Tess Rafferty's Blog, page 2
April 27, 2020
Do the Most Good
If you’re reading this, you, like myself, are trying to do what you can but also facing your own economic uncertainties. No matter what our financial circumstances were before this, few of us will come out unscathed. And while it’s easy to identify the problems; crafting solutions that work is a lot harder.
At times like this I ask myself “WWHD?” What would Hillary do? and the answer to that is always “do the most good.” And there’s plenty to do. So many groups need our help during this crisis & I asked myself what I could do about it. We’re all stretched thin, to ask people to give anything, especially with nothing in return, seemed wrong. But what did I have to give in return?
As luck would have it, I have a copy of my un-published manuscript, a murder mystery called Under the Tuscan Gun. So I decided to highlight and micro-fund five different organizations facing challenges amid the Coronavirus pandemic. In exchange for as little as a $10 donation, you will get a rare copy, never before seen by the public.
Here’s how this works: in exchange for a $10 donation, I will send you a pdf of my not yet published murder mystery, Under the Tuscan Gun. Screen grab your donation receipt and email it to TuscanGunMicroFund@gmail.com. And if you go for all 5 charities I’ll send you a signed copy of my first book Recipes for Disaster when this is over and I feel comfortable going in public to mail something again.
Let’s do some good together! Like the story of Stone Soup, we all have something to contribute for the greater good.
Here are the 5 charities:
A Los Angeles organization that provides free tutoring and mentoring to children living in shelters, cars, motels, foster homes, etc. For these kids, school & this program are their only constants, offering food, education, physical and mental health services, and a safe place to be during the day. With the schools & School on Wheels closed they no longer have this resource, so the organization is raising money to help bridge that gap for students and purchase tablets, school supplies and books.
Farmworkers’ COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Fund
Justice for Migrant Women and other farmworker serving organizations are raising funds to keep farmworker families safe from COVID-19 as they continue to work to feed us. This work was already challenging and under-valued before this crisis. They are now keeping our supply-chain moving. Let us do something to protect them as this virus moves into rural communities.
Community Food Bank of New Jersey
Next to New York, New Jersey is the hardest hit state by this virus, & the CFBNJ services 9 of the 10 municipalities with the highest infection rates. Low income communities are hardest hit by this crisis, many people are out of work and there is a shortage of affordable, healthy foods in the stores. At one of CFBNJ’s locations alone, the demand is up by 60%.
An organization in Texas that helps connect women, especially teens, with reproductive resources- birth control, abortions, adoptions, shelters for those in abusive homes, and help with school for teen parents- as well as legal resources if they need them. Texas was one of the many states using the COVID pandemic as an excuse to restrict access to abortion services. To be clear, forced birth is a tool to control a woman’s economic and physical agency. It is the stuff that used to be of the fictional TV that we all love to to talk about each week. But it is here. And we must do something more than talk about it.
The National Domestic Workers Alliance Coronavirus Care Fund
This organization is providing Immediate financial support for domestic workers such as nannies, house keepers and home health care workers- many of whom are now out of work and who have no benefits to fall back on as they are freelance or contract workers. They take care of our families. Let’s help them take care of theirs!
September 11, 2018
The Boot Camp Part 14: Rome Again, Rome Again

Rome is like that friend you’ve known for 20 years and yet every time you get together you need to set aside 4 hours for dinner and even then you will still end up closing the place because you will never run out of things to talk about and stories that you never heard the other one tell. And even the stories that they tell every time you see each other never fail to entertain.
This summer marked my 12th trip to Rome and it still inspires a passionate awe in me from the moment I drive in from the airport until my final night when I stare directly at it for long periods of time like it were an eclipse and I want to burn its image on my retinas.
The secret to my love of Rome is the secret to all good marriages: sex with other people. I’m sort of kidding, but whether it’s a key party or a new restaurant, you can keep it fresh by trying new things and the same can be said for Rome. Oh sure, we still do the old things, too, and find a comfort in the familiar or discover something new in it. But Rome has such a richness of activities and culture outside of all the “Greatest Hits” and it’s always fun to explore them.

For starters, there are so many great museums in Italy outside of the ones everyone talks about. When you’re sick of looking at frescoes and rocks there’s Palazzo Esposizioni which, when I went, had a wonderful photography exhibit and another one on the future that frankly creeped me out a bit, but I admired the effort. Look up. A lot of times these exhibits are being advertised on banners or buses. One time I found an ad in a magazine for a virtual reality exhibit at the Ara Pacis that showed you what it looked in ancient times. The Forum and the Colosseum are amazing, but it’s also nice to come home with vacation memories that are off the beaten track, too.

And the Colosseum will always be great. While walking past there on this last trip, we saw a new excavation site and watched as the female Indiana Jones working there methodically worked to put a marble floor back together like the world’s greatest jigsaw puzzle. We were on our way to the Monti district, a lesser traveled area that we had been to before, but decided to explore more in depth this time. In addition to vintage stores offering Burberry raincoats, we found La Vacca M’Briaca a charming restaurant with seasonal and local food. We washed down a rosemary and bean panzanella and a carbonara with a local Frascati.
After that we walked to the Termini to catch a train to Cinecittà, but not before stopping at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore which was on the way and has amazing mosaics as well as an excavation site below the church, which we sadly missed the tour of. The famous Cinecittà film studio is a 20 or 30 minute Metro ride, very convenient, and the studio is right there when you walk above ground. There are two English tours a day, as well as galleries and exhibits you can walk through at your own leisure at any time. We spent a few hours there and I could have stayed even longer. Despite working in a town where I often walk across historic film studios and lots, I was fascinated by the history of this studio that was built by Mussolini, became a refugee camp after the war, then went on to employee tens of thousands of Italians as part of the economic boom of the 1950’s.
