When Rome is home

A few thunderclouds rolled into Rome today, which led to a down pour, which led to a hail storm, which forced me to duck inside one of our favorite drinking establishments, which led to an afternoon cocktail, and ultimately this here video.

April 19th, 2010 | Tags: 2010, gradine, hail storm, Italy, Roma, Rome | Category: 1 minute, Centro Storico, Rome, video | Comments (2)

The Spanish Steps are fun. But put them in reverse and I think you’ll agree they’re even funner.

April 15th, 2010 | Tags: in reverse, Italy, Rome, Spanish Steps | Category: 1 minute, Rome, video | Comments (1)

A couple years ago I wrote a review for Grotto Pizza where the best way I could describe the taste was to imagine a pizza that came out of a vending machine — one where all the individual components came together once coins were dropped through the slot and a selection made.

So, imagine my utter delight when Matthew posted the following video he shot at the Palermo airport in Sicily.

April 14th, 2010 | Tags: Grotto Pizza, Italy, Let's Pizza, Matthew Algeo, Palermo airport, pizza, vending machine | Category: Italy, food, video | Comments (2)

Although our pups typically receive just an empty cone after a visit to a gelateria, every once in a while we reward them with their very own frozen, creamy treat.

Here we’ve ordered a small portion of yogurt gelato split between two cups from our favorite place in Rome, Gelateria del Teatro. Enjoy the slo-mo tongue action towards the end.

March 22nd, 2010 | Tags: dogs, Gelateria del Teatro, gelato, ice cream, Italy, Rome | Category: Italy, Rome, dogs, food, video | Leave a comment

We drove south last weekend in search of the beach. And found it.

March 20th, 2010 | Tags: beach, dogs, Italy, pups, sand, stick | Category: Italy, dogs, video | Comments (2)

They taste just like chicken. No, not really — but they’re just as delicious. The variety most often found in Italy is the Tarocco.

March 19th, 2010 | Tags: blood oranges, Italy, tarocco | Category: Italy, food | Leave a comment

In experimenting with the Flip video camera, I’ve started shooting 1 minute clips of Rome. No editing. No panning. No movement other than the subject. And only natural, local sound.

I came across these pigeons in Campo dei Fiori — after the fruit and vegetable vendors had left, but before any serous clean-up had begun. Here the pigeons are going after two ciambelle (doughnuts).

Around 0:24 a toddler runs towards them, but fails to dissuade many to give up their deep fried treasure.

March 18th, 2010 | Tags: Campo dei Fiori, ciambelle, Italy, piccione, pigeons, Roma, Rome | Category: 1 minute, Campo dei Fiori, Rome, food, video | Comments (2)

Pasta e Ceci is a thick and delicious Italian soup that contains chickpeas (ceci) and ditalini pasta — a small, tubular pasta that looks just like a thimble (ditale). The nice thing about the dish, in addition to its great mouth appeal, is that it’s crazy easy to make. And it’s a great soup to serve your vegetarian friends.

To demonstrate how to make it, Matthew and I shot the following film. Enjoy.

March 12th, 2010 | Tags: ceci, chickpeas, garbanzo beans, Italian food, Italy, pasta e ceci, recipe, ricetta, soup, vegetarian, zuppa | Category: Italy, food, how to..., video | Comments (1)

A couple of weeks ago it snowed in Rome — perhaps as much as an inch in places. No big whoop, eh?

But here it was a big whoop since this city hasn’t seen snow since 1986. And the place to head that morning was the Pantheon — to see the flakes fall through the oculus of its ancient dome.

Matthew shot this video:

February 24th, 2010 | Tags: 1986, 2010, Italy, oculus, Pantheon, Rome, snow, video | Category: Centro Storico, Rome, archeological sites, video | Comments (1)