Monday, May 21 - Out and About in Rome

The days are blurring together a bit and I'm having trouble just keeping them straight!.  We slept in today - seems to be a trend - and didn't get out before 11:00am - which wasn't necessarily bad as the morning was wet with rain. Tom spoke to Valentina and we planned to meet at her flat in San Saba Tuesday evening.

Tazza d'Oro is THE place for cappucino in Rome - so they say - and it is just at the corner of our little via Pastini.  It is very good but I thought slightly weak now that our coffee tastes have been steeled by Starbucks.

We headed in the direction of Trastevere, crossing the Tiber at Ponte Garibaldo and just walked a bit.  Tom bought some stamps (francoboli) but feels he paid too much so he has been annoyed by this since. I'm afraid this was not so interesting a day as far as travel writing goes, but a pleasant one. I spent a little time people watching around the Pantheon - such contrasts.

Later in the day we walked down to Piazza Argentina and visited Open Baladin again.  Alessandro the barkeep is just lovely and we sampled several very unusual beers. This is what we enjoy, the conversations with people of interest.   We moved on back to our apartment and had dinner in the area - nothing special.  It's began raining when we sat down so after dinner we hustled back to the flat; but it was a good old midwest thunderstorm with bolts of lightening.

Our flat is on the third floor (without a lift) and Tom is now leaning out the window (smoking a cigar) and chatting up people below as they walk by telling them how beautiful the rain is. He has also managed to bash his toe, cut his finger and lacerate the inside of his mouth.

I'm heading to bed.  All the walking and fresh air is great and it has me looking forward to my pillow.

ciao ciao