PICTURES!!

all my pictures from our Italy trip can be viewed at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/heisfaithful20/Italy2008

Enjoy!!

home again, home again, jiggity-jig

Thought I'd update and let you all know that Erica & I have made it back home safely! I'm typing on a computer, so hopefully no more typos (I just re-read all of my Blackberry posts and noticed all the typos).

I'm finding I miss & don't miss Italy in the smallest things - I already miss speaking Italian & this morning I definitely missed the regular morning capuccinos as I had my mug of Maxwell House. Last night I was ecstatic at having a normal toilet in a normal bathroom (we did encounter a couple of literal holes in the floor in Sardegna). It's also very cold here and I miss the sunny mornings lying on a sunbed in Alghero. As I'm going through my pictures, I miss the many Roman sights and the amazing history we were able to step into.

It's good to be home and keep moving forward - and besides, like I told the Scottish women on the boat trip - we have the Rock Boat to look forward to in January!

I will be sure to keep you all posted with a link to my pictures when I get them all finished & uploaded.

As far as an update from our last post, we spent our last night at the Hotel Nuova Nord in Rome and it is probably the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in. It was a shame we only had one night there; I was literally squealing in delight as we walked into the room with hardwood floors, high ceilings, beautiful curtains & bedspreads, comfy beds w/ extra pillows available!, a  marble bathroom w/ a BATHTUB!!! It was great :) Our last meal in Rome was at the Terme di Dioclezione restaurant by our hotel, which was eh, but it is in an ancient Roman structure (which I assume was part of the Baths of Diocletian). Then we were going to have dessert on our hotel's rooftop terrace but the weather was bad (raining) so it was closed. We did spend some time in Piazza della Repubblica taking pictures before it started raining harder. All in all, I am satisfied with all we were able to do & see in Rome, most of it new for me which was great - and there will always be more to see & do (for instance, some of the churches outside of the centro that I haven't visited, the Appian Way, the tour of Crypta Balbi, etc.). Rome is delightful & jam-packed with interesting things for those who enjoy history.

The next morning we met up with Jeff Ammons after breakfast to collect some mail and got to say goodbye to him and then we took a taxi to the airport (the taxi driver was a man hired by the hotel who drives a Mercedes and drives like a MADMAN... I was sure we were going to get in an accident). We got there at 9:00 and got to our gate at about 10:45... the Fiumicino airport is always confusing & there are ALWAYS long lines. Our plane taxied for an hour before taking off, because of bad weather, which was fine with me because the reason our flight in Alghero was delayed for 4 hours was because the plane had been struck by lightning on its previous descent (which we were told during our ascent as we're going through rain, clouds, & plenty of turbulence... both Erica & I were praying for our lives to be spared). So we were on the God-awful plane for 10 and a half hours before arriving in Newark, where it took us another hour to get through American customs (I can't imagine them not wanting us back!). The Border Patrol man, after asking what I do for a living, said I must be doing something good. :)

Anyway, I'm back to working on my pictures while listening to the new Hanson EP ("Take the Walk"). More to come when that's finished!! Thanks for reading :)

waiting, waiting, waiting...

We were supposed to be in Rome 45 minutes ago and we are still at the Alghero airport, where we have been since 10:15 this morning. Our flight was supposed to leave at 1:45, and it is currently 3:30. I am not happy. :(

Leaving Alghero...

I am on page 235 of "Love in the Time of Cholera", we just left the beach, I have accomplished a (minimal, in my opinion) tan, bought souvenirs, and put away my bathing suit and sundress for the last time, and come to the sudden realization that we will be packing tonight.

It's very strange to be ending this trip as it feels like the longest, most focused vacation I've ever been on. I truly left all my worries at home and have done a great job not thinking about work or the spiders in my bedroom. I have truly enjoyed speaking this much Italian and have an eagerness to learn a lot more. It's hard to predict how I will really feel on the plane coming back home... Because on the other hand, I miss my family, plus Cody and Zacchaeus, and my friends and roommate, and I miss (believe it or not) our entertainment culture - Hanson news, the Presidential & VP debates, new movies, "The Hills", etc. I'm also looking forward to settling into a new church home, moving into a 3BR townhouse, starting to plan for Candidate Orientation (yup, I got accepted!), and starting up weekly meetings with my small group girls again (who I miss dearly).