Twelve years ago in Rome it was harder for an outsider who didn’t know where to do to get a great glass of wine by the glass. Restaurants sold wine by the bottle and if you wanted just a glass you had to opt for the house wine, which seriously challenged the myth that there is no bad wine in Italy. But now enotecas are popping up like truffles in Piedmont in December.
Il Goccetto is a small eclectic spot a short walk from Campo di Fiori, down a couple of less populated streets past what look like artists’ studios. They have a great selection of reasonably priced wines by the glad or the bottle, small plates, and a casual atmosphere that spills out onto the sidewalk.

I’m embarrassed to say that this year we finally discovered Cul de Sac, which as it turns out has been around for 40 years. I never in a million years would have gone to a place named Cul de Sac mere steps away from such a touristy spot as Piazza Navona without a friend’s recommendation, but now I’m going there every time. With a selection of 8 different kinds of pate to choose from you can do a tasting of them if you can’t decide, as well as meats, cheeses, entrees and wines by the glass. Because we want to eat as local as possible, we chose the Lazio meats and cheeses which included the most amazing lardo. I’ve never been much of a fan, but this just melted into the toast and I’m pretty sure I finished it all myself. We also chose a tasting of 3 pates: chicken and cognac; pheasant and truffle and venison with black pepper. I’ve rarely been happier. Maybe never.
And of course, for wine by the glass, there’s always been Roscioli. After having

gone there for wine for the last decade, we finally ate there and it was amazing. Everything was excellent but the Spaghetti Gricia was one of the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth. I still think about the guanciale in it. It was cooked to perfection. Definitely get a reservation and sit at the bar. It’s more fun because you can talk to the people behind the bar and get their recommendations and of course you never know who you’ll meet sitting there. We met an American scientist who spends part of the year in Rome and it was over 3 hours (and 4 glasses of wine) before we stumbled off our stools. And that was just for lunch! It was so incredible, we made another reservation for our last night in town, even though the only time we could get was 11:30pm and our car was coming at 6am.
And speaking of Roscioli, they have a new pizzeria, Emma, nearby. Like the restaurant, the pizzeria sources all of the best ingredients from around Italy for its selection of pizzas.

I’ve also discovered a couple of rooftop bars which are perfect places for an aperitivo at sunset. Make a reservation at Borromini,
even if you’re just going for drinks. It’s probably the most you’re going to spend on a drink in town with LA prices on the wines by the glass, but the view is spectacular.
And if you’re near the Pantheon, go to the bar on the roof of the Hotel Minerve. Last I went they had a woman playing piano and singing and she’ll play Mina if you ask her.
I’m obsessed with Italy to a level that borders on ridiculous. I know. Even Italians don’t get it. I could go anywhere else in the world. At this point I could have gone *everywhere* else in the world. I wish I was this into gardening and home improvement. It would be better for my bank account and my figure. Instead I’m the lady speaking with my cab driver in Italian about rando 50’s pop singers and being greeted in my hotel like it’s Cheers and I’m Norm. I love every quirky thing from their autogrill paninis to their habit of dunking cookies in wine. When I see a toilet without a seat I smile because I know I’m home.

Fortunately I’ve found someone who is almost as obsessed as I am. Who reads every travel book even if we’ve been there before and always wants to see something new and different. Thanks to him we find it. And he’s also totally happy to drink a spritz on the beach while I spend hours in the water. In our case, the secret to Rome isn’t just like the secret to all good marriages. Rome is the secret to my marriage. And for us, our marriage, is the secret to Rome.
Rome Again, Rome Again
Me and the statue from Fellini’s Casanova, Cinecittà.
Rome is like that friend you’ve known for 20 years and yet every time you get together you need to set aside 4 hours for dinner and even then you will still end up closing the place because you will never run out of things to talk about and stories that you never heard the other one tell. And even the stories that they tell every time you see each other never fail to entertain.
This summer marked my 12th trip to Rome and it still inspires a passionate awe in me from the moment I drive in from the airport until my final night when I stare directly at it for long periods of time like it were an eclipse and I want to burn its image on my retinas.
The secret to my love of Rome is the secret to all good marriages: sex with other people. I’m sort of kidding, but whether it’s a key party or a new restaurant, you can keep it fresh by trying new things and the same can be said for Rome. Oh sure, we still do the old things, too, and find a comfort in the familiar or discover something new in it. But Rome has such a richness of activities and culture outside of all the “Greatest Hits” and it’s always fun to explore them.
[image error]
Agnes DeDonato’s “Women Are Not Born, But Made” at Palazzo Esposizioni
For starters, there are so many great museums in Italy outside of the ones everyone talks about. When you’re sick of looking at frescoes and rocks there’s Palazzo Esposizioni which, when I went, had a wonderful photography exhibit and another one on the future that frankly creeped me out a bit, but I admired the effort. Look up. A lot of times these exhibits are being advertised on banners or buses. One time I found an ad in a magazine for a virtual reality exhibit at the Ara Pacis that showed you what it looked in ancient times. The Forum and the Colosseum are amazing, but it’s also nice to come home with vacation memories that are off the beaten track, too.
[image error]
Rosemary and Bean Panzanella at La Vacca M’Briaca
And the Colosseum will always be great. While walking past there on this last trip, we saw a new excavation site and watched as the female Indiana Jones working there methodically worked to put a marble floor back together like the world’s greatest jigsaw puzzle. We were on our way to the Monti district, a lesser traveled area that we had been to before, but decided to explore more in depth this time. In addition to vintage stores offering Burberry raincoats, we found La Vacca M’Briaca a charming restaurant with seasonal and local food. We washed down a rosemary and bean panzanella and a carbonara with a local Frascati.
