As predicted, it is 2:30am Rome time and I am wide awake in our tiny dark room. I thought it was 5:30, which would have been perfect, but no such luck. But never mind all that...
What I noticed first on our long shuttle bus ride with the dozen or so other travel weary passengers on our hotel shuttle service from the airport to our hotel (which is tiny, but lovely by the way):
- Palm trees -- I don't know why I wasn't expecting palm trees
- Lots of graffiti -- just like home and everywhere else I have travelled -- also not sure why I wasn't expecting this
- This town is lousy with nuns, which, I guess is to be expected what with the Vatican and all and, oh, the Pope is canonizing Mother Teresa today I think, which I expect will be popular with the nuns
- MacDonalds -- I am always disappointed to see this scar of globalization
- And then gorgeousness -- tiny, cobbled streets with scooters and tiny cars and buses and people all finding their way fearlessly together.
- And really old, really huge structures, like the Colesseum and the wall surrounding the Vatican, and a humongous domed building with pillars topped by a gold statue. Amazing. The ancient and the old and the new all right there, all very in your face.
Everytime I travel, I wish I were invisible. There are so many characters I would love to take pictures of. Old men sitting outside of storefronts; the gorgeous, young, slick, Italian guy leaning on his motorcycle that his lovely girlfriend is sitting side saddle on; the oddest couples, she bedazzled in make-up and sparkles, he in red skinny pants and red shoes and red t-shirt; the lovely elegant young woman sitting at an outdoor bar with her aperol spritzer waiting for her friend to join her; and back at the airport the airline attendants from another time dressed in green suits with tiny waists and maroon stockings and heels... There are too many to mention. The human landscape is so beautiful and diverse, these characters remind me that people live all over the world. I don't ever want to forget that this place, wherever this place may be at any given time, is someone's home!
As for the doing part of our first day... it mostly involved wandering with tired eyes from eatery to eatery. We met a lovely couple from Kansas (Jason and Jen celebrating their 15 year wedding anniversary) who helped us stay awake until the sun went down chatting about politics, youth culture, cars, comedy, drugs, and family. So, so great.
A perfect first day... And now to try and sleep until the sun comes up.
No comments:
Post a Comment