma {that's who taught her!}.

After visiting the market and grocery store, we returned home with the essentials for a delicious, homemade Italian dinner: good red wine, fresh mozzarella and Pecorino cheese, Roma tomatoes, spinach, basil, and some warm bread.

Homemade Orecchiette Pasta

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup of lukewarm water
• 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Directions:

• Combine the flour and salt, then pour in a mound onto your work surface.  Make a well in the center of the flour/salt mixture and slowly add water to the well, a few tablespoons at a time.  Begin combining the water with the flour and salt, slowly adding more water until the flour has absorbed as much water as possible without becoming too sticky.  Add olive oil and begin kneading the mixture on a lightly floured surface until the dough is smooth.  {Add more flour if it feels too sticky.}  Make a ball with the dough and cover. 

• To the make the "little ears" of pasta: Pull off a handful of dough and keep the rest covered.  Roll out the dough until it's about 1/4" thick, and begin cutting small triangle shapes from the dough, about 1.5 to 2 inches in size.  Using a small spoon, press the back of the spoon into the dough to create an indentation.  Flip the piece of dough inside out, and carefully pinch around the sides to reinforce the indentation.  Set the "little ears" aside on a floured surface, and continue making the "little ears" until you have used all of the dough.

• Boil water and add the homemade pasta a little but at a time.  Once the pasta floats (only after a minute or two), remove from the water.

• Prepare the pasta to your liking - we kept it simple and sprinkled the pasta with olive oil, salt, pepper, Pecorino cheese, minced garlic, cooked spinach, and chopped basil and tomatoes. 

• Feast! 

We served the pasta with bread and caprese salad, and it was definitely one of my favorite meals while in Rome. The homemade pasta was so so soft and delicious, I was really impressed!  I cannot wait to make it again sometime soon. 

Thanks for the cooking lesson, Margaret!

This was the bag our bread came in.  So fun!

I love Rome.

The first portion of my recent trip to Italy with my mom was spent in glorious Rome.  As you may know, my little sister, Margaret, spent the semester studying abroad in Rome.  She's currently living with a host family in a cute area of Rome called Trastevere, so when my mom began looking for a place for us to stay during our visit, we wanted something that would be close to Marge.  

We ended up booking the cutest apartment from Air B&B that happened to be just a block away { a two minute walk} from Margaret's apartment.  It was perfect!

The apartment was gorgeous with tall ceilings, beautiful architectural details, and huge windows.

We enjoyed good wine, cheese, and coffee in the apartment when we weren't busy exploring all of Rome with Margaret who was a perfect tour guide.

Just a few minutes from our apartment was a wonderful market that was stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables every morning.  The tomatoes were to die for, as were the strawberries and oranges which we enjoyed for breakfast on several occasions.  

We rented a car and drove around in it all week.  Italians are wild drivers, so that was a pretty crazy experience!  Just kidding, I just liked this picture.  We did not drive or rent a car.  Every day we did a ton of walking, with a few rides on buses, trams, and trains, and the occasional taxi ride. 

Our days were comprised mainly of walking...

cafés and cappuccinos...

visits to museums and sightseeing...

. . . and obviously, eating fantastic Italian food, like this spinach and cheese ravioli with truffle oil.

Each day in Rome held new adventures, photo ops, and culinary delights.  One of my favorite parts of traveling is discovering unknown treasures: happening upon a beautiful church or fabulous restaurant, just by chance, while walking through a city.  This happened to us often during this trip, and resulted in us seeing some gorgeous churches, visiting interesting museums, and eating delightful pastries.  

What I love about Rome is the incredible history and rich culture.  We would set out each day with a plan and list of what we wanted to see and do, and would excitedly visit those sites, while always adding a few unexpected destinations to our list, like a cool museum we passed by, or historical gems discovered on a walking tour.  Rome is amazing! 

What's your thing about visiting a new city?

***Thanks Margaret for sharing some of your wonderful photos with me! 

Tomorrow

It's hard to believe that tomorrow I finally depart for...

I can't wait to visit my little sister, Margaret (who I affectionately call Marge)...

Marge is currently studying abroad in Rome and has been loving life in Italia and traveling all over Europe these past few months.  Lucky girl!  I can't wait for her to show us around and see all of her favorite spots.

I'll be meeting up with my wonderful mother, Katrina, who is the best!  She's so much fun and is quite the traveler.  

She's had this trip in the works for quite some time, and we can't believe that the fun is finally about to begin! We'll spend a week in Rome, and then we're going to enjoy a weekend trip to Sorrento and Pompeii! 

Frannie, my other lovely, little sister, can't come with us, because she's living it up in Guyana, where she's just begun her work as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer.

She'll be doing awesome things instead, like plucking ducks and hanging out with cows.  Seriously, she's got some stories!  Italy won't be the same without you, Fran!

Charlie isn't able to come with us either, as he needs to spend the break studying a massive amount of medical school material for Ross's enormous comp exam which he'll take in May.  So he'll spend his spring break visiting Kentucky to spend time with family, enjoy America, and get in some serious studying.

He can do it, he's a rock star! {He's also a very handsome man, if I do say so myself!}

To my lovely friends and family who aren't joining us, I'll eat some gelato for you, lots and lots of it.  Don't worry, I won't let you down!