After that we walked to the Termini to catch a train to Cinecittà, but not before stopping at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore which was on the way and has amazing mosaics as well as an excavation site below the church, which we sadly missed the tour of. The famous Cinecittà film studio is a 20 or 30 minute Metro ride, very convenient, and the studio is right there when you walk above ground. There are two English tours a day, as well as galleries and exhibits you can walk through at your own leisure at any time. We spent a few hours there and I could have stayed even longer. Despite working in a town where I often walk across historic film studios and lots, I was fascinated by the history of this studio that was built by Mussolini, became a refugee camp after the war, then went on to employee tens of thousands of Italians as part of the economic boom of the 1950’s.
Twelve years ago in Rome it was harder for an outsider who didn’t know where to do to get a great glass of wine by the glass. Restaurants sold wine by the bottle and if you wanted just a glass you had to opt for the house wine, which seriously challenged the myth that there is no bad wine in Italy. But now enotecas are popping up like truffles in Piedmont in December.
Il Goccetto is a small eclectic spot a short walk from Campo di Fiori, down a couple of less populated streets past what look like artists’ studios. They have a great selection of reasonably priced wines by the glad or the bottle, small plates, and a casual atmosphere that spills out onto the sidewalk.
[image error]
Pate flight at Cul De Sac
I’m embarrassed to say that this year we finally discovered Cul de Sac, which as it turns out has been around for 40 years. I never in a million years would have gone to a place named Cul de Sac mere steps away from such a touristy spot as Piazza Navona without a friend’s recommendation, but now I’m going there every time. With a selection of 8 different kinds of pate to choose from you can do a tasting of them if you can’t decide, as well as meats, cheeses, entrees and wines by the glass. Because we want to eat as local as possible, we chose the Lazio meats and cheeses which included the most amazing lardo. I’ve never been much of a fan, but this just melted into the toast and I’m pretty sure I finished it all myself. We also chose a tasting of 3 pates: chicken and cognac; pheasant and truffle and venison with black pepper. I’ve rarely been happier. Maybe never.
And of course, for wine by the glass, there’s always been Roscioli. After having
[image error]
Pasta alla Gricia at Roscioli
gone there for wine for the last decade, we finally ate there and it was amazing. Everything was excellent but the Spaghetti Gricia was one of the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth. I still think about the guanciale in it. It was cooked to perfection. Definitely get a reservation and sit at the bar. It’s more fun because you can talk to the people behind the bar and get their recommendations and of course you never know who you’ll meet sitting there. We met an American scientist who spends part of the year in Rome and it was over 3 hours (and 4 glasses of wine) before we stumbled off our stools. And that was just for lunch! It was so incredible, we made another reservation for our last night in town, even though the only time we could get was 11:30pm and our car was coming at 6am.
And speaking of Roscioli, they have a new pizzeria, Emma, nearby. Like the restaurant, the pizzeria sources all of the best ingredients from around Italy for its selection of pizzas.
[image error]
Part of the view from Borromini
I’ve also discovered a couple of rooftop bars which are perfect places for an aperitivo at sunset. Make a reservation at Borromini,
even if you’re just going for drinks. It’s probably the most you’re going to spend on a drink in town with LA prices on the wines by the glass, but the view is spectacular.
And if you’re near the Pantheon, go to the bar on the roof of the Hotel Minerve. Last I went they had a woman playing piano and singing and she’ll play Mina if you ask her.
I’m obsessed with Italy to a level that borders on ridiculous. I know. Even Italians don’t get it. I could go anywhere else in the world. At this point I could have gone *everywhere* else in the world. I wish I was this into gardening and home improvement. It would be better for my bank account and my figure. Instead I’m the lady speaking with my cab driver in Italian about rando 50’s pop singers and being greeted in my hotel like it’s Cheers and I’m Norm. I love every quirky thing from their autogrill paninis to their habit of dunking cookies in wine. When I see a toilet without a seat I smile because I know I’m home.
[image error]
Drinks at the hotel Minerve
Fortunately I’ve found someone who is almost as obsessed as I am. Who reads every travel book even if we’ve been there before and always wants to see something new and different. Thanks to him we find it. And he’s also totally happy to drink a spritz on the beach while I spend hours in the water. In our case, the secret to Rome isn’t just like the secret to all good marriages. Rome is the secret to my marriage. And for us, our marriage, is the secret to Rome.
The post Rome Again, Rome Again appeared first on Tess Rafferty.
September 11, 2017
The Boot Camp Part 13: The Island of Salina
[image error]It’s the first full week of September and numerous news items leave me shaking with rage – or fear – or both on a daily basis. It seems impossible to believe that just 2 months ago I was in a place so magical I ceased caring about even eating, and only remembered to when I was hungry. And the fact that this place exists in Italy, where caring about food is the whole point of going, makes it even more mystical.
Like the mythical world of Avalon, you have to take a boat to get to Salina, one of the Aeolian Islands, an Archipelago between the island of Sicily and the Calabrian coast of mainland Italy. Two of the 7 islands have active volcanoes, and you can see the remains of the volcanic activity in all of the islands’ dramatic geography and the black sand that makes up some of their beaches.
[image error]
Hotel Ravesi with Stromboli in the background
We stayed at the Hotel Ravesi in the town of Malfa, a 20 Euro cab ride from the port. There’s also a bus that runs around the island that is very inexpensive and very easy to use. You can also rent scooters which we will do next time (we weren’t on the island an hour before we were talking about “next time”) but we weren’t quite adventurous enough to try this trip. In addition to having never driven a scooter before, the roads on the island are narrow and winding, with buses having to honk horns before going around curves. I didn’t want to attempt this after some of the local wine.
