SPQR
For the past few days, I’ve been fighting with the computer at the home we are staying at. Apparently, XP Pro in Italy means unstable. Anyhow, I seem to have fixed the problem and can now give you some idea of what has been going on in Rome.
Day 1: Get to Rome around 5pm. After ariving at the apartment we were staying at, we headed out to meet Bob’s friend, Bob. Henceforth, my cousin Bob will be CB. It will just be easier for all involved. We went out at 8pm to a bar in the Piazza de Fiori, which has a nice statue of Bruno right in the center of it. Bruno, as some of you might know, was condemned by good old St. Robert Bellarmine, the same Jesuit who was kind enough to convict Galileo on similar charges. Italians today celebrate Bruno as quite the free thinker. Bob, CB and I were quite the free drinkers.
As is often the case in a city of millions, we ran into people CB knew at the bar. This of course required more drinks. Following a few rounds, we parted ways and Bob, CB and I had dinner at a little sardinian eatery. 2 bottles of mineral water and 3 bottles of wine later, we finished our meal with some nice lemon sorbets. As it was only 1 AM, the obvious choice was to find out which nearby bars were open. About 5 glasses of Braca Menta later, we finally made it home. 4am saw us finally return home. CB woke me up around noon to see if I wanted to go to lunch (he had woken up just before that) to which I made some sort of unintelligable comment and rolled back over to sleep. I proceeded to wake up at 6pm. I can only assume a combination of jet lag and alcohol helped in my slumber. Which I guess brings me to the evening of day 2.
Day 2: This, of course, began roughly at 6pm when I woke up (Finally). We decided to go out and see what was going on. We wandered over to the Piazza del Populo, where there used to be all sorts of public hangings, and had some early evening beverages at a trendy little place around there. Following a proseco, we headed over to the Spanish Steps. From there, we began our search for an open place to eat. This is actually much more difficult than you might think, as apparently much of Italy takes the month of August off to go to the seashore. As a result, many of the better places Bob knows about have been closed. We swung by St. Ignatio Church, as well as the Pantheon. We finally found a place to eat, and had a nice little meal. Following that, we stopped by Hard Rock Rome and grabbed a shot glass, then went to a place called Harry’s Bar. It looked as if it were pulled out of Goldfinger. More interesting was the Italian lounge singer trying to sing songs in english. We spent two Braca Mentas there, and headed out. We called it an early night, and were asleep by 2am.
Day 3 (TODAY): We had planned to stop by the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s, but both were crowded as all hell, and the sun was hot. The lines stretched at least a half of a mile. With those plans down the tubes, we resolved to get there early tomorrow morning, and just wander around this afternoon. Bob had plans to meet with his friend Roberta for lunch at a place near the Spanish Steps anyhow, so it all worked out. I had the chance to go into St. Ignatio today, and say hello to good old Robert Bellarmine, patron saint of my Alma Mater, as well as a thorn in the side of science. They have him lying under glass, preserved for the past few hundred years. His hands and face are covered in a metal mask, however, because time has not been too kind to old Robert. Their preservation methods weren’t so hot back then, I imagine. We had drinks and lunch with Roberta, who is just a riot, and returned just a little while ago. Dinner is probably soon. Now that I have this computer functioning, I hope to have some decent images uploaded tonight - but don’t hold me to that.
Day 1: Get to Rome around 5pm. After ariving at the apartment we were staying at, we headed out to meet Bob’s friend, Bob. Henceforth, my cousin Bob will be CB. It will just be easier for all involved. We went out at 8pm to a bar in the Piazza de Fiori, which has a nice statue of Bruno right in the center of it. Bruno, as some of you might know, was condemned by good old St. Robert Bellarmine, the same Jesuit who was kind enough to convict Galileo on similar charges. Italians today celebrate Bruno as quite the free thinker. Bob, CB and I were quite the free drinkers.
As is often the case in a city of millions, we ran into people CB knew at the bar. This of course required more drinks. Following a few rounds, we parted ways and Bob, CB and I had dinner at a little sardinian eatery. 2 bottles of mineral water and 3 bottles of wine later, we finished our meal with some nice lemon sorbets. As it was only 1 AM, the obvious choice was to find out which nearby bars were open. About 5 glasses of Braca Menta later, we finally made it home. 4am saw us finally return home. CB woke me up around noon to see if I wanted to go to lunch (he had woken up just before that) to which I made some sort of unintelligable comment and rolled back over to sleep. I proceeded to wake up at 6pm. I can only assume a combination of jet lag and alcohol helped in my slumber. Which I guess brings me to the evening of day 2.
Day 2: This, of course, began roughly at 6pm when I woke up (Finally). We decided to go out and see what was going on. We wandered over to the Piazza del Populo, where there used to be all sorts of public hangings, and had some early evening beverages at a trendy little place around there. Following a proseco, we headed over to the Spanish Steps. From there, we began our search for an open place to eat. This is actually much more difficult than you might think, as apparently much of Italy takes the month of August off to go to the seashore. As a result, many of the better places Bob knows about have been closed. We swung by St. Ignatio Church, as well as the Pantheon. We finally found a place to eat, and had a nice little meal. Following that, we stopped by Hard Rock Rome and grabbed a shot glass, then went to a place called Harry’s Bar. It looked as if it were pulled out of Goldfinger. More interesting was the Italian lounge singer trying to sing songs in english. We spent two Braca Mentas there, and headed out. We called it an early night, and were asleep by 2am.
Day 3 (TODAY): We had planned to stop by the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s, but both were crowded as all hell, and the sun was hot. The lines stretched at least a half of a mile. With those plans down the tubes, we resolved to get there early tomorrow morning, and just wander around this afternoon. Bob had plans to meet with his friend Roberta for lunch at a place near the Spanish Steps anyhow, so it all worked out. I had the chance to go into St. Ignatio today, and say hello to good old Robert Bellarmine, patron saint of my Alma Mater, as well as a thorn in the side of science. They have him lying under glass, preserved for the past few hundred years. His hands and face are covered in a metal mask, however, because time has not been too kind to old Robert. Their preservation methods weren’t so hot back then, I imagine. We had drinks and lunch with Roberta, who is just a riot, and returned just a little while ago. Dinner is probably soon. Now that I have this computer functioning, I hope to have some decent images uploaded tonight - but don’t hold me to that.