Vorrei un cono di gelato

I'm now safely home from 10 days in Italy, and the stories are abundant. I'll give you a short bit more of them now, then will try this weekend to catch you up on the rest.

Rome was really, really great. I hadn't spent much time there last time, so it was good to see more of the sites. Maike and I did the whole thing without public transportation, and I am not kidding when I say we crossed the city of Rome completely one day, twice. We went to the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum, Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps, the Roman Forum, Pallatine Hill, and the Catacombs of Priscilla. We also spent an afternoon in the Vatican, and Maike made us go through the Sistine Chapel twice. :)

We discovered a little cafe very near our hostel, and went there everyday. They were great for coffee and a pastry in the morning. The men who worked there were adorable in their little red bowties, and the coffee, like all coffee in Italy, was wonderful. Besides, it was cheap, and that's unusual in Western Europe.

The Catacombs were very cool. We'd seen some in France, but these were completely different. In Paris, there were just stacks and stacks of bones alongside stone plaques with Latin inscriptions. In Rome, there aren't many bodies remaining, but you can see the tombs, and there are great works of art, including a 2nd century fresco of Jonah and the Whale and a very early depiction of the Virgin Mary. We actually had a tour guide who spoke English, and he was really HOT!

Oh, and I stepped in dog poop TWICE. Ridiculous. Italians and their stupid dogs! Grrrrr.

I came back with a tan too. Who gets a tan in Mid-October?!!