[image error]
Arancini with capers at A’Lumeredda
And speaking of local wine, Salina is known as the lushest island, home to vines of the Malvasia grape as well as capers, oranges and herbs which perfume the air and are showcased in the local dishes along with fresh seafood, which we were able to experience at our very first meal at A’Lumerreda. A short walk from the hotel, the restaurant is on a quiet side street, the tables on a shady terrace. You get the feeling at A’Lumeredda that you are being waited on by 3 generations of a family, and because it’s Italy, you probably are. Everyone there was so outgoing and friendly, encouraging you to eat the specialties, which did not disappoint. We ate there twice enjoying arancini bianchi with capers, fish involtini (which is rolled fish stuffed with breadcrumbs and herbs) and grilled gamberi.
[image error]
Grilled prawns at A’Lumeredda
We also did a wine tasting at Capofaro, a winery, hotel, spa and restaurant. The tasting was wonderfully put together: not only was Natalia, our guide, incredibly knowledgeable, but they showcased an amuse bouche with each wine as well. The grounds were so beautiful and we had so much fun that we splurged on dinner there the last night. To be sure, it is a splurge with plates costing around 20-25 Euros, but it’s a beautiful setting and the staff is friendly and knowledgeable. In fact, the woman who has run our wine tasting was working that night and came over to our table after we had ordered our wine. We told her what it was we were looking for and she knew our tastes from the day before; when she saw the wine we were ordering she shook her head and brought us back something that was perfect. Despite the nouveau nature of the food, there were some great touches with various palate cleansers and small bites and a varied and tasty bread course to start that boasted some amazing crisp that was spinach flavored with anchovies or something. I ate them all before I could get a picture.
[image error]
Poached egg entree with quinoa, mushrooms & breadcrumbs – Capofaro
Two nights in a row we ate at La Pinnata del Monsu which in addition to being someplace we could walk to, had a charming porch that we could see the island of Stromboli from as we ate. Stromboli is one of the 2 islands that have active volcanoes, and is hard to miss even at night as it pretty much just looks like one volcano, shaped exactly like a triangle. Also, it still erupts. Every few minutes we would squeal with joy as we saw a red light appear the top of the island, and every few minutes I’m sure someone called us the Italian equivalent of dumb yokels. The first night it was so hot, we went swimming after dinner, we were stayed until midnight, squealing as we watched the volcano erupt from the hotel pool. It never got old for us.
Speaking of the hotel, the staff was unbelievably friendly and very helpful, recommending excursions and arranging transportation and reservations as needed. The grounds were gorgeous and blooming with flowers and trees and there was a cute bar where we had breakfast in the morning and where you could get cocktails the rest of the day. And as I already mentioned, the hotel pool had a stunning view which included an active volcano. It was peaceful and relaxing and pure bliss.
[image error]
Me against nature at Punto Scario
Normally I’m not much for hotel pools while I’m on an island but it came in handy on Salina where the beaches weren’t always as user friendly. Our first night we took a walk down to the rocky beach at Punto Scario which had everything one would need for a delightful day at the beach: a man who rented umbrellas and a bar that served snacks and wine. Being a huge fan of beach swimming, I could not wait to get out there the next day. Unfortunately the water didn’t want to cooperate. The next day I happily paid the man the 10 Euros for our umbrella and 2 “mattresses,” which were really just rafts, not that I’m complaining. The beach was so rocky you needed something to lay on and a towel was not going to cut it. I then excitedly went down to the water’s edge where I stayed for the better part of about 15 minutes until I gave up and went back. The water was so rough I couldn’t get in much past my knees, the current being so strong you could hear as all of the rocks got dragged in and out with the tide. It sounded like little fireworks going off. I thought if I could just make it past where the waves were breaking I would be OK; I saw some kids doing this and knew I just had to jump in and do it, but I hesitated, it was just that rough. Finally I turned behind me and noticed a young lifeguard walking towards me. I was confused as to why he was heading towards me as I was still very much standing, and that’s when the wave came and knocked me over. Still, I was only sitting in a foot or so of water, I didn’t know what the emergency was, until I tried to get up on my own and the waves kept knocking me back. He reached me and just held out his hand, which I gratefully took.
Nature – 1, Tess – 0
The next day we headed to Rinella, a beach we were told was molto tranquilo. And it was; no rocks, just the aforementioned black sand and very calm waters. Unfortunately, it boasted no bar or man renting umbrellas. The sun was intense which was hard enough on myself at times, but impossible for the fair skinned, Irish husband who has doctors cut things off of him on the reg. Lesson learned: next time I go back I’m buying one of those cheap folding umbrellas that everyone else seemed to know to buy and a blanket, too. And that’s my suggestion to you, too. One of the many charms of Salina is the feeling that many of the people you encounter are among the islands 700 residents or people renting a house for the summer. But that also means people who bring their own comforts to the beach and aren’t used to going to a place where you can just throw money at the problem.
[image error]
Pollara
Our last day we did a boat tour of the island which gave us ample opportunity to swim as the boat would stop periodically in various stunning locations and let you jettison yourself out into the water. People snorkeled; it was magical. In fact, it was so magical about ½ an hour before the end of the tour I just stopped looking. The incredible thing about the island is how every time you turn the corner, the view is completely different and yet as equally spectacular. I can’t even pretend to have the words to describe it. But as soon as you think you know what the island looks like, your mind is blown by another view, like you’re on several different islands. It’s impossible to take it all in and after 3 hours, I found I couldn’t anymore.
How do we save it all? Where do we store it? How do we cram it all in, peel our eyes open the whole time, fearing that we will miss something? That our time here is over far too soon and if we’re not careful we won’t appreciate all of it, or remember it, or get everything we can out of this experience. What is the right way to experience it and what is it that we want to be experiencing?
[image error]
One of the many views from the boat.
