Hello again...

Sorry if you thought I forgot about the blog - nope - I just fell off the information super highway grid for awhile.  Literally.   Today I arrived in Siena and re-found my WIFI connection.  So time to do some catch up...

I left Rome on 5/10 but have some closing thoughts and reflections that I'd like to share with you..

Rome is a very beautiful city filled with incredible amounts of history that is all geographically close together making it easier for the wayward tourist to find their way around.   I stayed here long enough to become familiar with the streets and could find my way home from just about anywhere because it is near the train station and Rome is very good at posting signs for the train station…

But it is a city and it's filled with noise and chaos as well as 10s of thousands of tourist (all who came to see the same things I did), millions of citizens (all of which, except one, were  very nice to me), who drive millions of scooters, cars, buses and trucks.  Yet somehow exist in concert with each other, even the tourist.  I think it is because the rhythm of life in Italy is on a much slower pace than America.

Everybody walks slower.  It’s more of a stroll than a walk.  But they can stroll for hours and hours, where in America it seems to be a chore just to find one hour in the day to hit the gym.  But here you stroll, every day, usually twice a day – after lunch and again after dinner.  Rather than spend time in a gym, they walk the streets, which are full of hills and steps, with their friends or family.  There are a few speedy walkers, but they just pass where and when the can and no one is bothered.  In my 2 ½ weeks in Rome, and all the walking around I have done, I have seen only 7 runners.  And if there are gyms in these buildings, I can’t find them.   There are no brightly lit buildings with rows of treadmills and elliptical machines lining the windows so everyone can watch humans sweat.  There are just shops, and cafes, and fountains, and bars, and historical ruins, and restaurants and churches, and more churches…   

Everybody eats slower.  No matter if they are eating a Panini on a park bench, sitting in a café or in a restaurant; the meal takes longer and is used as time for socializing.  Not with your IPAD or your cell phone, but with the other human beings that are sitting at the table.  And when you’re talking, you can’t help but eat slower and take smaller bites, because it would be rude to act any other way.   And when someone says “but I thought we were going to have coffee” you stay for another 5 or 10 minutes, because it would be rude to refuse.   Even when eating alone, I eat slower because everyone around me is eating slower.  I linger at the table, finishing my water or wine, and just sit.   The waiter doesn’t bother me except to ask if there is anything I need.  A check is not mentioned and they do not take your plate until it is completely empty or you request it be taken.  And when eating with a group of people, they do not take away anyone’s plate until everyone at the table is done eating – because it is rude to do otherwise.   This is one of my pet peeves about the majority of American restaurants I have had the pleasure of giving my hard earned cash to.  As soon as one person’s plate is empty, the wait staff comes by and removes their plate from the table.  Leaving that person to sit with an empty place setting and watch everyone else eat.  So if you’re reading this and you happen to work in a restaurant in America that does this, please take this moment to rethink this practice and stop doing it.  Because there are many of us American people that think this is a rude thing to do.  Because it is…   But, I digress…

Everything in Rome is expensive; tours, rooms (depending on the time of year), clothes, food, etc.  (except Gelato – that is pretty reasonable)  And sometimes it not always easy to find what you need.   Stamps are sold at Tobacco shops.   Bus tickets and Roma Passes are sold at Magazine stands.  You can’t buy cough syrup or cold medicine at a drug store – there aren't any drug stores.  Instead you go to a pharmacy, tell the pharmacist your symptoms and then they pick medicine they think that is right for you.  You can ask for your American favorite, but chances are they won't have it, because this ain't America.  I've become an expert at pharmacies.  I've fought a cold for over 3 weeks and now know where to find many of the Pharmacy's in Rome, and how to act out ever possible cold symptom you can think of.  I hope they have me on film, some of it was Academy award winning performances.    

The best part of the journey has been the people I have met at Luca’s Bed and Breakfast.  All have left a permanent mark in my memory.  Luca is a very charming and respectful host; he opens his home to you and wants your stay with him to be memorable.  Although it is a B&B, I shared most of their evening meals with he and Nicole and any other guest that happened to be there.  Luca and Nicole prepared simple and delicious Italian dishes made with the freshest of ingredients.  And the conversation around the kitchen table, that often went on until late in the evening, was lovely.  

So I say "Ciao" to Rome and move on to the next adventure - meeting up with friends from Hershey PA and exploring towns in Tuscany as well as the island of Sicily.