Ah, Roma!

Buon giorno, mama! (Good morning, Mom!)

Today is our travel day to Roma. We all had to be up early, packed and on the bus at 8 a.m. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my legs were not sore this morning from climbing all 414 steps of the bell tower yesterday. I will admit, it was nice to sit on the bus and relax for a bit instead of immediately hitting the streets and walking all day. I am certainly getting my exercise in this week.

Around 10, the bus stopped so everyone could use the bathroom and get something to drink. Still feeling a bit fuzzy, I decided to get an Italian coffee. At places like this in Italy, you don't order coffee and pay when you're finished, you go to the cashier, pay for your order, and take the ticket to the counter. The barista takes your ticket, fixes your espresso and brings it to you. (That would certainly keep people from walking away without paying!) Antonio, one of our Italian guides was standing next to me at the counter while I was waiting for my coffee. He told me that the southern Italian custom was to ask for a small glass of water to cleanse your palate before drinking your coffee. He said something in Italian to the man behind the counter who gave me a small plastic cup of water with my coffee. I drank about half the water then enjoyed my caffeine. Maren, one of our students, had also ordered a coffee and asked about the water. I explained what Antonio told me, and offered her the rest of my water. We've all been eating off of each other's plates all week long, so sharing a water glass didn't seem too bad.

Back on the bus, I was visiting with Stephanie, one of our Nevada Cottey students. She'd had an interesting encounter with an Italian vendor the day before in Florence. Around the area of the Palazzo Vecchio (literally "the old palace") there are these street vendors selling everything from cheap toys to prints of paintings. Stephanie was waiting for her friend Paige when one of the vendors tried to get her to buy a poster. "No thanks," she said, "I'm just waiting for someone." Then she made her mistake; the guy asked what her name was, and, innocent of the ways of Italian men, she answered with "Stephanie."

"Oh, Stephanie," he began to croon, "kiss me!" He grabbed her face with both hands trying to plant one on her. Stephanie, more entertained than horrified, kept twisting her head this way and that way so the guy never could get a kiss on her face. What were Stephanie's friends doing while this was going on? Laughing at her and videotaping the encounter. I don't think Stephanie was mad at either the guy or her friends, but she was surprised her friends all wanted to record it rather than help her.

Italian guys are definitely more forward. One of the more common lines that the students have reported is walking by some fellow and he'll shout out, "Hey! You dropped something." The student will turn around to see what she dropped and ask, "What?" The man will reply, "My heart. Please come pick it back up." This story is usually reported by our students with laughter and eye rolling. I guess cheesy pickup lines are cheesy pick up lines wherever you are.

Soon we were in Roma. Our bus drove by many of the historic sites such as the Coliseum, Palatine Hills, the Roman Forum, Circus Maximus, Vatican City, Santa Maria Maggiore, and others. After we checked into the hotel, we went on our walking tour. We learned how to use the Metro system and then visited the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain.

Legend has it that if you toss a coin in the fountain, you will return to Rome. Obviously it must be true because I tossed a coin in last year, and here I am back at the fountain. Legend also has it that if you toss two coins in the fountain, you will find love. Kassia asked if I would take her photo while she tossed two coins in the fountain. Ah, amore. It's important that you toss them in correctly too, mamma. You have to have your back to the fountain and toss the coins over your left shoulder with your right hand. Kassia returned the favor and took my photo as I made my donation to the fountain. How many coins did I toss? I guess we'll have to see what the next year brings before you know, won't we?

We were turned loose to explore on our own the rest of the day. I decide to walk to the Galleria Borghese, the site of my educational module the next morning. Even though I had been there last year, I wanted to make sure I knew how to find it easily. It was a lovely early afternoon as I walked up the famous Via Veneto and onto the grounds of the Villa Borghese. It is amazing how much quieter it is in the park, and the well manicured grounds were beautiful. I think I could have spent a few hours there just enjoying the beauty of the villa.

Back at the hotel, I found some friends who wanted to go out to eat. I remembered a couple of restaurants close to the hotel where I had dined last year. Dal Toscana was one where the Haverstics and I had a fabulous meal and I recommended it to the group. Off we went about 7:15 only to find on our arrival that it didn't open until 8 p.m. I keep forgetting that Europeans eat dinner much later than we do here in America. We all decided to walk around and window shop until 8. I found a great little market I'll come back to before I leave so I can buy authentic Italian pasta to take home.

We got back to the restaurant a little after 8 and walked in the door. I requested for a table for six. "Do you have a reservation?" said the maitre'd. "No," I said. "We are full," he replied as he turned back into the restaurant that only held two people.

Feeling snubbed, the group whined (just a bit) about my walking them around for an hour just to get turned away. I remembered another restaurant close by that was a hipper, younger type of dining establishment, plus it was only two blocks from where we were. I ate there last year as well and remember it was also good. We walked into Zigaetana and were immediately seated. We had a great waiter who kept teasing us about our Italian pronunciation. Poor Susan Yoss got the worst of it as he kept having her repeat "arrivederci" (goodbye) and "buonissimo" (roughly translated as very good or delicious).

I had a type of pasta called scialatielli (I still can't pronounce that one) with fruitti di mare (seafood). It was so good. Of course we all had dessert too. How can you have a great meal without a little dolce (sweet) after? I ordered the assorted gelato for dessert. I have yet to have a day in Italy that didn't have gelato in it. However, I think Taryn and Jo had the best dessert, they had the crema di caffe which was like a coffee-flavored mousse. I had a little taste and thought it was to die for.

As we were figuring "il conto" (the check), Jo asked the waiter if she could buy one of the funky t-shirts all the servers wore. (The shirts had a cool swirly design on the front.) At first he said no, then immediately corrected himself. "Just a minute," he said as he disappeared downstairs. He came back a couple of minutes later after consulting with the manager and sold Jo a shirt for €20, or about $25 US. We all went home full and happy having had a great evening talking, eating, and laughing; to heck with Dal Toscana.

Well, tomorrow is a module day, and mine begins at 7:30. I should try and get some rest, but there is so much to see and do in Roma.

alla prossima,
your loving son,