I ask myself these questions all the time when I travel, especially in a place like Salina where so much of the activity seems to be just taking it in. Just “being” someplace is hard enough for myself, although give me a glass of wine, a book, and a chair on the beach and I can adjust pretty quickly. But for The Husband it’s near impossible. Other than the 2 hour lunch, he constantly feels the need to be doing something, seeing something, proclaiming, “I didn’t come all this way to sit by a pool.” So when we were doing just that in fact, sitting by the hotel pool, staring off at Stromboli trying to figure out if we should do, well anything, we each made a few half-hearted suggestions before he said, “Or we could just sit here and watch the clouds.” Reader, I have never in my life heard The Husband say anything as whimsical as that.
That was the same night that when we finally got motivated to walk next door to the pizzeria sometime after 9 pm, I realized that my dress was inside out.
HIM: Do you want to go back and fix it?
ME: …nah…
In this magical place, who cares? What is inside and what is out anyway?
There are ferries and boat tours to the other islands, which we say we would have done if we had more time, but in 4 nights we just never wanted to leave Salina. We say when we go back we will do all of those things. And maybe we will when we get tired of watching the clouds.
The post The Boot Camp Part 13: The Island of Salina appeared first on Tess Rafferty.
September 7, 2017
The Boot Camp part 12: Rome Redux
[image error] Whenever we land in Rome I never know what to expect, at least from ourselves. The Ancient City boasting still standing structures thousands of years old is constant; airlines and people, not so much. Will we be on time? We will be overcome by jetlag and unexpectedly sleep until noon? Will I have clean underwear? One time we smacked down to Earth at 7 am – only to find that our luggage did not – and we shopped for clothes on nearly 24 hours of travel and no sleep only to force ourselves to go on the Vatican tour we had prearranged and already paid for. It ended up being a particularly harrowing tour when after all that, I fell asleep sitting on the corner of a marble plinth and only woke up after I was at about 45 degrees to the marble floor which I was quickly hurtling towards. After that, we try not to plan for our first day anymore. We also try to land in the afternoon. We have a brief nap, a nice dinner, and then try to get a good night’s sleep, waking when we’re ready to a leisurely morning of coffee, a croissant and figuring out our day.
Sometimes we just walk around the city until it’s time for lunch, revisiting our favorite places and discovering new ones.
This past June we felt like go-getters and decided to visit Castel Sant’Angelo, which we had shamefully never been to. It’s been well over a year since I wrote my first post on Rome and we’ve had some new discoveries, particularly on this most recent trip. Castel Sant’Angelo is one of them.
[image error]
The bridge to Castel Sant’Angelo
Just across the Tiber, we had taken plenty of photos over the years of the statues that line the bridge and lead up to the Fortress/Mausoleum/Papal apartments/Museum. Now we were finally going inside. This being one of the few things we’ve ever done spontaneously on a vacation, we had to wait in line for tickets, but found the wait to only be 15 or so minutes, which passed easily, there being plenty of fun stuff to photograph while we snaked our way into the Castel. Being before noon, the heat and humidity weren’t unbearable yet, and once we got inside the actual fortress, there was shade and birds and a breeze. The tour itself is incredibly well curated with plenty of signage full of interesting details and the most spectacular views of Rome and the Vatican. And there’s even a café on one of the upper floors.
This time we also checked out the Palazzo Doria Pamphilij which boasts 3 Carravaggios, although not his most interesting work save for the fact that one is of a boy and his goat being interrupted seemingly in flagrante delecto.
[image error]
Palazzo Doria Pamphilij
And we discovered some new restaurants, although discovered hardly seems like the right verb to use when describing Al Moro, a restaurant tucked away on a side street near the Trevi Fountain that seems as old as the waiters wearing white dinner jackets and handing you a wine list the size of a bible and menus typed in different fonts, some of which had been added after the original printing. It’s a bigger menu than we’ve seen in most places, with many dishes being “alla Roma” or “Al Moro” and nothing more specific said about it than that. Yet when The Husband asked if they had “Fiori di Zucca” after not seeing them on the menu, they basically just said, “Sure” and brought him some. We also had anchovies which, while on the pricier side, were the best we’d ever had, and served simply with toast and butter, curled so as to be super soft and spreadable. After that I had the mantiche pasta with porcini and sausage, which was cooked perfectly al dente.
[image error]
Maniche with Porcini & Sausage at Al Moro
We’re pretty sure they sat us in the American section, which was fine because we met a delightful couple from New York. One husband spoke flawless Italian having been born there, and they confessed to us a mutual obsession with Italy that their friends just didn’t understand. Their favorite was Sicily, where we were on our way to a few days later, and their passion for it made us even more excited to see it for the first time, Sicily being the litmus test by which they judged every else they ever went. “Is it better than Sicily?” The answer for them was always, “No.”
Our last two trips we had the pleasure of eating at Il Sostegno, a small place near the Pantheon, which features a Cacciatora and potatoes that I’m told by a Roman is the best he’s ever had. If you don’t already know, in Rome the Cacciatora is made bianco, no tomatoes, just with the most amazing vinegar and white wine sauce that was on my lips weeks after I came home.
[image error]
Just a 2 table lunch at Obicà
Also, I have to recommend Obicà in Campo di Fiori. I know what you’re thinking: isn’t that a chain and don’t they have like 4 in Los Angeles alone? Yes. However, we were fortunate enough to stumble into it before we knew any of this. It’s conveniently located and open all day serving wines by the glass and small plates as well as other dishes, so it’s always a great stop if you missed lunch, or can’t make it to dinner or just want a drink and a snack late at night before going back to your hotel. They have a great selection of cheeses, fried foods and various accoutrements: anchovies, olives, bread, salumi, tomatoes. Everything is such top quality we can’t help but order all of it and then wonder why our lunch needs to be put on a second table.
[image error]
Cocktails Trucks on the Tiber.
This last trip being during the summer, we were in town for the nightly festa along the Lungotevere – the banks of the Tiber River. Full of shops, games, pop up cafés and bars, you can wander all night at a leisurely pace, grabbing a drink or food to go or stopping to listen to live jazz at one of the cafés, which is the perfect soundtrack to walk to with someone you love on a hot summer night in Rome.