So this is life- we'll be leaving Alghero (and the entire island of Sardegna) tomorrow afternoon and heading back to Rome (which feels like an entirely different world from where we are now), seeing some last-minute sights and eating our very last Italian meal on this trip (so it better be a good one!). Then enduring a grueling 9.5 hour flight home on Saturday before returning to "normalcy", whatever that is...

Giuliano's Island

"I'd like to be the ONLY one marooned on Giuliano's Island."

Haha "But what's his real name?"

"When I woke up there was like a halo around his head."


Our other 2 great inside jokes from this trip are doostbooster and Erica's Chewbacca yawn.

fivity-fivity.

So today was awesome; quite possibly my favorite day of vacation. As I said earlier, today we went on our boat cruise (which was supposed to be a sailing cruise but the boat's mast broke off in a recent hurricane). We traveled around Capo Caccia (which was when we saw the dolphins) and then anchored in a cove where we went swimming and ate lunch. We met a bunch of new friends: 3 women from Scotland, a newlywed couple from London, an engaged couple from France, and an Italian man from Padua. We also had a really hot skipper (yup, Mom) who was Italian (Giuliano) and young. The English couple who ran the boat was very nice and we just had an all-around very pleasant trip.

Tonight's dinner was no exception. We stopped at a store on the way and I bought my idea of the perfect souvenir to hang on my wall (good souvenirs are hard to find around here). Then we tried to find a restaurant that had been mentioned in my Let's Go guide and we found it but it had changed names. I fell in love. It was an inside restaurant with old vaulted ceilings and we had the cutest old man waiter ever. He was really excited tha I speak "un poco Italiano" so we had some nice Italian exchanges and I learned that "to share" is dividere, and that's when he said, "Fivity-fivity" and I was like, "huh?" until I realized he was saying "fifty-fifty" :)

The other fun thing was that there are tons of dogs here, most of them free to go places on their own so they are rarely on leashes. So during our meal we hear a bark at the door and there is this medium-size white dog. One of the restaurant owners goes, "Vieni qua!" (Come here!) and he comes in and then sits and I got to pet him :) Then later I asked the man, "Come si chiama?" (What's his name?) and he said, "Blake". So Blake is a really cute dog. And I liked the waiter so much that Erica got a picture of me with him :)

Although there are some things I miss about home, I will definitely miss some things about Italy when I leave. Sardinian people are so nice.

Palm Trees & Dolphins

My life is complete. Those of you who know me know I love palm trees and dolphins and I've also never been on a boat. Well I am surrounded by palm trees this week and currently on the SS Andrea Jensen where there have been 2 dolphins chasing our boat, swimming in front of us and jumping and looking at us - I love it!

limoncello=no good

Seriously, Italians need to stop thinking they're doing us a favor in giving us free limoncello shots.

Tonight's waiter was all touchy-feely and wanted us to go in the car with him and "Fabrizio" to his discoteque. Then he was like "I bring limoncello for you" and we were like OH CRAP. 'Cause seriously we had already split a bottle of red wine and limoncello makes you feel like absolute, useless mush after drinking it... Anyways, we did to be polite and now here we are, back at our hotel, smashed unintentionally.

Today we ventured across the island to Costa Smerelda, which was gorgeous but lacked the nice (convenient) atmosphere of Alghero. It was picturesque though and we got to see some kids playing & having a blast, so that was fun. I picked up a rock in the water of Spiaggia Bianca to bring home but I left it there :(

Tomorrow we're going to have a RELAXING day in Alghero - our rental car will be gone :)

Hero with a Red Napkin

So we were just eating dinner at this restaurant on Via Lido down the street from our apartment when all of a sudden I'm like, "COCKROACH!", and then I discover that it's just a very large grasshopper (just like at home in my apartment) and I'm about to let it go until the thing JUMPS on me so I stifle a scream and jump out of my chair and knock him off the chair onto the ground. Then this Italian man gets up with his cigarette hanging out of his mouth and his big red napkin and attempts to squash the thing, but it's too fast for him... So he actually somehow gets the grasshopper out of the restaurant (keep in mind our restaurant is right on the beach) and the grasshopper comes hopping back in (probably wing-less from the first blow) so I here his girlfriend go, "Qua!" When the man actually catches him (as in, "put it over there!" as she gestures toward the door) and he goes, "Ritornato sempre!" ("He always comes back!"). So he disappears with the grasshopper in his red napkin towards the front of the restaurant and that was that. Haha I don't know what he did with the grasshopper.

