Caffe Granitas are My New Religion

7/16/08

Today we were taken around Rome by one of the most knowledgeable achitectural historians/archeologists on Ancient Rome. We met Professor Morton at St. Peters and after another look at the church and more specifically at the use of the columns and windows to emphasize the shafts of light, we climbed the dome. It's a pretty intense stair climb of 320+ steps that get more narrow and more twisty the higher you go up. Your first stop is on the inside of the dome where you look down into the church and you realize you were just standing down there and then realize how high up you are. Then you continue climbing up to a viewing deck on the outside top of the dome and have an expansive view of the entire city. It is breathtaking. The skyline of Rome is very different from any American skyline because no buildings are allowed to be built higher than St. Peter's. Thus the highest points of the city are the many other domes of the churches in the city.

After a respite in the shade on the roof of St. Peter's we headed back down to the square and off we went past Castle St. Angelo, across the Tiber River and we started the real work of exploring the streets of Rome through the professional eyes of Professor Morton. We went for lunch at his favorite deli-bakery near the Pantheon. We ordered pizza bianco con prosciutto e formaggio e verde, which is like foccaccia bread sliced open, drizzled with olive oil and salt and filled with bacon, cheese, and arugula. It is quite an amazing sandwich.

After lunch we toured the Pantheon, starting from a distance to get a proper view of the place. Professor Morton did his thesis on the Pantheon and shared with us a thorough history and explanation of the unique building. I could barely keep up - physically, because Prof. Morton walks extremely quickly, and mentally, because I have very little working knowledge of Roman history or achitectural terminology. After the Pantheon tour we went for granitas. It was the best thing I have had so far. At 3 euro a pop they are a bit of a splurge but a caffe granita con panna is absolutely worth every euro cent. It combines three of my favorite guilty pleasures: espresso, crushed ice, and whipped cream. The granita is layered like a parfait. First is a spoonful of thick, whipped cream out of a big bowl that is obviously whipped fresh throughout the day and kept chilled in the ice cream case. Then the clear cup is given a large scoop of the actual caffe granita. Basically it is espresso that is mixed with ice that is chipped off of a large block in the back and re-frozen into type of coffee ice slush. Then another heap of cream and then a thin wafer cookie is added on top for decoration/edible spoon and then they hand you the most refeshing and delightful treat of your life. If I ever am going to be executed, obviously there will have to be some miscarriage of justice, and I am given one last meal, I will definitely ensure that a granita is on the menu.

After the granita we wandered through some of Professor Morton's favorite streets. Streets with ancient archways covered in leafy, green ivy like a little oasis in the hot city. We stumbled across a little church in one piazza. It was fairly unassuming at first but Santa Maria Maddalena was beautifully decorated inside and featured almost entirely female saints and the few tombs seemed to honor nuns. The church had two stained glass red cross that caused red slashes of light to appear on the columns, which was quite dramatic. So far it's my favorite church, mostly because it seemed very feminine.

Then we wandered down "The Corso" or the Via del Corso which has some absolutely beautiful stores with silk ties, scarves, mens suits, shoes, jewelry, paper and stationary, and wedding dresses. The stores are all in the middle of the major summer sales before the entire city vacates for the month of August, so all the store windows proudly proclaim "Saldi - 50%". Professor Morton has a penchant for silk ties so we followed him to his two favorites and watched him nearly purchase a watermelon pink bow tie. I myself was tempted by the stores beautiful scarves. Then we wandered by the Mausoleum of Augustus and the Ara Pacis Museum and up to the Piazza del Popolo and stumbled upon the dress rehearsal of the Miss. Italia regional qualifying beauty pageant. Luckily we arrived just in time to see 20 young Italian divas practice their opening dance number and get yelled at for their sloppy footwork by a cargo man-capri wearing choreographer. I have some beauty pageant experience myself as Miss Arizona 2003 was held at my high school's auditorium. As a theater junkie I got asked to work for a few days running the spotlight for the show. So I simultaneously ran the light and read the latest Harry Potter book while watching Miss Gilbert, Miss Mesa, and Miss South Phoenix dance terribly to Kelly Clarkson's Ms. Independent. Professor Morton, Bobby and I took turns giving our take on which girl had the best turns, runway walk, and sexy free dance. By the time we watched them stumble through the full opening number it was time for dinner.

We went for pasta at a little hole in the wall place near Piazza Navona. We each ordered a different pasta and shared. Bobby had the gnocchi, I had the mushroom and potato ravioli, and Professor Morton had the mushroom, cream and sage-crusted lasagna. They were all fantastic and appropriately portioned to leave you room for a 'dulce'. Bobby had the seasonal cherry and ricotta roman-style tart and I, of course, had the chocolate torte, which interestingly came with multi-colored sprinkles and Professor Morton had the country doughnuts which ended up being a plateful of cookies, biscotti, and some very delicious meringues. We finished with espresso and then we left Professor Morton and after an incredibly full day in Rome.