Random Pics and Reflections from Rome

Time is ticking, I have seen so much of Rome, and still more to see... So just a quick post with some random pics and reflections...

Me at Trevi fountain:
I did not have the chicken, but perhaps if I did I would have felt eternally peaceful...

How this shoeboxed sized kiosk has an internet cafe and laundry service beats me...

Insanely brave tourists!

Amore everywhere....

Cats amid the ruins...

My friend Zoey at the cat sanctuary...

Kitty trinkets for sale at the cat sanctuary...

Early doodle upon my arrival in Roma:

Gladiator on his coffee break....

Random reflections:

• I had the most bizarre trip to the doctor in my life. Diagnosis for my lingering cough: "Is OK". At that point the visit was over.
• If it's raining hard and there are huge taxi lineups, go for a Limoncella and get your palm read instead
• Limoncella really is wonderful and gives a cold a good quick kick in the ass
• The cafe downstairs knows my order by now and I get a huge greeting when I arrive - and I get to pick a different cornetta every day (Italian name for crissant)
• If you impulsively order a bowl of soup after seeing it served at the adjacent table, you might pay more for it than your meal: pesto spaghetti 8E, mushroom soup 10E - but it was really good
• At Trevi fountain, there are guys with modern Polaroid-type cameras who will take your pic for a fee (skip it, more fun to take your own self-portrait and swap cameras with other tourists; other wandering sales guys: tripods and roses
• If it rains, entrepreneuring guys selling umbrellas magically appear everywhere - spent 10E for a lime green folding umbrella that I'll leave behind for my flatmate here (note to self: actually carry small lightweight folding umbrella lugged from Canada in purse when rain is forecast!)
• Pizza by the slice places here sell by weight; you point to the pizza you want and gesture how much you want cut off (with scissors!); if you take it to go, they fold it in half and wrap it so you can eat it as you walk
• My travel budget is thankful that the darling deep jade green suede/leather boots that caught my eye did not come in my size
• Proven gelatto combination: limone, fragola, stracitella
• Buffallo mozzerella is to die for
• Rome streets really are madness!

Recent experiences have included:

• National Museum of Rome
• Vatican Museums night tour

Will write soon on some of these, and other earlier experiences....

Off to Florence on Friday for 4 nights, then onto Venice for 2 nights, then I fly from then to Berlin on October 1st...

For now, it's a beautiful day (after many rainy ones), so I am heading out to explore...

My Spanish Steps Day

Today I am laying low, trying to get over a cold. Nothing serious, of course, but it's been niggling at me, so I am resting and trying to get well. Health is SO precious when one is travelling! Oh, and thank goodness it's only a cold.... it was interesting enough to try to explain my symptoms to the Italian pharmacist - hand gestures and all... glad it wasn't something else!

So, good day to update my blog... I am realizing how much time it takes to keep a good blog while travelling and being busy with sights. But I also realize it's value, not only to those who are following, but to me as a record of my trip. So I am going to to do some "catch up" posts soon... For now, I will share the day I went to the Spanish Steps to see a friend, and some of my wanderings earlier that day.....

My friend said, "Meet me at the Spanish Steps!" Um, ok.....
Rules for all the things you cannot do on the Spanish Steps. BTW, everyone was eating.

I have a new interest: taking pictures of people taking pictures...

The band that was playing.... I picked this shot as there are some interesting expressions on the spectators' faces - click the pic to enlarge it to see them well!

One closeup of the fountain at the base of the Spanish Steps. It's impossible to take a pic of the whole fountain on its own, as it is swarmed with people...

Ah, there amongst the crowds, I find Caroline - ex-boss and now friend! She and a friend are in Europe for 12 days and we managed to be in the same city on the same day, so got together for dinner. It is SO nice to see a familiar face!

Salute! Caroline and I drinking a glass of wine for a friend back in Vancouver.

The birds inside our restaurant. Yes, when I went inside to use the loo, I heard birds singing, but they were not on the stereo, there were in a cage, right next to where it appears they prepare the salads. Wouldn't see that one in Canada!

Our restaurant was around the corner from the Trevi fountain, so we wandered by. I'll be back again to take more pics another day, and throw a coin! BTW, there was lots of amore at the fountain and on the Spanish Steps.

Now for some pics from earlier that day....

I found my mecca!!!! For some girls it's an Italian shoe store. For me, it's an art store! This was just one aisle of pretty colours to draw with! The store was Vertecchi, described in one of my guide books as "the queen of Rome's stationary and art stores". Indeed.

I indulged myself in a new set of lovely pastel gel pens that draw just like fine paint.... This is the resulting doodle over lunch, no longer in my possesion. My server was admiring it, so I gave it to her. So far that's one doodle adorning Rome (have left a few elsewhere in Europe).... BTW, for those who know me, yes, that's my name on it. I used to just sign my initials. Made the big transition to signing my name.

Me in my napkin holder...

Odd picture really. Noticed a mirror in the storefront across the street from the cafe, so snapped a pic of moi and passersby. Weird....

Iniside the cafe, he biggest jars of Nutella I've ever seen. Probably a gallon. Just an average doorway, lol....

There was this HUGE swarm of people outside the Gucci store, it turns out Julia Roberts was in the store. Poor girl, no privacy whatsoever. She later left in a motorcade. Loved this one of my crowd pics, the girl's expression says it all (for those who are into this kind of thing).

Loved this moment: this car had two very beefy men in it, macho expressions on their faces, couldn't help but giggle.

That's it for that day. I will blog more about some of my other adventures, the highlights of which so far have been:

• A day trip to Pompeii and Sorrento!
• The Capitoline Museums
• The Palazzo Barberini

For now, back to nursing my cold, nibbling buffalo mozzerella for dinner, and wondering if it will rain again later. Boy, when it rains her, it RAINS! The loudest thunder I think I've ever heard. No wonder in ancient times people thought that the gods were angry, and created Zeus (Greek) / Jupiter (Roman) with this thunder sticks.....

Arrival in Rome!

Yes, I have arrived in Rome, the picture above being proof!

This is a quick note to say that I am alive and well, and to satisfy those who keep asking for a blog update! ;-)

I have been here a few days, but my internet connection varies, and is offline when I am usually online (wifi only available 9am-9pm, roughly, sometimes the server sleeps in, sometimes it is up late, but regardless it's not a steady thing).

So far I have had a drink overlooking the 2nd floor of the Collosseum, explored the Ghetto, visited the site where Julius Caesar met his maker, and visited the cat sanctuary! Otherwise I have been sleeping (like the 14 hours I slept upon my arrival!), getting to know my neighborhood, eating gelato and figuring out transit intricacies. Plus doing some contract work.... And trying to stay out of the heat

More soon.....