In other news, today we climbed down an oceanside cliff with 654 stairs to Neptune's Grotto (a beautiful 70 million year old cave carved out of the cliff with stalagtites and stalagmites in huge formations). Then we also climbed back up 654 stairs to the top and lived to tell about it!

We also tried to go to Spiaggia della Pelosa and that was a trip and a half. Believe me, when you're attempting to speak a foreign language, even parking can be the royalest pain in the you-know-what. Then as soon as we finally got on the beach, it got overcast and cold. C'e la vita.

We love Alghero. Tomorrow we take our Italian rent-a-car to Costa Smerelda to mingle with the rich and beautiful (sans grasshoppers)...

SEI BIANCA, SEI BIANCA!!

Our car rental guy just practically screamed at us to go get our bikinis because we are too white (see above title). He almost refused to give us our keys til we got our bikinis on haha

He was also wearing a white jumpsuit and he even had an impromptu dance party with us in the car (a Fiat Punto) while showing us how to use the radio. He also kept telling us how beautiful we are and speaking a mixture of English & Italian. Haha on the list of things that would never happen in America...

Bella Spiaggia!!!

I am currently on the most beautiful beach I have ever been on... Erica and I rented sunbeds & an umbrella directly across the street from our hotel and it is BEAUTIFUL weather (70's and sunny, blue sky with white fluffy clouds, clear turquoise [cold] water, and of course a view of the mountains and cliffs across our little inlet) and we bought towels off the street (12.50 euros each - sigh) and I am so comfortable and relaxed and I have a book to read ("Love in the Time of Cholera")... and so in this moment I'd like to stay here forever.

Wish you all could be here, too!
With lots of love & hope everything back in the States is good -
Off to nap...

"Il Mastro Formaggiaio"

Tonight we ventured to Tavolo Paradiso because it was mentioned in 2 of our guidebooks that the guy who owns the place (Pasquale) has won awards for his artistic cheeses, therefore earning the title "Il Mastro Formaggio" (the Cheese Master - I kid you not). So I'm totally like a fish out of water (no pun intended) because I am definitely not a fan of seafood and this is a seafood town. I already miss Roman cuisine. HOWEVER, I have never enjoyed cheese this much in my life. Perhaps it was the combination with the bread and the wine, I don't know. But I am full of cheese and I don't even know what I ate. Pasquale was there like a tortured artist, with one visible tattoo and brooding, staring at his fork. He was probably thinking about cheese...

Alghero

Well, here we are! We are at our hotel in Alghero situated right on the Lido (beach), where we actually just caught a fabulous sunset (shades of pink setting over the ocean & the mountains). We've had to speak an extraordinary amount of Italian since arriving, which has been both good & bad (only bad when we can't understand the response). We had to figure out the entire bus & ticket system in another language (patience is key).

It was warm here during the day when we went exploring (there is a beautiful promenade lined with palm trees leading into Old Town as well as an old fortress wall that lines the town). However, tonight is a different story as it is freezing (and yet there are still people walking around in shorts, T-shirts, & sandals). We need hoodies, towels, and blankets ASAP, thank you :)

P.S. I am starting to miss American food - the buildup of carbs in your body is so unnatural...

OH and for your amusement, I would LOVE to post a picture for you of how tiny our bathroom/shower is (you have to put your feet in the shower to sit on the toilet), but for now you'll just have to use your imagination ;)

Limoncello.

Well, we made it onto our train heading to the airport in spite of our waiter's best attempts to get us trashed last night!

