sea of love
Sunday evening, in Rome still. a man is singing an operetta outside of the outdoor restaurant next door and its spilling in here. beautiful. so...some bullet points, since i know you guys read those more:
+ i went to the supermarket last night to buy some coppa and cheese for sandwiches in the park. it makes a bullet point for the hilarity. one: after putting plastic gloves on, you measure and weigh your own food on a scale and then hit a button that has a DRAWING of your item. a machine then prints out the euro total. why is this funny? well, GARLIC didnt make the list of items in Italy for some strange reason, so i was standing there with garlic for like 10 minutes debating on calling them apples. i then just bought them in the food market on the way home. two: lots of old ladies need things from you in Supermarkets. i pulled some pantene shampoo down for a matronly 80ish happy woman. pointing is a universal language.
+ holy crap, i went to the flea market at Porta Portese at 7:30am today. calling it a flea market is a huge understatement. it makes the Alameda flea market look like a tiny hole in the wall. its like Thrift Town exploded onto a two mile strip of cement PLUS the alameda flea market PLUS an antiques mall PLUS a few pet stores PLUS some crazy, packed, thief-laden Moroccan bazaar. i'm not kidding. i was so overwhelmed that i just wandered in a daze for two hours, which is how long it takes to get from one end to the other. i finally got my head together and shopped around a couple side alleys full of old photos but even that overwhelmed me. i left with nothing. i suck. but im telling you, it was insane. puppies were for sale everywhere. people standing on tables yelling out in Italian for you to come buy their awful clothes, piled on tables. Skip called me from the movies with Kristin, Bryce, Kit and Jakki. and then i called back and my phone ran out of minutes. crap. but then i refilled it and all was well.
+ went to the Musei Capitolini today. whoa. what a gem. aside from, yes, more Caravaggios (including the sexualized St John the Baptist), you can see the infamous Dying Gaul (ca. 230 BCE), some gorgeous Van Dyck's, a hall dedicated to busts of Philosophers (including a great one of blind Homer), the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, Bernini's head of Medusa, and an amazing statue of Commodus dressed as Hercules.
+ it started to rain while i was in the museum. i ran outside and down into the museums gardens that overlook the Roman Forum ruins. as i reached the base, i looked at the bench on the left side of the park, slightly hidden from view. a young Italian couple were having sex. so i got totally embarrassed and flustered, and instead of going to the Colosseum, i went and had some gelato.
+ the Italian women don't follow the fashion rule of "before you go out, take one look at what youre wearing and your makeup". honestly, i think they look in the mirror and say, "i dont have enough gold baubles on, so i will put on a huge gold necklace, maybe a gold headband...and oh...i need more blue eyeliner". they take fashion one step past classy. blue eyeliner and eyeshadow is everywhere.
+ the Rome smog is getting to me. ive been coughing alot more and take atleast two showers a day.
+ i did a major major faux pas. and i don't feel guilty about it. i would cut off my left arm for this, but settled for this. and oh man, i hate to say it, it was heaven. i've had more pizza, prosciutto, pasta, risotto, gnocchi and wine in the last week then i have in a normal month. don't worry, i won't fall off the good food boat many times this trip, i promise.
+ i listened to my ipod in my afternoon nap. listened to estereo's cover of ms. john soda, followed by all of ms. john soda. listened to the silversun pickups demo. listened to pavement. listened to kings of convenience. and last, i listened to the sappy mix cd Skip made me and i totally started crying when Sea of Love started playing. Rome is making me lonely. i miss my boy. and i cannot wait to get to the smaller medieval hillside town of Perugia on Wednesday.
+ i went to the supermarket last night to buy some coppa and cheese for sandwiches in the park. it makes a bullet point for the hilarity. one: after putting plastic gloves on, you measure and weigh your own food on a scale and then hit a button that has a DRAWING of your item. a machine then prints out the euro total. why is this funny? well, GARLIC didnt make the list of items in Italy for some strange reason, so i was standing there with garlic for like 10 minutes debating on calling them apples. i then just bought them in the food market on the way home. two: lots of old ladies need things from you in Supermarkets. i pulled some pantene shampoo down for a matronly 80ish happy woman. pointing is a universal language.
+ holy crap, i went to the flea market at Porta Portese at 7:30am today. calling it a flea market is a huge understatement. it makes the Alameda flea market look like a tiny hole in the wall. its like Thrift Town exploded onto a two mile strip of cement PLUS the alameda flea market PLUS an antiques mall PLUS a few pet stores PLUS some crazy, packed, thief-laden Moroccan bazaar. i'm not kidding. i was so overwhelmed that i just wandered in a daze for two hours, which is how long it takes to get from one end to the other. i finally got my head together and shopped around a couple side alleys full of old photos but even that overwhelmed me. i left with nothing. i suck. but im telling you, it was insane. puppies were for sale everywhere. people standing on tables yelling out in Italian for you to come buy their awful clothes, piled on tables. Skip called me from the movies with Kristin, Bryce, Kit and Jakki. and then i called back and my phone ran out of minutes. crap. but then i refilled it and all was well.
+ went to the Musei Capitolini today. whoa. what a gem. aside from, yes, more Caravaggios (including the sexualized St John the Baptist), you can see the infamous Dying Gaul (ca. 230 BCE), some gorgeous Van Dyck's, a hall dedicated to busts of Philosophers (including a great one of blind Homer), the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, Bernini's head of Medusa, and an amazing statue of Commodus dressed as Hercules.
+ it started to rain while i was in the museum. i ran outside and down into the museums gardens that overlook the Roman Forum ruins. as i reached the base, i looked at the bench on the left side of the park, slightly hidden from view. a young Italian couple were having sex. so i got totally embarrassed and flustered, and instead of going to the Colosseum, i went and had some gelato.
+ the Italian women don't follow the fashion rule of "before you go out, take one look at what youre wearing and your makeup". honestly, i think they look in the mirror and say, "i dont have enough gold baubles on, so i will put on a huge gold necklace, maybe a gold headband...and oh...i need more blue eyeliner". they take fashion one step past classy. blue eyeliner and eyeshadow is everywhere.
+ the Rome smog is getting to me. ive been coughing alot more and take atleast two showers a day.
+ i did a major major faux pas. and i don't feel guilty about it. i would cut off my left arm for this, but settled for this. and oh man, i hate to say it, it was heaven. i've had more pizza, prosciutto, pasta, risotto, gnocchi and wine in the last week then i have in a normal month. don't worry, i won't fall off the good food boat many times this trip, i promise.
+ i listened to my ipod in my afternoon nap. listened to estereo's cover of ms. john soda, followed by all of ms. john soda. listened to the silversun pickups demo. listened to pavement. listened to kings of convenience. and last, i listened to the sappy mix cd Skip made me and i totally started crying when Sea of Love started playing. Rome is making me lonely. i miss my boy. and i cannot wait to get to the smaller medieval hillside town of Perugia on Wednesday.