The post The Boot Camp part 12: Rome Redux appeared first on Tess Rafferty.
Rome Redux
[image error] Whenever we land in Rome I never know what to expect, at least from ourselves. The Ancient City boasting still standing structures thousands of years old is constant; airlines and people, not so much. Will we be on time? We will be overcome by jetlag and unexpectedly sleep until noon? Will I have clean underwear? One time we smacked down to Earth at 7 am – only to find that our luggage did not – and we shopped for clothes on nearly 24 hours of travel and no sleep only to force ourselves to go on the Vatican tour we had prearranged and already paid for. It ended up being a particularly harrowing tour when after all that, I fell asleep sitting on the corner of a marble plinth and only woke up after I was at about 45 degrees to the marble floor which I was quickly hurtling towards. After that, we try not to plan for our first day anymore. We also try to land in the afternoon. We have a brief nap, a nice dinner, and then try to get a good night’s sleep, waking when we’re ready to a leisurely morning of coffee, a croissant and figuring out our day.
Sometimes we just walk around the city until it’s time for lunch, revisiting our favorite places and discovering new ones.
This past June we felt like go-getters and decided to visit Castel Sant’Angelo, which we had shamefully never been to. It’s been well over a year since I wrote my first post on Rome and we’ve had some new discoveries, particularly on this most recent trip. Castel Sant’Angelo is one of them.
[image error]
The bridge to Castel Sant’Angelo
Just across the Tiber, we had taken plenty of photos over the years of the statues that line the bridge and lead up to the Fortress/Mausoleum/Papal apartments/Museum. Now we were finally going inside. This being one of the few things we’ve ever done spontaneously on a vacation, we had to wait in line for tickets, but found the wait to only be 15 or so minutes, which passed easily, there being plenty of fun stuff to photograph while we snaked our way into the Castel. Being before noon, the heat and humidity weren’t unbearable yet, and once we got inside the actual fortress, there was shade and birds and a breeze. The tour itself is incredibly well curated with plenty of signage full of interesting details and the most spectacular views of Rome and the Vatican. And there’s even a café on one of the upper floors.
This time we also checked out the Palazzo Doria Pamphilij which boasts 3 Carravaggios, although not his most interesting work save for the fact that one is of a boy and his goat being interrupted seemingly in flagrante delecto.
[image error]
Palazzo Doria Pamphilij
And we discovered some new restaurants, although discovered hardly seems like the right verb to use when describing Al Moro, a restaurant tucked away on a side street near the Trevi Fountain that seems as old as the waiters wearing white dinner jackets and handing you a wine list the size of a bible and menus typed in different fonts, some of which had been added after the original printing. It’s a bigger menu than we’ve seen in most places, with many dishes being “alla Roma” or “Al Moro” and nothing more specific said about it than that. Yet when The Husband asked if they had “Fiori di Zucca” after not seeing them on the menu, they basically just said, “Sure” and brought him some. We also had anchovies which, while on the pricier side, were the best we’d ever had, and served simply with toast and butter, curled so as to be super soft and spreadable. After that I had the mantiche pasta with porcini and sausage, which was cooked perfectly al dente.
[image error]
Maniche with Porcini & Sausage at Al Moro
We’re pretty sure they sat us in the American section, which was fine because we met a delightful couple from New York. One husband spoke flawless Italian having been born there, and they confessed to us a mutual obsession with Italy that their friends just didn’t understand. Their favorite was Sicily, where we were on our way to a few days later, and their passion for it made us even more excited to see it for the first time, Sicily being the litmus test by which they judged every else they ever went. “Is it better than Sicily?” The answer for them was always, “No.”
Our last two trips we had the pleasure of eating at Il Sostegno, a small place near the Pantheon, which features a Cacciatora and potatoes that I’m told by a Roman is the best he’s ever had. If you don’t already know, in Rome the Cacciatora is made bianco, no tomatoes, just with the most amazing vinegar and white wine sauce that was on my lips weeks after I came home.
[image error]
Just a 2 table lunch at Obicà
Also, I have to recommend Obicà in Campo di Fiori. I know what you’re thinking: isn’t that a chain and don’t they have like 4 in Los Angeles alone? Yes. However, we were fortunate enough to stumble into it before we knew any of this. It’s conveniently located and open all day serving wines by the glass and small plates as well as other dishes, so it’s always a great stop if you missed lunch, or can’t make it to dinner or just want a drink and a snack late at night before going back to your hotel. They have a great selection of cheeses, fried foods and various accoutrements: anchovies, olives, bread, salumi, tomatoes. Everything is such top quality we can’t help but order all of it and then wonder why our lunch needs to be put on a second table.
[image error]
Cocktails Trucks on the Tiber.
This last trip being during the summer, we were in town for the nightly festa along the Lungotevere – the banks of the Tiber River. Full of shops, games, pop up cafés and bars, you can wander all night at a leisurely pace, grabbing a drink or food to go or stopping to listen to live jazz at one of the cafés, which is the perfect soundtrack to walk to with someone you love on a hot summer night in Rome.
The post Rome Redux appeared first on Tess Rafferty.
July 31, 2017
Dear DCCC…
[image error]Hey DCCC do I need to really write this letter? Do I need to tell you that no one has time for this shit? We are engaged in a war on all fronts right now and you just decided to turn a gun on the people in the trenches with you in order to win it. The women who you threw under the bus today by saying our reproductive freedoms were up for negotiation when it came time to financially back someone are a good portion of the people out there actually backing your candidates with not just our money, but our time and our voices, too. And it’s not just when you’re candidates that we back you: once you’re elected we help to push your agenda via our calls, our protests, our presence at town halls. We’re the people giving you the support you needed to take back to DC last week to find 3 Republican Senators with the guts to vote with your Democratic allies in the Senate. Is there some part of this that you do not get? Do you think it’s all straight, white guys making this party what it is? Did you not see the millions of us marching on January 21? Or did you just think that we’d keep taking your marching orders no matter how many different ways you find to tell us that our issues don’t matter as much the issues of people who can’t even be bothered to join this party?