We went out for our last dinner out in Trastevere last night, in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere at some place that begins with a G. Anyway, we stuffed ourselves - Erica got veal and I got spaghetti alla carbonara, which was delicious but probably the heaviest, cheesiest thing I have ever put in my mouth. We split a bottle of the house wine (Castelli Romani, which made me happy). And of course acqua naturale (water w/o "gas"). So our waiter is nice and kind of joking around and asked what we were doing in Rome & how long and he finds out it is our last night in Rome. So I ask for the check ("il conto") and he brings out, instead, 2 double shots of limoncello, because it is our last night in Rome. Ohh boy. Don't get me wrong, I think limoncello is sometimes yummy - I found out that when you put it in the freezer it is delicious and it takes out some of the bite. But otherwise, this stuff is killer. So, to be polite, we drink our glasses... And ten he comes back with the bottle and refills them ("last night in Rome") and I started practically crying, haha- 'cause not only is the stuff strong but we had to get home and pack and clean up the apartment before going to bed. We drank about half of that and he asked if we wanted more, and we were like, NO THANKS :)
Haha then needless to say packing was quite the experience as we were both feeling quite woozy...

But today we feel great and we are hoping that a warm, sunny Sardinia is awaiting us!

ahhh, Tivoli!

We are on our way back to Rome on a bus from Tivoli - and, by the way, Tivoli is gorgeous! We went to Villa d'Este and around the area of Villa Gregoriano. We were going to try to do Hadrian's Villa but we ran out of time (and now we are in an Italian traffic jam). Villa d'Este is the one with all the fountains (as seen in "The Lizzie McGuire Movie", if you're a fan) and it's beautiful. We took tons of pictures and it was a gorgeous day and the whole town of Tivoli is on part of a mountain and surrounded by other mountains... Plus they have an actual hydraulic organ that plays music every 2 hours, so I took a video of some of that.

Villa Gregoriana would have been quite the hike so we didn't end up doing that, but we did look out a bit over the waterfalls and get close to the ancient Temple of Vesta on the hillside. We also got to walk through a part of town that hasn't changed much since the Middle Ages so that was pretty cool.

I can't believe it is our last night! It's kind of sad but at the same time I am happy to get to see the beauty of Sardinia and relax on some beaches!

We had to wait out a bad situation where the water was turned off for our whole apartment building because "somebody" in the building didn't pay their water bill - thank God things aren't set up like that in the States.

More to come later... Here's to beautiful towns & gorgeous men!

QOTD

Quote of the day from yesterday: "There's men in there making brick-oven pizzas, shirtless."

Nero's Pleasure Palace

It seems I blog the most while in line waiting for things. Italy is a test of patience and a conviction of too much activity all at once. You have to slow down here & be flexible. Anyway, I enjoy their values of enjoying life, even when a group of Italians are walking down the street at a snail's pace in front of me :)

So Erica and I are waiting in Colle Oppio (a park) waiting for our tour of Nero's Golden House. I'm sure most of you already know that Emperor Nero was a nutjob (he's the one who "fiddled" while Rome burned and then blamed the fire on the Christians, then taxed the daylights out of the Roman people to build his opulent palace), and I'm sure I will learn more about him today on top of what I heard about him yesterday (apparently he ordered his officials to make sure noboy put out the fire).

This morning we went to Campo de Fiori for their morning market (my first time) where we learned the word for parsley ("prezzemolo"), practiced our Italian, and bought some fruits & veggies, including a huge bunch of red grapes for only 2 euro. Then we discovered that we love their open-air markets but despise trying to figure out Rome's bus system. We took a tram and 2 buses to get here & I honestly think we would have made it faster if we walked. Oh well!

Oh and we took pictures of the cats in Largo Argentina- there have always been a ton of stray cats among the ruins so some people started a rescue where they actually take care of the cats. They are so cute. One of them was a hunter - a black cat w/ green eyes - who eyed & then pounced on a fly and ate it.

Off we go to our tour! Oh and pray for our weather this upcoming week in Alghero - most of our time will be spent outside on beaches (as it's an island) and sunshine & warm weather would be very nice.

Piazza di Spagna

For some reason my posts aren't showing up immediately after I write them, so bear in mind that the timing of what you read is probably off...

Yesterday after the Palatine, we got to go to the Mercato di Traiano (which is new, opened in Aug 2007), which was awesome because we got to go into these ancient market stalls and walk through the actual imperial forum. It's so cool to picture people buying and trading in these stores over 1,500 years ago!

