... drink water from a fountain - thanks again to the ancient romans and their system of aqueducts
public drinking fountain
... eat like the romans - lotsa pizza, pasta and gelato; shop at daily markets, only a block away, which cath lovingly turns into delicious meals
... get to know the butcher - after 1 visit, he remembered us and our order (1 chicken) three days later. both times, he gave us bones for soup ... free of charge!
... get lost - while looking for a camera repair shop, we stumbled on this circle with a fountain where the old folks from the neighborhood congregated;
other things we found while "lost" - cool bars with people spilling onto streets, an amazing concert by a group of german teenagers playing only guitars at an old church. for the closing number, everyone - orchestra and audience - broke out out into a german folk song (except us)
... watch the birds fly at sunset during make-shift happy hours - liberal european laws on open containers + the italian penchant for socializing in piazzas and bridges make for a fun and scenic happy hour
birds over the tiber river
...get a cold - the day after your birthday, have your wife nurse you back to health; give her the same bug then nurse her back to health ... call home for "rossu" recipe (polish chicken soup) ... since i made that, i'm practically polish ... one step closer to my EU passport and one step closer to becoming james bond.
... run along the tiber river - except when the banks are flooded from the rain (i.e. yesterday)
... admire st. peter's - the most beautiful church we've ever seen
... hang out w/ the pope - it's on our list; weds and sundays, the pope blesses the followers in st. peter's square
st. peter's
dome of st. peter's - 452' high
... soak in the history - the rich and fascinating history of rome is on every block; the colosseum, forum are mind-bending; at its' peak, it took 3 months to travel (and communicate) across the 4000km roman empire ... imagine what they could've done w/ email
roman forum
trajan's forum
roman colosseum
... get swept up in slow food - the slow food movement started here; lingering over long dinners is the european way. the bill doesn't come unless you ask for them; even if there's a long line to get in
... visit with friends and family - cath's dad visited for 4 days; my sister, heather, just arrived; her boyfriend, will, is here too for a week before heading to india where he's organizing a rally to provide health care to indian villages, check it out: Rally For Health
pizza in trastevere with tata
... admire the style of the italians - even the street cleaners look they're ready to go clubbing and, based on the mannerisms, everyday conversations seem to have life-and-death implications; Q: how do you keep an italian from talking? A: tie his hands behind his back.
... go to florence - we took the train to florence for 2 days, good times. cath should be posting about that shortly ...
... plan the next phase of our trip (africa!) - ethiopia on november 1st, then tanzania for a serengetti safari and climbing 19000' mt kilimanjaro ... fwiw, i've spent more time researching and planning the safari/climb than the rest of this trip.
1 comment:
Awesomeness!
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