Okay, so this weekend I was in Rome having dinner with a friend and an Italian family, and amid comments about my enjoyment of Roman beverages, I merely lifted the bottle of wine and said, "When in Rome..."
If you read my earlier mail about Venice (as opposed to the auto-direct into your mail trash), you'll recall I said Venice was the place I'd been to that was "must once in your life." Granted, there are a TON of places in the world worth seeing, but it was something more. Well, Rome pulled the carpet out from under Venice. Rome is the kind of place where you walk around and say, "Aww, geez! Not ANOTHER beautiful, awe-inspiring, no-idea-how-they-built-it mausoleum/building/statue/water fountain/cathedral/coloseum/etc!" Literally, if you go two blocks without this reaction, you've somehow wandered out of Rome. And Rome is BIG.
So I can't really describe the city and do it justice, so I'll leave that to the (approx 200) pictures I took. And some of these pictures are unbelievable. Just to give you a taste of what'll be on my web site (hopefully) within the week, let me describe some pix I took of the Pantheon. The Pantheon is an enormous dome-roofed building built about 1800 years ago (let that sink in for a minute). Famous people are buried there, like Michelangelo. The center of the roof is simply a hole, so when it shines or rains, it comes in. Well this time it rained. Now in the grand style of old European glory, the insides are beautiful marble, hanging gold candelabras, and more (around the walls, not the center). Well, the rain simply comes into the center of the building, spattering on the floor. We were initially kind of bummed, cuz we wanted to keep wandering around Rome, but none of us had prepared for rain, so we waited. Then as I was staring at the floor, watching small puddles form, I saw the reflection of some of the altars and statues, and got an idea. I got really close to the floor and angled the camera so it would get both the shimmering reflection and the actual object. The pictures are AMAZING! You may have seen this effect before with mountains and lakes, but you've never seen it with altars and statues. It's awesome.
Other interesting things. I had dinner with a relative of a friend of a friend (yeah, one of those deals). Well, let me tell you, if Romans know one thing, they know liquor. We showed up to visit my friend's friend at her relative's house. They were just finishing dinner. They gave us what they had left (which was an excellent pesto dish--good pesto dishes are so HARD to find, it's like my life-long quest). Then they began serving alcohol. There were 7 people. At the end of the night, there were 42 glasses forming a colosseum around his dinner table. We started with white wine, then had a very sweet red wine called Sagrantino (this is my next quest, to find a bottle--it was soooo good!), then we had champagne, then we had a hard liquor whose name escapes me, then we had a strong grappa (it's basically the leftovers when you make wine--I guess some people consider it a delicacy--it tasted like tequila to me, and I didn't even have any salt or limes), then we had a home-made lime liquor (pretty sweet, very strong). although my general immune system seems to admit defeat before any cold has declare war on my body, one thing living in Europe has done is to strengthen my alcohol resistance. Sheesh! Anyway, the next night was kind of a repeat, except at a restaurant. We were at the restaurant for 3.5 hours! I love European meals. They go on forever and they are so much fun.
Also, I checked out Vatican City and St. Peter's basilica (in VC). Oh man, if you haven't been floored by amazing architecture and sculptures, Vatican City is a good place to start. Again, pictures do it more justice than my description, so you'll have to wait. But if you find yourself in St. Peter's, be careful not to step on old ladies kissing the floor. ;) (Funny, but true.) But especially be careful of Japanese tourists with cameras and old ladies. Both are absolutely ruthless if you are in between them and whereever they are going. Bring body armor.
I also saw a protest go by my hotel this morning. I didn't realize it was a protest at first. I thought it was just a very pissed-off Italian lady. Man, she was the loudest women in the world! I am convinced she did not need her megaphone. I am convinced Italian women spend most of their time doing two things: tackling their boyfriends out of affection, or kicking the crap out of them. I saw so many cars going by with a male driver barely managing to keep his eyes on the road because his girlfriend was kissing him and (it looked like) trying to get him into the back seat of the car, while driving. (I was glad it was happening to someone!!!) Or they could be just yelling at them. I guess Italian women are, um...passionate? :)
Well, that's it for this week. I was starting to get sick Saturday, but my slack-ass immune system actually did something worthwhile for once and seemed to fight it off. Sheesh.
Take care. And remember, beware of old ladies. They're brutal. :)