Food and Fun-

I have yet to mention much about the food in Italy.  Originally, I thought I would dedicate an entry to food in each region and/or maybe our favorite restaurants or weirdest foods we have tried but now realize that I can barely manage to get in the time on the computer &  that I am not so quick at this whole blogging thing so it is not really feasible...

I will sum it up to say that the boys have been SUPER about trying new and foreign cuisine and that Tuscany was hands down the winner of the best food award.  It was jaw-dropping good.  We have since longed for many of the dishes we savored at L'Ozio in Collina...

The word on the street in Rome though is that the best food to be had is in the neighborhoods of Testaccio or Trastevere so we travelled across the Tiber for dinner & took a culinary tour in Trastevere.

We weren't sure if the boys would enjoy 4 hours of tasting food but they are their daddy's children so it was a great time.  Even though we has been in Italy for almost 6 weeks, we found new foods to try and even new flavors of gelato- chocolate with tobacco, basil with ginger & lemon...mmmm

Our dinner experience in Trastevere was indeed delicious and memorable for 2 reasons:
1. The boys had a table of their own & were allowed to order anything on the menu as long as it would be eaten.
2. Ross ordered grilled octopus & ate it all.  I wish we could have captured the waiter's response...he looked over at us and all he could say was "wow"...

Another fun thing we tried out while in Rome (something we do at home) was to split up and take each boy out for a "date".  One night Matt & Ross had dinner while Nash & I dined at a restaurant a few blocks  away. Then a few days later Matt & Nash went for a 30km bike ride on the Appian way while Ross and I slept in, took in a leisurely lunch & shopped a local toy store.  These times with the boys individually were invaluable... not to be forgotten for sure.


FOOD TOUR IN TRASTEVERE:

First tasting from a bakery

Standing in front of wheels of pecorino cheese-
this stack is worth about 10,000 euro.
The owner said he sells this amount about every 10 days.

Trying fried rice/meat balls, I think the name is arancini-
Matt's favorite

A booth at the local market run for hundreds of years by the same family

Beautiful and tasty local produce

DINNER IN TRASTEVERE:

Parent's table

Kid's table

Gnocci (potato pasta) for Nash

Octopus with tentacles for Ross!!

DATE NIGHT:

Daddy & Ross enjoying real Italian pizza...

...then staying out late night people watching at Piazza del Popolo
( translated means: Square of the People)
This actually became a place we returned to several times &
spent our last evening in Rome.

Mom & Nash dining  at Osteria Margutta-
a tiny little place hidden on a peaceful little street

We did not explore nearby squares... we stayed for dessert!

DATE "DAY":

Daddy & Nash setting out on the Ancient Appian Way

30K offroad and on the actual ancient stones of the old Roman road

They explored the Roman aqueducts, the catacombs and

the Baths of Caracalla.
 Father & son were both energized and tired after a long hot ride!

Mom & Ross slept in late then made our first stop at the toy store near Piazza Venezia-
we had walked past this shop MANY times but this was the first time inside...

Ross spent his tooth mouse money (from the tooth he lost on Easter while in Florence)
 on this little guy "Spells" and an exploding dice magic trick.

We then celebrated with a leisurely lunch of Ross' favorite-
Pizza Margurita

Spells meets his new family