Eat A Lot, Walk A Lot, Italy

This is the name of the game. The key is to walk just enough to keep your appetite growing, so you can stuff yourself further with the delicious eats that are everywhere you turn here. This is a fact, not opinion. It's a lot easier to consume calories than burn them but whatever.

I've already noticed a big difference when it comes to Italian versus Spanish culinary customs. Everything served in Italy is topped off with a bit extra. Down in the bayou of Baton Rouge we used to call that a lagniappe; a 13th donut when you order a dozen. It's light tapas in Spain, versus heavy top-offs in Italy.

So, of course I started my morning with a walk and had a bike tour booked for 10 am to get a lay of the Roman land.

It was funny riding with some older couples and they were all very nice. However the tight streets and crowds are not easy to navigate, even with a tour guide who knows them. We saw all kinds of monuments such as the Pantheon in the header, the Sant'Ignazio Church and Obeliso Agonale.

He also took us to the Aventine hill and Palatine Hill to see the chariot racing ruins from above and the skyline view. We went to the Roman Forum which was may favourite monument we saw. I did the Forum coin toss and hit the ledge first try so the legend says I'll be rich. That's cool, now I can continue to chill.

After passing the Forum it got extremely tight and a large group of school kids was walking the same passageway as us. One of them made a straight-up young punk move and swung his backpack out just enough to knock the one lady in our group off balance. She bounced off of a car, but came out unscathed. It was a close call and we kept it moving. I love the toughness and grit out of this Wisconsin mom.

I was starved after the 3 hour ride and began my own eating tour. This phenomenal creation below was a stagionato from a place called Sesamo Trastevere. The sautéed chicory and provolone on a sesame bun was an unbelievable combo. Topped it off with pizza for dessert of course.

I chilled for a bit and got some laundry done, which unfortunately has to happen when you're gone for this long. I had to get a gelato to get coins for the machine, poor me. My final journey of the first day was up Gianicolo hill behind Trastevere and the sights at the top were amazing:

I then trudged on back down the hill for dinner and Chianti. It is definitely strange eating a sit-down Italian meal alone but it's not going to stop me. This is the only real stretch of dinners by myself on the trip and who knows, I may not get many meals again like this in my life! I went with a classic tonnarella in meat sauce (spaghetti and meatballs), but we'll get more adventurous with the next one.

More updates to come on the water situation (it's better here) and I'm saying what's up to the pope today. I'll check back in when I feel like it.