You are NEVER going to win by alienating women, or people of color, or the LGBTQ community or Americans with disabilities or immigrants or the many others who do value us and share our concerns. You are NEVER going to win by saying your big tent can include people who don’t want to include us or go on an unwarranted and malicious attack against any candidate who looks a little like us. You may win them over (although I doubt it bigly as like the Devil, the other side will always offer them a better deal when it comes to hating us) but you will lose us. And to quote George Bailey, “this rabble you’re talking about, they do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community.” Is it too much to have us work and pay and live and die in a party that has our back? We don’t think so.
But here you are as if we don’t have enough to do fighting Trump’s agenda – writing letters, making calls, showing up for protests when I can assure you I would much rather sleep in – now we have to find the time to fight you, too? While that will be exhausting, I can assure you, we are up to it. One thing men like you in charge have never had to do is fight too hard for anything. The bad things in your records are expunged or qualified or dismissed with an excuse while they can be a career-ender for a woman or POC in your same circumstances. You don’t have to hide who it is you love for your career or worry that by not hiding it you are ending it. You did not risk getting removed from your own wheelchair, the very thing you rely on to move in the world and arrested just for protesting legislation that threatened tens of millions of us. You didn’t volunteer to put your life on the line for your country, only to have that same country tell you just last week that your life was less than everyone else’s. You clearly do not know what a fight is because the first sign of trouble you just rolled over to the biggest bullies and threw your actual allies under the bus.
Well, good, this will make it easier for us, I suppose, because we know what it is to fight for what we believe and we’ve been practicing for years.
Today you are no better than the GOP, who are at least honest and forthright in not having our backs, and not covert about it while skating to victory on our dime and our efforts. You will see none of my support – not a dime, not a call, not a vote – until I am confident that we have yours. All of us. And we will have no problem leaving this party if you leave us to die in your trenches.
Sincerely,
Tess Rafferty
The post Dear DCCC… appeared first on Tess Rafferty.
May 12, 2017
Dear Elected Representatives
Dear Elected Representatives,

Senator Dianne Feinstein town hall, First AME Church, 4/20/17
In the last 3 weeks I have been at meetings with 5 of you, 3 of whom are my actual Senators and Congressperson. In each of these instances you answered questions from the audience and in all but one, none of those questions were mine.
That’s not your fault. We have a lot of questions right now that need to be answered and you did the best you could: some had raffles, some picked people from raised hands, others vetted the questions first. And the majority of these questions that did get asked were all important questions. The answers to these questions are crucial to people’s lives and to their mental and often physical well being.
But my question really needs an answer, too. Because I believe our democracy has never faced a more important question than this in its history, and we need an answer if our democracy is to have a future.
First of all, I want to thank you all because each and every one of you has called for either a Special Prosecutor or an Independent Investigation of the Trump/Russia scandal, or both. And many of you have called for the Attorney General Sessions to not just recuse himself, but to actually resign after he lied under oath about meeting with a Russian ambassador.
Unfortunately as you have pointed out at all of these meetings, we do not have the votes to get anything on our own. We have to rely on Republicans to support these things too, and so far none of them have shown they are willing to put country before party. To know that our fate rests in members of a party that has had shady dealings with a foreign power is maddening. We are being held hostage and our only hope is expecting the people who did the wrong thing to do the right thing.
My greatest fear is that a bloodless coup happened in this country. A political party colluded with a foreign power to influence – if not outright rig – an election in favor of their candidate. And we rewarded this treasonous behavior with the Presidency. I am terrified that we will never find out the truth because of their penchant for blatantly lying and covering up without consequence and the fact that we control neither the House or the Senate.
But if we do find out that this was the case, that there was collusion with Russia, it taints every executive order and appointment, the entire administration, members of the Republican party, and the very election results themselves. You do not allow someone to cheat themselves into a win and then let them keep the trophy. Nor do you just hand it to someone else from the same team that cheated. They’re disqualified and the other team is declared the winner – or a new game is played.
So my question to you is: what is the remedy? How do we fix this grotesque perversion of our democratic system? Because without a remedy, no one will ever believe that any election in this country will ever be free or fair again.
Sincerely,
Tess Rafferty
The post Dear Elected Representatives appeared first on Tess Rafferty.
We Are So Fucked
Sorry for the language, but honestly if that’s still bothering you, you must not be reading the news. I am and all I can say is, “We are so fucked.” And once again, Steve Cohen has helped me say it. Special thanks to Jon Hotchkiss & Aaron Barrocas. Full transcript below.
“You fucking ignorant people”
…Are words that echo through my head on a loop as I read the news and think about the dummies and diehards who voted for this bigoted toddler and who continue to defend him. To be fair, I have just as much bile for the people who voted for him and then realized they may have made a mistake. You mean that healthcare I wanted him to take away, that was my healthcare? You mean that undocumented person I wanted deported, was my undocumented person?
“Yes, you fucking morons. You hateful stupid people.”
…Are all unfiltered thoughts that go through my head on a daily basis that I don’t say out loud. I am so fucking mad at you, America. Not the majority of us who voted for Hillary Clinton. But the pissy little minority of you who wanted to make America great again and only proved with your misogyny and stupidity and hate how not great we truly are. I know we’re supposed to be “reaching you” but there’s no reaching you. You’re as proud of your ignorance and mediocrity as a person is of being ½ Irish at their 3rd pub on St Patrick’s Day. There’s no reaching you. There’s just going down with you. Your ignorance is as vast as the hole in the ozone that you don’t think exists. Which is 11 million square miles by the way. Let me put that in terms you’ll understand: that’s 3.66 times the amount of votes that Hillary got more than Trump. So you know, it’s a lot.
