The Vatican and the Poor People

The most incredible view was from the top of St. Peters. Well worth 7 Euro!!!




The Poor in the Vatican
The 'Round' Jerry

All I have eaten is Pizza and Croissants and bottles of cheap cheap wine... hmmmm

Roma Tomates? Are they just called tomatoes here?

Me Being dopey at the Colusseum - I have this outfit in most photos across the past three months. Insert background here!
Outside Picasso Gallery in Roma
On my way to The White Horse - Parsons Green - same oufit
Tate Modern - London
Book Sale on South Bank - London - Loved this area

Bouna sera!

It has been a few days since Sonnie J (aka Vanessa or Annej) has ventured into the cyber world  - so here in Roma - we enter again.

Karen and I had a fabulous last night in London. Highly recommend a bar and restaurant The Greedy Buddah around Parsons Green. Half price coctails till 7:30 or 25% off the bill. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing. I wish I could have made that more dramatic! It was just awesome to see Karen and catch up... really catch up on those girly details that bar tenders don't really want to know but you think you are being really quiet and subtle... maybe we were, and through the language barrier I think we didn't do too much damage to our egos. Was a beautiful last night. We contemplated going out but realised that we didn't actually want to. The zen flowing through us told us that we didn't really need to... Actually as I write this I realise that we did go to a pub on the way home...hmmm... maybe the details here should then not be trusted. We went to the White Horse and had some really strong cider and then got shouted expensive bubbles by these men - again the female in the congregation was not impressed... It's funny how young women, old bats and male libido don't mix. Funny... huh?

But needless to say (actually probably not needless to say) it was all above board fun. We pretty much feel asleep in our cider we were that tired/drunk. 

I just found something I wrote done after my first night in Roma (which was massive and totally random). I wrote this sitting on the path leading to the Colusseum (I was actually hiding from the Colusseum - wasn't ready to take it all - it just jumped out of nowhere):

Life begins when you realise that your greatest beauty is your most fearful weapon.

A woman whose finger is wed,

Whose jeans have shrunk,

Will never find relief in what she can never be.

I am sitting on a bench and there is a small potted tree to my right and behind that is the Colusseum - but for some reason - I am too scared to look.

My first full day in Rome I wandered around to the Colusseum and other ridiculously massive monuments. My favourite was just wandering around the ruins and seeing whay nooks-and- cranny-type streets I could find myself up. I found a 'rounder' version of Jerry which amused me. He knew I was trying to snap a photo which made it a little awkward esp. as it was a totally non-photo worthy street. In the evening I hung in the hostel and met a few guys and a girl over a bottle of wine and then wandered around for some pizza.

Today I sight saw for about 8 hours! Crazy.  The Vatican was incredible and the best part of the trip was going up to the very top of the Basilica in St. Peters. Looking out over the whole of Roma! 360 degrees. The highest point I could see for miles. Definitely a highlight! and the Fontana de Treve was just nice - it was just a good time to sit and think 'this is nice'...

I head to Florence tomorrow for two nights and then to Cinque Terre for two nights before returning for one night in Roma before flying out. I can't actually believe that the days are turning into hours and that like all life's lessons we only seem learn them when we no longer need them learnt. There's always time for Level 2 of Life Lesson 1! I think that I have finally started to chill out but maybe that is only because I am going home soon. A job always takes the length of time given to fill it... so maybe it was always going to be that way.

Poem of the day - written 5pm 1st February 2009

My feet have touched the ground

But I am a long way from home

I know not where you find me resting

But in my heart together we rome.

 

Salmon and Solitude = Happiness

I just watched "The Dark Knight" for the second time - makes me want to watch V for Vendetta again - and find myself really intrigued by the quotation:

"You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

It may be a bit pessimistic but nonetheless I liked it and has some validity in  the constant flux of power that we see today in all arenas. Human nature is fickle. And it must be realised that even villains die - and to someone they are a hero. Every hero needs a nemisis. The concept of hero/villain may even be flawed (at least in a a

bsolute fashion). Robin Hood - Hero or Villain?

This is the problem with travelling on your own. You have too much time to think and you start to go loopy and thinking about things in way to much depth and in some ways almost lose sight of reality. Some may say that this is a good thing. But I think that there is a healthy limit to thinking and particularly self-analysis. There is a point at which it becomes destructive not because of the critique itself but becasue of how the critique comes about. It happens in a non-reality. You begin assessing yourself with respect to a particular context which you have completely removed yourself. So have you lost sight of the very thing that you are critiquing? Perspective is good. And it is good to detach yourself from the minutiae of life but I wonder if too much removal become fruitless because the very thing that you 

are critiquing in a sense fails to exist anymore. Or you start critquing things that would not actually be an issue if you put yourself back in 'reality'. Maybe that is why it is the pursuit of happiness that we ache for not the actualisation of happiness. What would we do if we actually got there? Pack up camp. 

