When in Rome...and a Blast From the Past

I haven't blogged in a couple days, so I am going to play catch-up.

Thursday, the kids and I went to Rome.  The day began at 4:30 am, since we had to be out of the apartment at 5:00 am to catch the train.  Walking through the streets at 5:00 was the quietest I have seen things since we got here.  I have to admit that I slept much of the train ride to Rome, and then the whirlwind tour began.

Sara had arranged (thanks, Sara!  you are truly the best travel agent/fun arranger/tour goddess ever!) for an all-day walking tour to cover the things we thought were "must see" and walk and see we surely did!  We started at the Colosseum, took in Palatine Hill, the forum, the Pantheon and points between in the morning.

I think the most impressive of the morning sights was the Pantheon.  The domed roof really does defy gravity, as far as imagining how they ever contructed it.  And, since it raned, thundered, and hailed on our way there, we were abole to witness firsthand the efficiency of the drainage system in the floor.  The domed roof, you see, has an enormous hole in the center to let light in.  But then, when it rains, it also lets rain in.  So, drain holes were cut into the marble floors to deal with the water.  Having stepped from outside, where rain was puddling up and street drains were already backing up, into this amazing place where there was already almost no water on the floor at all, it was clear that the engineering of this place was brilliant.

Another interesting tidbit of information: there are water drinking fountains all over Rome, and all of the water is potable.  It has a high lime concentrate, because they use limestone to naturally purify their water (and have for millenia), so you may get kidney stones if you drink it for years, but it is drinkable and really good.  Take one water bottle with you, and fill it up wherever you like.  Water ain't cheap here in bottles, so it was good to take advantage of the free stuff.  

After a quick lunch (in a really cool little restaurant that had a turntable playing music, which we have seen more than once here, and also had a huge poster of a naked woman right over our table, which I think made the boys happy), we met up with the afternoon portion of the tour.

The afternoon had us in the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St Peter's Basilica.  The Sistine chapel allows no photography nor talking (clearly an effort for me) but St. Peter's allows photography, with flash.  Hmmm, that's odd.  All of the museumes say no flash photography, in order to preserve the paintings.  The guide asked me to zoom in on one of the paintings and tell him what I saw. And there was the best part of my afternoon.  Ever single painting in St. Peter's in not a painting at all; they are ALL mosaics done by Venetians.  Holy cannoli!  The Sistine Chapel was astounding, thinking of Michelangelo doing all of that ceiling painting, but then thinking of men painstakingly creating the ceiling art in St, Peter's, tile by tile, in pieces so small the they actually appeared to BE paintings?  The totally won the amazement prize for me.

So, tours over, we had dinner, then waiting for our train and it was back to Florence (more sleeping on the train).  We got home around 11 pm.  Loooong day, but packed with amazing stuff.  I think I could probably spend a month in Rome (or perhaps a year?)  Our morning tour guide told us that she came to Rome for a five-day visit, four years ago.  So, I'm not the only person to ever threaten to not go home...

On to Friday, then....

Friday morning was a wander-around close, not do much morning, and then Sara and I strolled over to the Santa Croce leather market to check out the shops.  There were tons of little kids in the piazza, and Sara and I talked about the fact that epople don't seem to WORRY so much about their kids here.  They are allowed to ru around and be children!  There aren't two parents on top of every child making sure that they are only a foot away, in case the kid gets kidnapped, or falls down, or needs his nose wiped.  It's lovely.  (And I told Sara that I still here crap from some people when I tell them that I let Alec go to the park near our home by himself when he was 8 or 9, but those are the same parents who drove their kids two blocks to middle school at the age of 13).  Yes, I know we are responsible for our kids' safety, but jeesh, at some point they have to be individuals.  OK, 'nuff said.

Best compliment of the day: A middle-aged man named Stefano in a shop wanted to sell me a laptop bag (and I may well go back and get it for myself).  He asked me where I was from, i said California, he asked if I was staying close, I said yes, on Ciompi.  He said, "Oh, you're from the US but you are Italian?" so I guess that even though I can't speak Italian, my pronunciation is decent. (And yeah, listening to the tourists, especially the Brits for some reason, trying to pronouce Italian makes my teeth grind).

So, Sara and I wander home, walk in the door, and our guests have arrived!!!  Carina was my kids' au pair for a year when we first moved to Roseville in 1989, but just as importantly, she was my first friend in Roseville and we have remained in touch for 24 years.  I stayed with her and her family when I went to Sweden in 2008, and now she and her husband, Per, and chilren Andreas (11) and Emma (8) have come to stay with us here in Florence for a few days.  She hasn't seen the kids for about 20 years, since she made a quick second visit to the states, so we had lunch, walked around, got some groceries, and then just made dinner and visited.

I know I shouldn't be quite so excited about food, but this also means that we get Swedish pancakes for dinner tomorrow night!!  :-)

And now?  It is Saturday morning, I sit at the huge dining table blogging, I can hear Carina and her family getting up in the next room.  My kids have gone off ona  day trip to Cinque Terre, and today will be mostly a relaxing, walk around and do not a lot of things day.

I may well go back and get that laptop bag, though.  It was beautiful. 

Happy weekend, my friends!!