There was also an open-air market going on in our neighborhood (Trastevere) all weekend so we went to that on our way home and bought flavored honey (miele) and I bought blueberry jam and we both bought cookies - all homemade.

Then finally we went out to a real Italian dinner last night at my favorite spot- Night & Day at the Pantheon. There is a waitress (possibly the owner) who has been there each time I have eaten there (2004, 2006, and now 2008) and she is so sweet, talking to everybody. Anyway she has a bichon frise who looks like Cody and her dog is still there :) This time I went to take a picture of the dog and she invited me to go inside and see her- turns out her name is Gaia and she is 4 and a half years old. She's a sweetheart! And I told the waitress how I had been coming to Night & Day every 2 years so when I left she said "see you in another 2 years!"

Afterwards Erica got gelato at this place called Giolitti which is always packed with Italians. I have a route from the Pantheon to the Trevi Fountain and it's on the way so afterwards we went to the Trevi. All the Italians I talked to yesterday were complaining about the cold. Then some Italian man asked Erica, "You want some boyfriend?" haha
So we're talking about the differences between Italian and American women and Erica goes, "I don't smoke, I don't watch my weight, and I'd rather have ice cream than a cigarette." So true.

Haha and then for some reason, at the Trevi Fountain, Erica goes, "Too bad we don't have something like this at our castle." Funny 'cause when we got back to our "castle" our hot water wasn't working!

I'm writing this on the Spanish Steps after an extremely fulfilling dinner (complete with a bottle of wine, dessert, and a great view) at Caffe Ciampini. Today was a full day- we started with the Scavi Tour this morning which was AMAZING. We got to see an entire ancient city with ancient tombs right next to where the first Christians were persecuted under Nero. The excavations are preserved beautifully, and our tour guide, Anthony, was from Wilkes-Barre! Totally awesome and we did get to see firsthand where Peter is buried. We were with a choir from Holland and they sang a beautiful song while we were by Peter's grave at the end of the tour.

We did get to the Mouth of Truth and we still have our hands, so that's always a good thing.

Signing off! We go to the ruins of Nero's Golden House tomorrow, as well as Castel Sant'Angelo... Buona notte!

Who knew?

Who knew I could be writing a blog while waiting in line in the midst of huts from the 8th century BC?

One thing I learned today: Rome.does not make sense. And I am allergic to dust (I'm on the Palatine Hill and I have to keep blowing my nose). Anyways, Erica and I attempted to go to the Baths of Diocletian this morning and it was closed (chiuso). Then we tried to go to the Crypta Balbi and it was closed too. And both of those places are supposed to be open on Sundays! Frustrating. So we went to the Roman Forum and Mamertine Prison (where Peter and Paul were held) and now we are on the Palatine Hill. So much has changed since the last time I was here! They have really expanded the excavations. Right now I am in line to see the house of Augustus and just a few minutes ago I was above the House of the Vestal Virgins, looking in (neither of these things was open before).

Oh, and in case you're curious - AS Roma won last night against Regina (thank God). There was a group of Roma fans in our section practically foaming at the mouth. I saw an 8yearold boy give double-fisted middle fingers to the Regina section. There was cheering, yelling, screaming, and perpetual flag-waving. We won 3-0, and Erica & I lived to tell about it. In fact, I got a goal and the subsequent riotry on video! To be posted on YouTube when I return. It was definitely lots of fun.

Erica & I are out to our first long dinner outside tonight - should be lovely. Our goal is a very pretty piazza and a bottle of wine...

More to come; ciao!

AS Roma

Thanks to Jeff & Kristin Ammons (and the wonderful lunch they fed us, as well as the great conversation and fun times with the kids), we are on our way to our first CALCIO match, Italy's national obsession! GO ROMA!

AS Roma

Thanks to Jeff & Kristin Ammons (and the wonderful lunch they fed us, as well as the great conversation and fun times with the kids), we are on our way to our first CALCIO match, Italy's national obsession! GO ROMA!

La citta di Roma - la citta di passegiata!

I would have updated sooner but I'm unable to get Internet access at our apartment in Trastevere - so here I am sitting in the shade with Erica at the Circus Maximus, taking a break from sightseeing and walking before we go to the Ammons' for lunch.

