Will the memories sustain me through the cold winter?

Delicioso

While I will miss the perfect cappucinos (thick froth, but rich and milky, not all air like Starbucks' which are expensive and suck), I will be happy to return to my big steaming hot mug of coffee. Two ounces of coffee in the morning just isn't a lingering cuppa.

La Bocca della Verita

With half a day to burn, we headed out to see the church where La Bocca della Verita, known to anyone who has seen Roman Holiday, will bite off your hand if you answer untruthfully to a question asked. Chip asked very tame questions such as "Do you love gelato?" and "Do you love Zac Efron?" That was a waste of an opportunity to find out some good gossip, in my opinion.



Jewish ghetto supermodel

Recommended in the guidebook, we didn't have time to go to the Jewish ghetto, or so we thought. We stumbled right into the neighborhood looking for the bus. Many shops closed, there was a fantastic pizzeria open which had the hallmark of a good eating establishment. Policemen were popping in mid-shift to grab pizza by the gram. We ordered four different kinds and enjoyed a fantastic lunch quite unexpectedly in this tiny maze of streets. A fantastic last meal for about ten dollars. We could not make a mistake this trip, food wise. Roasted artichoke very big here. On the pizza is especially tasty, but just a plain roasted artichoke, which tastes like it's roasted in olive oil, salt and love, is also delicious as we discovered at Dino and Tonys.







I will miss the mediterranean colors

Just barely enough time left for one last gelato before our cab to the airport. We made it back to Oxford in the pouring rain, but it still felt like home and it felt good to be back.

Ancient Rome as felt by my ankles

The gladiators

Colosseum

Trevi Fountain

He better be wishing to come back with me

There's almost too much good stuff to photograph. It is amazing that the city with a million vespas, honking horns, chic fashionistas and the latest in cell phones can have a two thousand year old history. The exoskeleton of the city shows the wear and tear, as evidenced mostly by the sidewalks along the river, if you don't count the obvious sites. The sidewalks appear to have been patched thousands of times and there is just no fixing them anymore. There's graffiti everywhere but after awhile, it sort of blends in with the rest of the gritty scenery. Lots of graffiti in ancient times as well, from what I've read. Given the bloody past of the ancient Romans, a little graffiti seems pretty tame. Anyway, just a short post this morning because I have an audience with the Pope. I plan to let him know my thoughts on the merits of birth control.