Tara and Sarah's Wonderful Romantic Valentine's Weekend

Yes, that's right, Sarah and I are here without our wonderful men to join us, and since we decided to stay in Rome this Valentine's weekend and get to know the city more, we planned and had a wondeful and romantic day. We started off shopping and walked the entirety of Via del Corso, ending in Pizza Popolo. There we did a quick tour of a church and walked to up the hill to be greeted with a grand view of the city. From there we walked through grand Villa Borgehese (the central park of rome) and ate tantilizing desserts with pastry, creme, chocolate, and strawberries, atop the Spanish steps during sunset. We didn't think the day could get much better. We then decided to stroll the shops of La Republica and being a little hungry and a little curious we decided to be adventurous and try this resturant we had written down. My mom gave me a magazine while in Rome that had the top romantic resturants of Rome, and this one looked pretty interesting: Hostaria Antica Roma. Sooo, the cab started to drive us there and we were a little scared- we thought maybe he was leading us down some deserted dark roads to kill us in the night- turns out no, he was going the right way, the resturant was just in this really ancient and dark part of Rome. So we get there, and just as the cab is pulling away the guy looks at us shakes his head and says, "You are too early! It is 6, we don't open til 8." And we're like 'shit'. We were kind of scared again, but we'd thought we'd be okay because there were tons of cars and people around. He explains that he is having his neice's 11th birthday party, but we are welcome to wait and have some drinks. So intially we think he kind of hates us for being stupid americans, but then, he says "come see, come with me". And we're like, what? Come to your niece's party with all these Italians, okay then.. but we did and we laughed at the millions of children running around the really nice resturant. Then we sat and he gave us some nice sparkling white wine. He proceeds to tell us that he loves americans! and especially JOHN BELUSHI! In fact he would later show us a life size painting of John Belushi in a toga outside the resturant. He further elaborates that he loves Animal House, and has a nickname thus in his Harley Davidson chapter, the only Harley chapter in Italy. So by this point we're pretty much having a good time, and he keeps giving us wine and leftover orderves from the party, as well as some pretty tight balloon animals. He also gave us a huge book regarding the history of the resturant and articles from around the world writing it up as pretty much awesome. In there, we found out it is the oldest resturant in Rome: 1796 to be exact. It actually used to be a mausoleum, and it is this super ancient building that has these indents that used to hold urns of ashes. Yet I swear, it feels romantic! The resturant had been family owned since the 80s, and this guy we were talking to was the chef! So we keep talking and eating, also the food was supposed to be spiced like of old according to Anticus(?). He further told us that he had studied in Florida, and told us he had had this enourmous birthday party in San Francisco where he got high after getting drunk, threw up on his Armani suit, and walked around in only his underwear. When we finally ordered we got the salmon and buffalo mozeralla appetizer, we each got a dinner special: Sarah got lasagna, an old recipe created before the discovery of America and therefore no tomatoes (which she says was amazing), and I had a crepe filled with sea bass and artichokes which I say was amazing, plus rosemary potatoes for a vegetabe, and the red wine of his choosing. Least to say it was the best meal either one of us have eaten- ever- seriously not joking. And of course in between he brings us deep fried califlower, and cheese and bread, only this was no ordinary cheese, it is Virgil's cheese, yeah you know Virgil- the poet. Yeah. Yeah. So then we are painfully stuffing this food down, partly becuase it is so good, and partly out of respect. But of course we had to have dessert! So we order a double chocolate mousse to share, which of course is brought along with two extra creme pastries. And the mousse is the absolute most amazing thing I have ever put in my mouth. As he watches us take the first bite he reminds us that he really wants a greencard, and that he can make that... just fyi. By this time we have been at the resturant oh... 4 hours!!!!!! It was a true luxurious amazing Italian meal, where we made good friends with the chef. I forgot to say he also gave us a tour, and his private email and phone number just in case we ever got into trouble. We were just in the most fantastic mood ever, we could not stop smiling the entire taxi home. And after that dinner I think we both seriously gained 10 pounds and had to come straight home, to write this entry and then go to sleep. Buona Notte!