Yesterday was molto interessante- I found out I don't like Rome so much when it's 54 degrees and raining... but we did our best and tried to deal with our (quite overwhelming) jetlag while visiting the Museo di Roma and we did get to see rain falling through the oculus of the Pantheon, which was cool. Last night was much better as it started to clear off and we went to Santa Maria in Trastevere, reportedly the oldest church in Rome. Then for dinner we went to Pizzeria San Calisto right in our neighborhood) where we ate pizza like queens for super cheap! It was a great place and we got to speak some Italian with our very friendly waiter. Then we walked to the Trevi Fountain (it would be a lot more pleasant if it was a lot less crowded) and got some delicious gelato (I got a mix of tiramisu and dark chocolate).
We almost got hit on last night when we were walking home by a cute Italian man. He got this unmistakable smug look on his face and stopped but before he could say anything I gave him a really cheesy grin and he just laughed. I turned to Erica and I was like what makes an Italian man stop for chubby wearing sneakers? (Haha, sneakers scream American Tourist here but we were wearing them 'cause of the rain.) She goes, "Maybe he doesn't see chubby and he doesn't give a shit about the sneakers." Haha!
This morning we were gonna do the Colosseum & Palatine Hill and it turns out that now they charge admission for the Roman Forum! And I think they've opened up more of the Palatine. So there was a lot of confusion and in the interest of time we decided to do the Baths of Caracalla instead. They are one of the most well-preserved Roman ruins and I had never seen them before. It was fascinating as the structure was huge and they still had mosaics from the walls/ceiling and floors- some of the floors are still intact and one you can even walk on, awesome :) We got some great pictures there.

One thing I just remembered: funny instance from the plane when I knew we were on an Italian flight- one of the passengers complained to the flight attendant about a TV screen not working. He hits it three times, shrugs his shoulders, and walks away. Eh, la dolce far niente!

We're about to leave for the Ammons and then do the Forum, Colsseum, Palatine Hill, and Trajan's Market this afternoon. Arrividerci! Thanks for you prayers!

airport!

Erica & I are at the airport- 1 hour until we leave! We have already eaten Gummi Worms ("neon delight") and talked about how the BPA in my Nalgene bottle is going to kill me.

We also both showed up in the scarves we bought together at the Ann Taylor Loft outlet- so if we didn't look alike already... haha



Hoping I sleep on the plane...

itinerary.

So it is the "morning of"! Getting last-minute packing together, about to get in the shower (knowing I will be absolutely gross by the time I get to Rome)...

thought I'd share with all you curious cats a basic outline of our itinerary!

TODAY: travel begins! Our flight arrives in Rome at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow (that's 2:00 a.m. EST)

While in Italy, we are staying at:

the "Dotorea" apartment (www.italyperfect.com)

Hotel Gabbiano in Alghero (www.hotelilgabbianoalghero.it)

and Hotel Nord (www.romehotelnord.it)

October 4: travel day back to the States, arriving around 3:30 p.m.

More updates to come from bella Italia!

Testing from my Blackberry!

pre-trip thoughts.

I'm 2 days away from my 3rd trip to Italy in 4 years. Today is packing day, and as exciting as that is, I feel that I'm just about ready to take a nap. Going on a European vacation is a whole different ball game as a working adult. I don't have that college student carefree feeling anymore! I'm sure italy will return it to me, though :)

I've been doing a lot of mental preparation - reviewing some of the basics of the language, watching the Travel Channel, Everybody Loves Raymond, and - embarrassingly - parts of The Lizzie McGuire Movie. I also watched It Started in Naples (I rented it from Netflix) twice just so I could hear more of the Italian dialogue.

I decided to keep a blog for this trip because there are too many people who I wanted to email details of my adventures, and since I have the new "global" Blackberry, I will have constant (unlimited) internet on my phone. I probably won't have any way of posting pictures until I get back (which, considering where I'm going to be, is a REAL shame), but at least you can hear the stories and what strikes me the most. Hopefully I can share some of my Italian learning with you.

