Evan and I got up early and joined the thousands who show up every Wednesday to see the Pope at the general audience.  It was a perfect morning, overcast and breezy.  We got about 4 raindrops. Even getting there as they opened the line, we didn’t get very good seats…you need to be right at a barricade where the PopeMobile drives by…but Evan got a glimpse of him by standing on a chair looking over everyone else standing on a chair.  After that, we went to Piazza Bologna to have lunch at the Mexican Restaurant.  This was my belated Mothers Day lunch.  Then we came home and rested a bit.  Went to Termini and caught a bus to a stop in way north Rome where we were picked up by Evans old girlfriend (from our 1996 stay in Italy for two months), her hubby and two year old daughter.  We drove further out and had dinner with hubby’s brother and friends.  Brother drove us home.  Long day and really tired.  Slept fast because we have a train to catch the next day for Calabria in the south.  

We go to Termini and catch a train to Amantea in Calabria.  For a six hour train ride.  Bring food for these train rides….four little sandwiches and a bottle of water is 18€.  We declined this meal!  Our friends, Tammy and Vince met us at the station and we drove to their rented house.  We walked down to the beach about a block away and visited until sunset…which was beautiful…and then we went to get pizzas and take them home to eat with Vince’s wonderful Caesar salad.  Slept like the dead after a long day.  On the beach there are no docks or piers.  There is a big crane like machine that lifts the boats out of the water and deposits them on the beach…reversing the process to put the boats back in the water.  We watched the fishing boat go out about 7pm.  It will catch the fish we will have for dinner the next day.   The next day, we drive up to a little old hill town called Fiume Freddo…Cold River…altho there is no river to be seen.  There are castle ruins there and a charming little town with a bed and breakfast and a couple of restaurants.  We explore the town and look at the water and beach below.  We leave there and go to another hill town nearby called Lombardia.  It is lunchtime and the town is virtually deserted.  Everyone behind doors eating lunch and napping.  We go back to the house where Vince fixes us a chick pea pasta and Caesar salad.  Now, I’m thinking that chick pea pasta sounds pretty gross…but was I ever surprised…it was delicious!  Vince knows his cooking.  He is a chef and owned an Italian restaurant in Manhattan for years.  He took half a jar of chickpeas and smashed them up with garlic and tomato paste and added the rest of the whole chickpeas.  Added water and cooked the sauce.  Poured over curly pasta, added grated Parmesan cheese and there it was…a delight.  I will definitely make it in the future.  There are several variations of this recipe on Google.  Worth trying…even if you don’t much like chickpeas…which I don’t, unless it is hummus.  So, if I like this…you know it is good!  That evening, we went to the restaurant where Vince works 3 nights a week.  Had fresh swordfish and tuna…caught during the night.  For appetizers, we had marinated carpaccio of swordfish, grilled peppers with shrimp, calamari in a sauce, smoked salmon (only dish not fresh) .  Then came a huge platter of pasta and seafood…muscles, shrimp, calamari and swordfish.  Then our fish dishes with grilled eggplant and zucchini.  Tammy had spaghetti with zucchini.  Back to the house and bedtime.  The next morning after a late breakfast we went to the train station for our trip back to Rome.  Tammy fixed sandwiches and Vince sent a jar of his Caesar dressing packed in ice.  His dressing has 22 ingredients…and is to die for!  He made it by the gallon at his NYC restaurant and makes it by the half gallon now.  We had such a good, relaxing time with these great friends, and look forward to getting together again when they come back to Rome.  

Yesterday, Evan left for home.  Sure hated to see him leave, but we had a great time together and I think he will come for Christmas and fly home with me.  I hung around the house all day, then met Liz and Jennifer for drinks and dinner.  Had a big shopping day planned for today…Monday…but it is the Patron Saints (Peter and Paul) Day in Italy and everything is closed.  Big fireworks planned for Castel San Angelo at the end of our street, so maybe we can see it if we are still up at 9pm.  Guess another quiet day at home with a bit of cleaning for friends arriving on Wednesday from East Texas.  More later…..