my red pole

I never imagined myself going to Rome or even anywhere in Italy anytime soon. My last trip to city and country was 11 years ago, with the company of my parents.

So when Christelle's plan for a weekend getaway to a city known for its on Christmas markets loosened to allow other kinds of locations, Rome slid right in as a top choice.

After surviving a ten-hour door-to-door trip from Paris on Friday, I arrived in our rental apartment. And I set out almost immediately to visit a big one : il Colosseo.

Il Colosseo

The plan was to sketch the monument before it got dark. But before I could put pen to paper, the coolest thing happened : an encounter with Emilie, a high school girl from Poland, who was sightseeing the monument with the 59 other high schoolers in her choir that traveled the world to take part in singing competitions. We had chatted for about 10 minutes. Once she found out where I lived, she revealed me that she loved Paris and had been learning French for two years. It was only when we got to speaking in French that her group had to take off! She left me with some keywords (Don Diri Don, Szczecin Poland) about the choir that she was a part of. Apparently, it's a well-known thing.

Finished the sketch just in time before sunset

For dinner, I went to CiPASSO, a restaurant that Michelle had recommended to me. She had told me that she ate at every night of your last trip to Rome. I found the service excellent. I asked the waitress why there were two sets of main dishes on the menu. She explained that it was the Italian way of doing things (I would later see "primo" and "secundo" on menus everywhere throughout the rest of the weekend). My octopus puttanesca finally arrived, and I ate it up with glee. The sauce was so tasty that I did all I could to scoop the rest of it off the plate with my fork. Whereas I really wanted to do some licking.

Octopus puttanesca at CiPASSO Bistrot

Christelle and Raynald arrived at the apartment late in the night. With the three of us together, things could only be more fun.

After a group breakfast at Campo de' Fiori and a morning break apart, I went to join Christelle and Raynald north of Ponte Sant'Angelo, a few minutes away from the Vatican City. We spent the Saturday afternoon walking, walking, walking. It was more than my usual fare, but I was game mostly for the sake of seeing more of the Italian capital. We strolled along River Tiber and made our way to the Fontana di Trevi via Ponte Cavour. Throughout we took in the numerous sights available.

Fontana di Trevi

Bucatini all'amatriciana at Antica Birreria Peroni

After lunch at Antica Birreria Peroni, during which I struggled with a red stain on my polo shirt from my serving of bucatini all'amatriciana dish, we continued ... walking. We crossed Piazza Venezia, ventured into Celio (I was following more than exploring), and then made into Trastevere after another taking another bridge. Trastevere was a very lively district, and looked like a place that I needed to spend more time in on my next visit. One of the highlights was a LONG queue of people waiting to enter a restaurant called Tonnarello. Another was the apéritif that we had in Caffè della Scala, during which I did some sketching! It was a challenged issued by Christelle and supported by Raynald, and even though I am not fond of drawing bar scenes, I said why not. The drawing session got interesting when a guy arrived and blocked my view when he sat down with his friends. So I now had to draw the guy. And I generally do everything to shy away from portraits! With no way out, I accepted this change. At the end I went over and showed him the portrait I made of him. He was pleased with it, and a photo session ensued.

We made it back to Campo de' Fiori, close where we were staying. The open-air market vibes we saw in the morning had been replaced by a large festive atmosphere. We were hungry and quickly settled on Antica Hostaria Romanesca where I had a chicken and tomato sauce dish -- a nice to return to ordinary -- with a side of potatoes flavored with pepper and pecorino cheese. It was heavenly!

Pollo e peperoni con YUMMY patate cacio e pepe (pecorino and pepper)

Sunday morning, we took off on a long stroll that saw us pass through Piazza Navona one last time, take in the crowds at Piazza di Spagna, and end up in Villa Borghese, which seemed like a fitting place to end my stay in Rome. I had known nothing of this huge garden outside of the city center, and during the half-hour that I spent there, I quickly understood that it was a place with lots to discover. Something to look forward to when I am back in the city.