Day 3

Today was really the first day we left the Prati district. St. John's took us through the metro system to a large store called EATALY. The metro was quick and simple. Line A was recently refurbished and the trains were all relatively new and the stations were well kept. Line B on the other hand was covered in graffiti and was not up kept much if at all. As one of the RA's said "this is where you transfer anything you would like to keep  from your back pockets to your front pockets" (although it is smart to keep them there always). The RA's at one point weren't sure which direction to exit the metro to reach EATALY and asked a policeman how to get to EATALY. Unfortunately Italy and EATALY are pronounced the same way and the policeman was extremely confused as to why these American's were asking where Italy was.

The four floor Italian supermarket

Strange looking broccoli (my parent's will get a kick out of this)

Maybe the best book ever written

Had to try our a few candies

Some of the best chocolate you can find

We took the bus back to campus which was extremely slow even though everyone in Rome drives ridiculously fast and without traffic laws. A sidewalk is the equivalent of an Italian parking space, and the 5 foot long cars can fit in some pretty interesting spots.

We arrived back at St. John's to pesto vegetable lasagna, which again was the best lasagna I have ever eaten. The "best food" theme is something that probably will not go away any time soon. 

We ended the day with a late dinner by American standards (8 o'clock) and an early dinner by Italian standards. We stumbled upon Vito E Dina Osteria Pizzeria and after realizing that none of us spoke Italian we were promptly taken to the back room (maybe they did not want us in the front). Our waiter was helpful and understanding and we got our first taste of cheap red wine (it was really good). The wine was cheap and the food better. Ever since hearing of cacio e pepe on the travel channel we could not wait to try it. All it involves is spaghetti, parmesan, black pepper, and butter. It was well worth the wait. Before leaving the Chef/Owner came into the back room to watch futbol on the only TV in the place. He was extremely nice and enjoyed having American's visit his ristorante. So much so that he showed us an article that was written in the LA Times about his interested being a hidden gem. He then proceeded to show us his yelp and tripadvisor reviews. He seemed to be quite proud of his accomplishments and he kept telling us to come back tomorrow.

Cacio e pepe

Vito E Dina

We ended the night with cannoli gelato, which is just as good as it sounds. It was like eating cannoli filling and there were small pieces of the pastry shell mixed in with the gelato.