When in Rome....

During our time in Italy, I have constantly had this phrase in my mind. It seems to particularly hold true in Rome, especially if you want to cross the street. In fact, the Lonely Planet guidebook graciously given to us by Marta & Bryan (referred to as M & B from here on out - I've always wanted to write in the older style, "M said..." or "B went to the market") as the book I borrowed from the library only covers Northern Italy and doesn't actually cover any of the areas that we're visiting, instructs that if you're having trouble crossing the street to follow a Roman across the street. The cars don't stop for people and the people don't stop for the cars.

We very quickly discovered that I am allergic to Rome. The dust, car fumes, smoking, dirt, and pollution quickly converted me into a sneezing tourist. Unfortunately, I don't sneeze quietly. I awoke in the middle of our 1st night in our seedy hotel room from dreams of 4000 years of the stench of 'civilized' life coming up through the bathroom sewer pipe and tenement style courtyard. In reality, it was the smell of cigarette smoke somehow creeping into our bathroom during the night, but still not good for my allergies. Over the next 2 days, I sneezed my way around the Colleseum, up the steps of the military monument, into numerous churches, through the Pantheon, and past the multitudes of ruins in Rome. My visions of a gleaming Rome with ruins enshrined in pristine parks was dispelled by the reality of massive tourism, dirt, litter, and pollution.

Our stay in Rome was blessedly short as we took the train north to Grosseto in Tuscany after 2 days to visit a friend of Alex's from Sundance, Lucio and his family, Brunella and son, Fabio (L, B & F for my new writing style). Grosseto is muy bello. (Beware, I may mix Spanish, Italian, and French, so if you are well versed in any of these languages, please forgive me.) In some ways, it is similar to the Oregon coast - coastal towns with vacation homes that are lived in for the 2 month summer holidays that are so expensive that the people who work there can't afford to live there with inland towns where the full-time residents live. It seems to be warmer, though. We spent a sunny day yesterday walking through a market and past an old castle with weather slightly warmer than the warmest day of summer in Netarts. Ah, if only we spoke Italian and could move into a flat in the old section of town. :-) We've passed by olive trees, vineyards, prickly pear cacti.

I am also constantly reminded, having recently read 'Eat, Pray, Love,' that Elizabeth Gilbert spent the 1st third of the book in Italy - eating. I keep questioning, 'Who would come to Italy and not be able to eat pasta or pizza?' (Of course, in Munich, I could have asked, 'Who would go to Munich and not be able to drink beer?') And yet here Alex and I are - he can eat pasta, but I can't, and neither of us can drink beer at the moment. Sigh. However, we are discovering how Elizabeth Gilbert could eat her way through Italy. If one of us orders a 1st course for dinner, we are asked what we want for a 2nd course. If we try to skip the 1st course and go straight for the 2nd, we are asked what we want for the 1st. Last night, we had the audacity to take home pizza (our 2nd course after a large salad for the 1st course), but, as L explained to the waiter, we are Americans. We had dinner at the 1st gluten-free restaurant in Italy last night. It seems that gluten free food is also moving into Europe and we have already learned to recognize the packaging symbol of a stalk of wheat with a circle and slash over it.

Also, doing as the Roman, or Europeans in this case, we are learning to relax over our meals. Meals take time, the waiters don't rush you out and, in fact, expect for you to sit and converse and enjoy your meal - 1st course, 2nd course, dolce, and caffé. What a lovely tradition.

I think I have managed to fix all of my typos in this message. This seems to be the trip of challenging keyboards for me. This time, I'm on an Italian keyboard (yes, this makes sense). The letter keys are in all of the same places, but the punctuation has all moved around. Alex and I have yet to find the 'at' symbol.

Ciao, ciao

kiss, kiss