We went for dinner last night at a place near our apt - our waiter was very energetic, they gave us free champagne for some reason still unknown to us, and in addition to saying, "Ahhh, Amer-ika, Yes we Can!" Over and over, he was scoping the sidewalk for pretty girls and asking for their facebook names. Again, took a long time for the bill - we need to learn that word in Italian. We think its "conto" - but we're a little trepidatious about blurting out random Italian words.
On the way back to the apt we stopped by a vending machine.. Water, soda.. And beer! For just 2 euro you can get a bottle of beer out of the vending machine. We didn't - we got Coca-Light (Diet Coke).
This morning we wanted to get up and walk to Santa Maria church in Cosmedin - that's the one with the mouth of truth. Legend would say that if you were a liar and put your hand in, a stone would drop and take your hand. They say that a priest probably stood behind it and smacked the hands of known offenders. Its said that the mouth stopped working after a man was asked if he was having an affair... He kissed a nearby woman and then boldly declared that he had never kissed any woman other than his wife and that woman... When in reality that woman was his mistress and not a stranger. The mouth was angered by the deception and never worked again after that.
We all got there about 9:20 and it opens at 9:30. There was a good line - but it moved quickly because you are limited to one photo per person. We all stuck our hands in, and still have them. :). Its really big - as tall as us. I've decided I need to watch Roman Holiday again.
We took our time walking back by Circus Maximus - the largest sporting arena in Rome - one of our guides described it as a bunch of naked men playing games. It was the high brow alternative to the blood bath at the Colloseum. Now its just a big grassy field in a valley. Looks like they use it as a park for local events or fairs.
We walked back by the Colloseum - the people on the street selling things are VERY persistent and constant. As soon as you get one guy with scarves in your face to leave (it takes about 5 "nos"), you have another with parasols for the sun, another with crystal trinkets, purses, hats, tripods, sunglasses... But its not legal, and you can tell when the Polizia drive by (and up into the pedestrian area) - they all scatter for a moment. Its quite a cat and mouse game. They all have set ups that they can fold up and run in a moment's notice.
We got back to the apt - our lovely apt... And we heard scratching, from the inside of a built in cupboard above one of the beds. Freaked out! Totally sounded like a rat trying to get out into the apt. We're sure it had a way out because it would go away for a while - and then it would be back, trying to get the door open. Dana and Amy freaked a little more than the rest of us - but we all jumped out of our skin when Dana screamed. So glad he decided to come in on the day we were leaving.
And I promised you all a pic of our street - that's included here. If you look at the picture, the door that is the closest one on the left is our door. We were #13.
Random story about Rome - most menus had English descriptions somewhere, and some even had the italian on one side and the English on the other. On the English side at one restaurant was pizza with "Rocket"... When we asked what that meant, the waiter looked at the Italian side of the menu - then looked at us like "its in English..." ... "Rocket, its a type of salad". Hmmmm. Don't think so.
And one last observation - in most of the stores one of the first thing you'll see is images of Michelangelo's David on aprons (that make you look naked, no head, they match up to your body) - and boxer shorts (same). We grew very accustomed to seeing David's genitalia everywhere. We're curious if all of Italy is the same, since David isn't even in Rome.
We're now on the EuRail train heading to Bari, its a 4 hour trip across the country from Rome to the east coast of Italy - lots of rolling hills, trees, fields of grapes... We'll arrive about noon your time - then a shuttle 35 miles south to Monopoli and a week in the timeshare resort that Amy reserved for us. It will be a week of lazy days, beaches and hanging with the locals. My feet can't wait!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
No comments:
Post a Comment