I just was able to re-read some of the emails I sent to Katie during my first trip to Italy in 2004, and they are hysterical - here are a few bits & pieces for your reading enjoyment:

"May 25, 2004

so far rome is ugly. it looks like downtown philly and all we've seen are apartments and graffiti and little closet shops. anyways... i'm sure it will get pretty when we see ROME rome. you know, like the colosseum. by the way, they gave us this HUGE apartment but didn't even give us toilet paper. nobody speaks english. we're going to go to the supermarket soon to get toilet paper and hopefully find some place that sells adapters and extension cords. we went to the tabacchi store, just a small hole of a store that sells shampoo and postcards, basically. anyways, that's where i got my phone card. i asked the guy 'quanti minuti?' (how many minutes?) and he said 'non lo so' (i don't know). silly TABACCHI MAN!

i also got made fun of (in a sweet way) by the landlord. i asked 'chiuso?' and pointed to the door on the way out - like should i close the door? and he launched into this big italian shpiel. and i tried to tell him that megan & i took italian for four years but i didn't even know how to say THAT. haha.

so i have jet lag and a headache and i'm starving and i'd kind of like to poop in the toilet like a normal person but we don't have toilet paper and our electricity is funky... I NEED TO WASH MY HANDS. i'm scared of the water. when the woman tested it, she said it was scalding. i am gross and so is rome.

p.s. rome isn't probably really gross, but right now it is."

"May 27, 2004

GUYS we have a date with italian men!!!!! ... guys are so different over here. you can tell they view women a lot more respectfully." (HAH! What was I thinking?!)

"May 31, 2004

then we went up to the palatine hill (there are 7 hills in rome, surrounding the center... actually rome is the whore of babylon in the book of revelation, but i can explain all of that when i come home) and saw the remains of the palace of domitian or somebody something. haha. you know, an emperor guy. it was pretty cool. the view was pretty. the gardens were pretty too. there is a medeival castle lower on the hill. then under that is the house of the vestal virgins - THEY are interesting. there is the goddess vesta, who is supposed to be the goddess of Rome (or was supposed to be) and inside her temple there was a flame that was tended by the vestal virgins. they all lived together and their families were automatically made wealthy and respected. the only thing is, if they 'misplaced' their virginity (haha, that's what my tour book says, i found it funny), they were BURIED ALIVE. there's a story for the grandkids!"

"June 2, 2004

during the meal a bunch of americans from missouri (i'd say about 10 of them) came by and asked alessandro (the other waiter) for directions to get back to where they were staying. he kept begging them to stay and have a beer or a capuccino. so they sat down because he said the tram wasn't coming for a half an hour. five minutes later it came and they missed it (which was hysterical). so they bagged it and just stayed and got beer and everything. lol

our waiter (i don't know his name) got a hold of a guitar and he sat down with us and the missouri group and he started playing all these american oldies, like 'tutti frutti' and 'twist and shout'. he also played a bunch of other songs, and an italian song that was written by a fisherman who whenever he fished he could only think of the woman he loved and that was the song he sang... it was really pretty.

anyways, before the guy started playing the guitar, alessandro (see above if you forget which one he was) told us the story of the princess and the pea, italian style.

so his story was that the princess woke up and she saw this GIGANTIC pea... so she started climbing until she fell, and she fell into a forest and fell asleep. the prince woke her up and told her he loved her and the pea was small again and he offered it to her. (i guess as an engagement gift. lol)

the only hitch was that the pea would grow everytime they lied. so they would say "i love you" and the pea would grow. they would say "you look so good" and the pea would grow. and their whole relationship was lies, lies, lies.

'but they had good sex.' the end.

so we had that big american singalong with the waiter and alessandro was dancing and then he grabbed my hand to dance with me and i was going 'oh no, oh no, oh no' and i almost fell out of my chair 'cause he insisted. so we dance in front of the colosseum. it was to some ray charles song, although i'm not really sure it was a ray charles song, but it was familiar, but i can't remember it. then he dipped me. then i sat back down. lol"

"June 5, 2004

these drunk italian boys two tables down were TOTALLY flirting with blonde lauren. they brought lauren over 'flowers' which were really just the decorative things that go in desserts, and a packet of mayonnaise (haha, THAT was funny), and then one of the guys offered her the key to his apartment for life (in other words, proposed)."

Knowing Erica & I, we're going to have a lot more of those silly scenarios to report. In the meantime, I have a lot to do, so...

Arrividerci, i miei amici!

some pictures from my last trip to Italy (2006).