Posted on Jun 22, 2009
At long last… well, Internet. We arrived in Rome on the morning of the 17th, and, in the midst of all of our touring around we looked for internet cafes. We would usually see them as we rocketed through the darkened streets late at night in a cab, but never in the day.
We did as many touristy things as we could squeeze in. It has been North Carolina hot, which is fine in air conditioned North Carolina, but the Vatican Museum has no air conditioning. We all managed to survive, though, and I think we have had a wonderful time so far. It is much cooler in Florence, and the distances are shorter.
I put my hand in the Bocca de Verite, but refrained from preaching while doing so. We wandered the Coliseum and the Forum, which were closed by a museum worker’s strike last time I was here, toured the Vatican museums, as well as the Borghese and the Etruscan Museum.
Some high points include getting lost on the first day trying to walk to the train station. I had a good map and always knew where I was, but took forever to get to where I wanted to be. It was a grand afternoon for wandering into piazzas. Another was standing in front of an ancient Greek statue of a woman in a peplon (a floor length dress) on the way to see the Bernini sculptures in the Borghese museum. There was something so serene about her that I was rooted to the floor for a while. St Peter’s, as always, is overwhelming just because of its size. I hung around for several hours, but the Pope never came out to see me.
Then there was the food. All of it has been wonderful, but the best experience was in the Trattoria del Pallaro, near the Campo de’ Fiori where Paola Fazi served a fixed five course menu and hugged and kissed everyone who came in the door.
Above all has been a chance for us all to be together. We have not had this much time to see Sam since he left for college thirteen years ago. It is wonderful for us and especially for Alex.
I have to catch an 8:30 reservation, but I hope to be able to do more regular posts from now on.