Shoes & Trains, Trains & Shoes

While everyone is voting in the USA, I'm scrolling through some photos and found a few from a quick trip to Geneva this summer. That's Switzerland, by the way.

We went on the train, and since I love animals and especially dogs and cats, I loved the train we passed when we entered Swiss territory. St.Bernard's - the family! Hope you can see the puppy on the right! Sooooo cute....

Then, when we were at the train station, I was feeling especially proud of my black patent spiky punk 80s retro style boots. So I took a pic... then Paolo stuck his feet in - shameless attention hog that he is! I love


these shots... how much can you tell about us by our shoes!?

Jellyfish in the Mediterranean

Wow, didn't realize how months could fly by so fast... It's already November 1 and almost voting day for a new President of the US. Who are you voting for?

Today: Was at the mediterranean and saw there were jellyfish (also called their more official name "medusa" in Italy) randomly washed up on the beach. Seems like they are babies or jr's in their size. These are the best photos from my iPhone - which isn't that great of a camera but convenient. The one with blue tentacles is tiny, about the size of an American quarter coin or a 2 euro coin. The other, the clear one with some bits of purple pink inside is quite larger. About the size of a "new potato" or maybe the size of a child's fist. This one is probably the least desirable to meet while swimming, as it can give a nasty sting I'm told. The much larger ones are apparently less potent stingers. The smaller coin sized ones are probably stingers but not so potent yet - but I don't really know!! I certainly don't want to find out.

But aren't they beautiful and amazing in their dimension, shape and color? The larger one - perhaps you can see it in the photo - has air bubbles in it, probably due to being washed up on the shore. I think these are amazing creatures which seem like aliens upon the earth!

If you know anything about the regeneration of jellyfish or medusa, please help me understand it. Why? A couple days before the day of the washed up creatures, I was swimming and saw a cloud of tiny tiny elements in the sea. They looked like tiny miniature filaments or lightbulbs... they were so small at first I thought I was seeing dirty water, but as I swam a bit further out, these little guys got a little bigger, as if I was among them and larger ones were toward the center of their large cluster in the sea. They were really tiny - no larger than the length of the tip of your finger nail and not much wider than a few hairs. That's why at first it was hard to see them at all as little entities. Were these tiny elements baby medusa? Do medusa reproduce in such large quantites or is the timing of this a coincidence? Were they a completely different thing - a large plankton bloom? I don't know! But it was definitely a curiosity.

Check them out and let me know what you think....

Full Moon Birthday 2008 - The night before

July 18th - My birthday! A day I love to celebrate, including before and after... I would say that my celebration started the evening of the 17h... A 'cumpleano' happy birthday song and a lovely new restaurant picked by mi amore Paolo.... Arco Antico ... (www.arcoantico.it) The evening sky boasted a full moon, brilliant and glowing with the delicate humidity of a sweet Roma night as we drove from Via Giacomo Medici up along Via Garibaldi to the little square of the restaurant. Light traffic and quick parking right around the corner - buona fortuna!
Arco Antico is in a vintage building in front of Porta San Pancrazio with an unobtrusive yet stylishly modern glass door displaying its engraved name. Peeking inside I see modern stylings of shimmering cream colors and glass over thoroughly antique foundations giving me the sense of contemporary vintage and making what could seem a tight space seem open and welcoming.... A small bar foyer greets you but we were quickly escorted to our table, elegant and sophisticated in a small side room with only 3 other tables. Exquisite!
For a vegetarian as I am, the menu is a little limited in entrees but in combination with two appetizers a girl such as I won't go hungry! My sense is that this will be nouvelle cuisine, and unsure of how large the servings would be I opt to have more than less. Two appetizers and pasta with a little wine and dessert!
The appetizers came: Flan with onions & hearts of parmesan cheese (Flan di cipolle con cuore di parmigiano) was exquisite - a delicate puree of sweet onion, a delicious crouton, a swirl of Modena balsamic and a handful of golden fried onion wisps. I drool as I eat it! The other is Mozzarella di bufala e pomodorini arrostiti in pasta fillo - Bufala mozzarella with roasted tomatoes in fillo dough. There was a tiny bit of pesto at the bottom of this larger than expected crunchy pillow, which adds just the right touch of snap. Now the entree: Spaghettoni alla carbonara (sans bacon of course). The dilemma is always to decide whether you leave the bacon in and remove it afterwards, but I rarely hesitate to have it prepared without. I'll explain my vegitarianism in another blog.... For now, I will admit that without it, the "Spaghetti Carbonara" is good but not nearly the same. Next time I'll try "Ravioli di ricotta di pecora, cacio, pepe e fiori di zucca".... Of course the wine was exquisite (a red by the glass)... Sorry, I didn't get the name of it but it was very very smooth and delicious!