I read the news and wonder just what the fuck you were thinking. Did you just hate people of color or Muslims or Mexicans or women or LGBTQ persons or Jews? Did you just hate all of us? Is it just that you don’t like abortion and you thought that the serial cheater and pussy grabber who joked that he wanted his mistress to get one was going to outlaw it? Did you not know that the number of abortions actually goes down during a Democratic president? Or do you not care about actually solving a problem, just beating your breast in smug self-righteousness about it? Did you think Trump was going to bring your job back, the man who imports his goods from China and his wife from Manhattan every weekend at our expense and hires foreign workers to pick his grapes and work at his golf club? Do you really think corporations can just pour their chemicals and waste into our drinking water and you’re not going to get sick? Did you think you’d still have healthcare if you did? Just so you know, cancer from a pesticide is guaranteed to be a pre-existing condition, much like hate, which you also suffer from.
“Or is just that you’re astoundingly, painfully, willfully and proudly fucking stupid?”
Is another thing that goes through my head that I don’t say out loud. That these thoughts help no one is clear, but seriously, what is going to help us these days? I mean some subpoenas handed down by anyone who wasn’t beholden to the Grand Old Party of Russia would help, but since the guy in charge of the Department of Justice, Attorney General Roscoe P. Coltrane, lied under oath about meeting with Russia, I don’t expect we’ll see that anytime soon. Instead we’ll see a bunch of judges bullied for actually doing their job and I’m guessing a lot more cops shooting unarmed black men and getting away with it.
Dear Reader, we are so fucked.
And now let me address our comrades in the Republican Party. Republic of what, I’m no longer sure. Mordovia? Tuva? Chechnya? Which Russian Republic are you? Kazak-sham? Lie-beria? You are no longer the party of patriotism. You no longer get to be the party who shoved Ronald Reagan’s proud to be an American bullshit down our throats when you are making us fight you tooth and nail for the very freedoms and rights that make us an American to begin with. You do not get to look the other way as the freedom of the press is undermined with blatant lies, lack of access and late night tweets bullying them or be silent as the Chief of Staff threatens to abolish the 1st Amendment and our President says the Constitution is archaic and checks and balances a bad thing for the country. (WE ARE SO FUCKED!) You do not get to be moral with us when your leader brags about grabbing women by their genitals without their consent. You do not get to be a patriot when you are doing all you can to bury and stall an investigation into a foreign country interfering with our election, the most basic tenet of our democracy. When you look the other way at the people in our administration who had contact with these foreign powers, who took money from them, who flew to meet with them in their own country and then came home and changed political platforms to benefit them.
And oh, Mike Pence, you lying, two-faced Christian. I don’t believe in god, but you do. Let’s say you’re right and there is a god. Do you think he’s going to look at what you’re doing kindly? You have helped none of god’s children, only turned your back on the most needy among us gleefully gutting healthcare for the poor elderly and the disabled. Instead you have suborned lies. And what if god’s a woman? Do you have to wait for Mother to get there for you to get into heaven?
No, Republicans you don’t get to be the party of god and Christianity any more either. You’re giving all of the good Christians who are out there trying to do something decent a bad name. If you’re Christian & voted for Trump, Jesus would walk on the other side of the street & pretend to be on the phone if he saw you coming.
Dear GOP Senators and Congresspersons, why are you here? What purpose are you serving? Is it just to line your pockets, you cowards? Seriously, what is the point of you? You are selling this country to the highest bidder and not doing a blessed thing to help your constituents. You don’t care if they drink clean water or get treated if they’re sick or if their families are broken up or if they get sent to fight wars in Syria or North Korea or if they are losing their jobs to people from other countries not because we closed the coal mines, but because the truth is that you won’t give a kid a decent enough education in this country that we can remain competitive with people from the other countries where they do.
If you want to Make America Great Again, first America has to want to be great.
We don’t want to spend money on education, which is fine because a certain segment of the population doesn’t want to be educated. They look down their noses at people who want to learn something or be informed. They don’t recognize a blatant lie when it is proven to be one and they think science is make-believe but religious zealotry somehow real – as long as it’s Christian. These people don’t like facts. They’re certainly not going to dig learning, which is chock fucking full of them.
For America to be great again, it needs to still be America, not the latest pawn in a Russian scheme to destabilize Europe.
We are so fucked!
Dear people who voted for this mess, I want to hear you say you’re sorry. I want you to apologize for sticking me with Gorsuch for the rest of my life, a man who doesn’t understand the medical facts of the female reproductive system, but rules on it all the same. I want you to apologize for the people flashing white power hand signals in the White House because you voted for a man who appointed white supremacists to work in it. I want to hear you say you were too ignorant or too lazy to research one damn thing or read a website that wasn’t Fox or Breitbart. I want you, too, to say we’re fucked. I don’t expect to hear you say you’re sorry, but boy will you be. Because when all of this is over you will have nothing that you wanted.
We may be so fucked. But so are you.
The post We Are So Fucked appeared first on Tess Rafferty.
March 10, 2017
The C*nt Who Said Donald Trump Was Red in October
Every since the election I’ve wanted to write Hillary Clinton a card but couldn’t even think about it without crying. These stories are my love letter to her.
The latest version is a parody of a spy thriller so I was trying to find a play on spy novels when I was titling it and this is what I came up with. I know some people are uncomfortable with the “C Word,” but I find that men use it to insult and shame women for being strong and smart and independent. So I’ve personally decided to own it. (See my Welcome to C World video.)
The post The C*nt Who Said Donald Trump Was Red in October appeared first on Tess Rafferty.