First few days in Rome

Here's the view from my apartment in Rome

Believe it or not, our apartment doesn't have a teapot, so I have to steep my tea leaves in a pot like witch's cauldron.

Here in Italy they have so little space that they try to use as many surfaces as possible for cooking, including the stove top. Our stove had a glass surface that would come down so you could use it for food prep when you aren't cooking on it, but you have to lift up the glass before you use the stove.

We weren't even in the apartment for a week before someone forgot and turned on the stove with the glass still down. 

It exploded like a bomb, and scared the living daylights out of all of us.