I also have some sweet guest posts lined up for your enjoyment while I'm gone; some of my favorite ladies are going to share some awesome travel-related posts with y'all.  It's going to be almost as fun as visiting Italy!

Marge, we'll see you when we arrive in Rome on Friday!

Arrivederci!

3 weeks from today I'm...

{Margaret & I in Venice in back in 2005.}

My mom and I are heading to Italy to spend 10 days with my sister, Margaret, who's currently studying abroad in Rome.  We'll spend a week in Rome and then a few days in Sorrento with a day trip to Pompeii. Then we'll head back to Rome for one more night, and then it's back to Dominica for me.

Dominica is basically the polar opposite of Rome, so I can't wait to get my fix of beautiful architecture, awesome food, and city life! I cannot wait! 

Do you have any must-sees or must-dos for Rome, Sorrento, or Pompeii?

P.S. - Charlie & Frannie, we're going to miss y'all!!! I'll drink an amazing glass of wine for you both, I promise!

Sistahs

Have I ever told you how cool my little sisters are?  Well, they are really, amazingly cool!

Margaret is in her junior year at Sewanee: The University of the South where she is a history major.  She is currently spending her spring semester studying abroad in Rome, Italy.  She is loving it, and spent last weekend visiting friends in Nice, France for Carnival.  Pretty awesome!

Frannie graduated from Sewanee last May with a B.A. in Global and International Studies and a minor in Spanish.  Frannie spent her summer working at A BarA Ranch in Wyoming.  A few weeks ago, Frannie joined the U.S. Peace Corps as a Community Education Promoter in the South American country of Guyana.  She will spend the next two years there, and is jumping right in to her experience - eating chicken feet and taking bucket baths!  She is brave and so impressive!

In addition to being world travelers, they are also smart, hilarious, and very artistic.  Frannie has traveled to Ecuador, Haiti, and Honduras and is fluent in Spanish; Margaret speaks French and is learning Italian.  They both have awesome fashion senses, and I love to steal borrow their clothes and get fashion advice from them when I'm home.  They are also gorgeous and adventurous... be sure to check out their blogs (click on their names, above)!

So there you have it, the world traveling sisters, currently all living in three different countries.  Thanks, Mom, for passing along your adventurous streak to us!  Fun fact: my mom, Katrina, lived in Germany for two years after college.  She has some awesome stories!

Second semester, going strong!

I know I've been a stranger, but with exams last semester, moving to a new apartment, our trip home, my extra time in the U.S. to attend Frannie's college graduation (you go, girl!), Frannie's visit to Dominica, and my trip with Frannie to St. Maarten, it has taken me a little while to get settled back in to life here on the island.



Charlie has been working hard to master neuroanatomy (my worst nightmare!) and is studying night and day in preparation for Mini 1, the first huge test of the semester. He has also gotten to do a little bit of work outside of the classroom, diagnosing a standardized patient, and playing dominoes with the older generation of Dominicans at a local senior citizens center. I think it was a nice break to step out of the classroom for a little while! As always, he is working and studying like I have never seen. His dedication is amazing, and I know it will pay off!

[caption id="attachment_359" align="aligncenter" width="546" caption="The kittens, just a few days old. Please focus on them and not my grungy, sweaty appearance, which sadly is inevitable in this insane heat... We're talking boiling heat with 70% humidity. I was so hot and flustered the other day on my walk home that I choked on my own spit and almost passed out on the road. No joke. It's so hot you can't even breathe properly!"][/caption]

I have been busy volunteering with CALLS (the alternative high school) and In.Light.In (a ministry working with local kids on Friday afternoons), serving on RSO's (Ross Spouses Organization) board helping with fundraising, and mainly just trying to stay cool. It has been unbelievably (unbearably) hot lately, so just trying to maintain a functional body temperature has been a task in and of itself! I've also spent lots of time with friends, mostly hiking, swimming, having game nights, and hanging out in the air conditioned coffee shop. My friend Brandi's cat just had 7 kittens, so I spend as much time as I can watching those little cuties (I actually saw the mama cat give birth to 2 of them... CRAZY!). And I am looking forward to a fun day with Charlie after his test next week!!!

[caption id="attachment_357" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="Contrary to popular belief, this is NOT how Charlie spends his days. (Only after a big test!)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_363" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="This, however, is how I do spend mine!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_360" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="Sisters at Frannie's graduation from Sewanee"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_362" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="Enjoying a hike and swim during Fran's visit"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_361" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="Our  fabulous porch view!"][/caption]

P.S. -- I apologize if this post has the lame sound of a holiday Christmas letter, updating you a little too chipperley on our fabulous life and the many accomplishments of our 4 amazing children (all on the honor roll!) and their little league championships.  (As I proofread this myself, that's the vibe I got.)  Luckily, I spared you from having to read about the accomplishments of our 4 amazing children since we have none.

Skyping Island Style

We love Skype.  It makes it so much easier to keep in touch with family and friends, especially when you're far away like we are.  And sometime funny things happen... like a little tree frog jumps onto your laptop and skypes with you and your sister.  True story.

Do you Skype?  We should chat sometime.  If you're lucky, a frog or lizard may join in, too.