In Rome
Lana and I are in Rome. We didn't see Laocoön or the giant foot, but we saw some fantastic graffiti and ate at Otello's on della Croce, just off the Corso.
I've been in Europe for nearly a month now, but it doesn't feel like very long. I suppose a month isn't that long. This is not the first time I've been away from home for an extended period, so it doesn't feel strange and I don't miss San Francisco. I do miss some people, though.
When I went into St. Peter's Basilica today I felt overwhelmed but not impressed. Impressed isn't the right word. It was more like wondering, "Why on earth does this place have to be so big?" Obviously the sheer size and age of it are amazing, but I wasn't very moved. I was expecting to be moved, I guess, or I woudln't be thinking about how I wasn't moved.
Much more touching (I am thinking of Vergil now) were the ancient ruins, although the colisseum was underwhelming. There are pieces of the ancient world all over this city so that it feels like extortion to have to pay to go into a museum when the city itself is a museum. 13 euro to get into the Vatican museums, another 4 to visit the cupola in the Basilica. This trip is more expensive than I thought it would be.
Good food is expensive, too, and I really like good food. Cheap food is easy to find, but if it's cheap and good, it's also in bite-sized portions and not enough to keep me from feeling hungry. If you want to find bad Italian food, come to Italy! There's lots of it. But it's just the same at home; if you want bad American food, go to America.
I really do like Rome. It's much easier to feel at home here than in Florence, which is so small. So far, though, I've liked Munich best of all. That's probably because my German is a lot better than my Italian. It's been many years since I've studied Italian, so I've had to relearn some of it here. Luckily I gained functionality quickly. Why, just today I bought stamps without the man selling them to me speaking a word of English.
That's something I wasn't expecting, how easy it is to get by with no Italian. Even if you speak a little Italian, any Italian who knows English is happy and willing to switch to English. In Germany I didn't have to speak any English, except at the hostel, where I was addressed in English.
It's fun walking down the street here with Lana and being solicited for things. We've been greeted in Spanish, German, and English. In Florence a man working at Palazzo Pitti museum thought I was French. And then I've been asked for directions in Italian, and wasn't able to offer any real assistance.
New Year was spent in Munich, where I was sick and slept through the changing of the years. Even now I have a pesky cough that is going away very slowly. Christmas in Rome, drinking champange and beer; I got propositioned by a man in a suit being driven in a Mercedes. He invited me to his hotel, but I declined.
We are spending our last hours in Rome at the hostel. We have to pack and don't want to.
I've been in Europe for nearly a month now, but it doesn't feel like very long. I suppose a month isn't that long. This is not the first time I've been away from home for an extended period, so it doesn't feel strange and I don't miss San Francisco. I do miss some people, though.
When I went into St. Peter's Basilica today I felt overwhelmed but not impressed. Impressed isn't the right word. It was more like wondering, "Why on earth does this place have to be so big?" Obviously the sheer size and age of it are amazing, but I wasn't very moved. I was expecting to be moved, I guess, or I woudln't be thinking about how I wasn't moved.
Much more touching (I am thinking of Vergil now) were the ancient ruins, although the colisseum was underwhelming. There are pieces of the ancient world all over this city so that it feels like extortion to have to pay to go into a museum when the city itself is a museum. 13 euro to get into the Vatican museums, another 4 to visit the cupola in the Basilica. This trip is more expensive than I thought it would be.
Good food is expensive, too, and I really like good food. Cheap food is easy to find, but if it's cheap and good, it's also in bite-sized portions and not enough to keep me from feeling hungry. If you want to find bad Italian food, come to Italy! There's lots of it. But it's just the same at home; if you want bad American food, go to America.
I really do like Rome. It's much easier to feel at home here than in Florence, which is so small. So far, though, I've liked Munich best of all. That's probably because my German is a lot better than my Italian. It's been many years since I've studied Italian, so I've had to relearn some of it here. Luckily I gained functionality quickly. Why, just today I bought stamps without the man selling them to me speaking a word of English.
That's something I wasn't expecting, how easy it is to get by with no Italian. Even if you speak a little Italian, any Italian who knows English is happy and willing to switch to English. In Germany I didn't have to speak any English, except at the hostel, where I was addressed in English.
It's fun walking down the street here with Lana and being solicited for things. We've been greeted in Spanish, German, and English. In Florence a man working at Palazzo Pitti museum thought I was French. And then I've been asked for directions in Italian, and wasn't able to offer any real assistance.
New Year was spent in Munich, where I was sick and slept through the changing of the years. Even now I have a pesky cough that is going away very slowly. Christmas in Rome, drinking champange and beer; I got propositioned by a man in a suit being driven in a Mercedes. He invited me to his hotel, but I declined.
We are spending our last hours in Rome at the hostel. We have to pack and don't want to.