...Do As the Romans Do

Have you noticed no one actually says that part any more?  It's become assumed after the "when in Rome..."  Well, what if someone intended something different?  What if it was "When in Rome, rub your socks with flint and polish before wearing them"?

Okay...well, we haven’t had internet access in a while.  Even longer since we’ve had wireless.  But I’m typing this on the train in hopes that we shall have wireless in Berlin.  So now I shall finish up Italy.  And then probably post another entry with Switzerland and Paris.  But we all know how it goes when one puts me in a box...so don’t bother trying.

Okay...Rome.  What to say, what to say?  Well, we packed a lot into those three days.  And I certainly don’t really want to mention everything, because this train ride isn’t ten hours long.  Perhaps I should start with a little anecdote from Little Lod.  Our hostel was nice, and the staff was friendly.  However, it was rather loud.  In the common area, which was really just the entrance hallway, they liked to turn on loud music and drink under the blacklight.  I suppose that would have been all well and good, if the noise had been confined to outside the rooms.  Unfortunately, on our first night there, three people came in at three o’clock in the morning, completely drunk and completely loud.  Being awoken by the noise was irritating.  But then one of the guys got in the bed right next to me and proceeded to snore.  Loudly.  I found it quite unacceptable for him to wake me up and keep me awake.  His hand was above his head and tantalizingly close to me.  So I reached over and pinched him with my fingernails as hard as I could until he stopped snoring.  I had to do that twice.  And it worked.  And I slept.  But part of me will always wonder what he was thinking when he saw his hand the next morning.  Ah well.

Having set the stage now for Rome, I suppose I should proceed to explain my pictures.  But I’m sick of typing.  And every other word becomes a typo that has to be fixed five times.  So I’m just going to give a brief description of my pictures, and if you want any more detail, you can toodle over to Elizabeth’s site and hope she’s not as lazy as me.

1. Ostia Antica, with Elizabeth looking evilly through the window.  We were able to explore a bit here, which was fun.

2.  This...ball type thing was at the Vatican.  I thought it was cool.  I named it a Vaklkl.  And it shall be my Vaklkl.

3.  Goobs is keeping her eye on me over here in Europe.  She even had her spies in the Vatican.  Actually, one of those black cats might have even been her.

4.  These were Roman guards at St. Peter’s Basilica.  They’ve changed their look a bit, eh?  At least they don’t have those fluffy red things on their heads anymore.  I think all the guys in the U.S. should start wearing these.  They’d be pretty.

5.  This picture was taken in the Roman Forum.  I am posting it to show four things.  One is the Roman Forum.  See how pretty?  The second is my main function as navigator.  Unfortunately, now and then we get lost, and I have to spend ten minutes finding us.  Five minutes for the finding, and the other five for motivation to stand up again.   The third is to show off my tan line.  It really is there, and I’m certain you can see it in this picture.  Enjoy it, ‘cuz it’ll probably be faded by the time we get home.  The fourth and final is my souvenir sweater, as I’m calling it now.  I finally got to wash it yesterday, but it was accumulating all kinds of interesting spills, like butter in Scotland and jelly in Germany...to name a few.

6.  This is the Trevi fountain.  I’m pretending to threaten an Italian man with my purse, in honour of my dear mother, who actually did hit a man with her purse at the Trevi fountain.  Maybe someday my daughter will take of picture of herself pinching someone in Rome, in my honour.  Aren’t traditions special?

7.  This is a picture of the elusive information i.  We spent a lot of time hunting for the little scamp in the train station.  It was running up elevators and leading us in circles for quite some time.

8.  We found it difficult to take pictures of ourselves at the Colosseum.  It just feels a bit wrong to smile, when so many people were killed there.  But the Pope added a cross there at some point, which we found to be a good picture point.  And we did manage to smile once, which I have documented in number nine.

9.  Well, I got ahead of myself.  OoPs.

10.  And finally, here was our favourite snack in Rome. It was an ice cream thingy with whipped cream on top.  We got it at a gelato shop at Piazza Navona.