This brings me to another thought. In a world of free thought and theoretically unlimited possibilities to advance ourselves why do we dream so small and live in doubt? Instead of opening doors we seem to dream of them and quietly close them when we abruptly awake. How much should we listen to society around us - do we ignore the marketing or do we accept it? Do we live with it/coexist? Perhaps we can either choose to accept or rej

ect commercialism/marketing influences and then we have the choice to either indulge in that choice and then we have the further choice to be happy or sad about that. I.e. don't reject marketing and chose to indulge in that philosophy and be bitter about it. It's your choice to be happy. Damn I have spent way too much time alone in museums this week. Going coo-coo. 

I have just been going through one of those 'what is you favourite movie/musical artist? and must have an answer ready' moment. And coincidently two of my favourite films also include some of my favourite musical and lyrical moments: The film 'Once' for which Glen Hansard from The Frames acts and sings and the other is As it is in Heaven (Swedish). Glen Hansard is great: raw and captures a desperation for love that I think many would understand. And the other film (longest running film in Oz!) is simply beautiful. 

I am currently at a cafe. Indulging for what feels like the first time in a little while. I have turned my back on the galleries and museums and decided that no guilt can come from doing what you really want to do. So right now I am doing just that: scoffing (like an English aristocrat - NOT) on my salmon and olive panini and sipping on my blueberry smoothy and inhaling my massive cappacino. It feels great! I have my laptop to dick around on and my book to soak up the remains. This book likes to mock me I feel... Holds mirrors to me. I still think my tombstone should read '...in pursuit of a resume...' 

I will try and complete that in the next week in my villa in Tuscany... That doesn't sound too horrible now does it?

Wow seeing easter eggs and Valantine shit everywhere... gimme gimme! Far Out! 

Pea and Ham Pasta

I was in Oxford recently and as I was waiting for some new friends that I had never met and so I waited in Blackwell’s Bookshop and stumbled across this recipe: I admit that I have never made it and that I may have completely forgotten the actual recipe. I also think the blurb mentioned that the dish is more about peas than it is pasta – so bare that in mind.

 

But if inspiration breeds creativity then a few words are all you need.

 

• Slug of oil.
• One onion

Diced, perhaps finely if memory serves me well… now from here on in is where the rest of the recipe gets a little hazy…hehe.

• 200 – 400g the best ham you can afford.

I would imagine that off the bone would be best… but as I said… no idea… just don’t use spam… as it has more application at a building site than in a kitchen (or in Nana’s bin – we didn’t mean to hurt her feelings).

• 600 – 800g frozen peas or canned…whatever Trevor.

Having said that I would expect a very different taste depending on which you use.

• 200ml white wine.

Make sure that it is drinkable. I imagine a dry white or sav blanc… not riesling or a sweet one.

• 200ml chicken or vege stock… ok now I am making shit up… but it could still be faithful to the recipe.

Try it! Either use stock cubes and follow instructions or use pre-made tetra-pak stuff.

• Perhaps 200g of pasta… we’ll see…
• Pretty certain that a handful of mint comes in at this point too!

 

Now for the fun part (esp. when you have no idea what your ingredients are supposed to be and have never made it before in your life).

 

1. Heat the oil over a mid-high stove and brown/sauté the onion. Add the ham and slightly caramelise.
2. Add the wine and reduce to above half the volume – I totally made this bit up…
3. Add the peas and the stock and let that simmer too, letting the peas turn a bit mushy… whilst you…
4. Cook the pasta in a separate pot for 5 minute less than is recommended on the directions and then drain. Add to the pea mixture on the stove and cook for a further 5 min or until pasta is al dente… again I don’t really know if the pasta is supposed to soak up all the liquid or if there is supposed to be a jus type thing going on… but as long as it is flavourful I guess any liquid can’t hurt and if you need more liquid just add stock? Maybe question marks are not ideal in recipe writing?
5. Remove from the heat and fold through fresh mint (whole leaves or ripped). However I also thought that heat makes mint go black… so maybe do this at the very last minute.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Serve with parmesan cheese and warm crusty bread.

 

Disclaimer: I have no idea. Sounds kinda fun though right? 

Tara's Black and White Photos from Heavenly and the ones we never paid for!

MB's Photos

I just received an email from Marybeth and it reminded me of some of the goodtimes we had in California/Nevada and Texas...

Australia Day

...ok... so Australia Day was a write off...not because I am a crazy wild drunken sex mink... but because I WAS a drunken crazy wild sex mink... no that's not true either. But I did have an awesome time in Oxford and did need some time to recover from 3 days of fun times in Oxford... so I spent Australia Day (official Australia Day - Sunday in London) horizontal sleeping for all but 2 hours of it cause I felt so damn exhausted and like the Black Plague had paid a visit. But in true style I did go to a pub with Karen for those 2 hours and then curled up to watch Friends, 27 Dresses at 4:30pm that afternoon and asleep by 7:30ish. Well done you!!!

But thanks to night sweats and a good night's sleep I was up an'at'em at 7am this morning... in pursuit of unravelling t

he mystery of Stonehenge. I headed to Bath, Stonehenge and Salsibury for the day with an old friend who has recently entered my life again... Nyssa. She was travelling with 3 of her girlfriends and I decided to join them on this day trip. I had an awesome time. Bath was beautiful. I wish I could have spent 3 days there... well I could have... but I am on strick ration control...Similar to Oxford in a way. Similar vibe perhaps?

Stonehenge at first glimpse was nothing like I expected. In true Jenna-style I had no idea where in England Stonehenge was. I assumsed that there would be a sunset??? Why?  Well why the hell not? Even at 1:30pm? Yes! Stonehenge = God reaching down at sunset... Well to my surprise at 1:30pm on an overcast day there was not a sunset and nor was there a cliff over looking the ocean. Much like the one in the 3 Musketeers where Sabine jumps off the cliff. Why? Well why the hell not? All the postcards, calenders, pictures you ever see make you believe that a) the sun is a continual state of setting and b) an ocean in just out of view.

To put you out of misery (if you have not been) it is not in a perennial state of sun-setting nor is it anywhere near an ocean. If you had looked at a map this may have been obvious. As it would appear, I had not. So at first, when the bus drove towards the Henge I was a little underwhelmed... I here you saying..."Jesus, what more do you want?" But when I actually walked around the structure it was purely, simply and quietly a breathtaking structure. Despite the other tourists wandering about there was an incredible silence yet incredible presence about the entirety of not only the structure but the space in which surrounded. 

It was strange to see it within 1 metre of a bitumen road. A horrible mix of modernity and history - maybe it shows how values change? And as Bill Heslop would say: you can't stop progress...(???) It was sad (yet in a way understandable) too see that people used to hire picks and chisel off there own piece as a soveigner. It is no different to Ayers Rock. Does it often take the destruction of something to realise worth?

We then headed to Salisbury which was a great surprise for several reasons: 1) I didn't know that was part of the tour 2) didn't know what/where/who/why/what it was 3) didn't know that only one of 4 original Magna Cartas resided at the Cathedral in Salisbury (which also has the tallest spire in Europe). So all in all that was an incredible experience (and there was a beautiful rainbow after the rain wilted away).  Unfortunately my camera died at this point. It was amazing to understand the Magna Carta and to see a copy of the original from 1215 and to realise that one of the most recent Magna Cartas from 1297 is in Canberra, NSW. 

I had a great chat with my friend Nyssa the whole way home to London; exhausted but had a great day. I then met Karen at the Wheatsheaf at Parson's Green and then went to 'Tapas for a Tenner' in Fulham Broadway (near Cafe Del Aziz) where all you can eat tapas can never be a bad thing! After a bottle of red there could not have been a better way to end the night. Although having just said that I naturally tried to think of a better way to end my night: several options came to mind - the Cadbury Creme Egg that sits patiently in my handbag is a close second. 

xx Jenn

Book Recommended: The Tyrannicide Brief

Youtube: The Jayhawks - All The Right Reasons

Recipe: Scallops Seared in Oil - Thanks to Henry Foster - New York 

sea scallops seared in oil

4:50pmJenna

yeah and... details mr!!!

4:50pmHenry

after scallops are tossed in flour first

4:50pmJenna

yo

4:50pmHenry

then drain oil and but 3 tablespoons of butter, a bunch of parsley and juice from half a lemon

4:51pmJenna

sweet easy as!

4:51pmHenry

add salt/pepper for flavour and then serve with the scallops

soooo good

im amazing