Top ten things I miss about Rome in no specific order:
- Everywhere you look someone has made an effort to impose beauty, even if in an off-hand manner. From the ancient to the modern, the natural to the highly stylized, the Italians have an way with design.
- The food. You would never be served anything less than fresh, good-quality fare, and without a lot of over-the-top presentation. Portions are small, but with the amount of cream, bacon and cheese used in the dishes this is really for the best. Also, I became addicted to blood orange juice.
- The lack of junk in the lifestyle. While it might seem odd to us to seek out a tobacco store to buy stamps and bus tickets, the tobacchi are readily available and easily identified. Rome's shops are smaller and more specific than our, but most of the goods in them are things we actually needed, not rows and rows of impulse items.
- The interrelated ancient, medieval and modern, present all the time.
- Excellent public transportation.
- Poppies and wildflowers growing all over the place, especially in the ruins.
- The bridges over the Tiber.
- Learning something all the time each day to the point that my head was reeling.
- Walking a lot, even on the damned cobblestones.
- Casual wine with dinner. I learned to love Prosecco and Frescatti.
Top ten reasons I'm happy to be home (mostly conveniences, I've noted):
- My peeps.
- Living with the crittern.
- An enclosed, wall mounted shower that is tall enough for me.
- Central lighting.
- My car (no public transportation in Newton Falls or between there and Youngstown)
- Not fearing an overseas flight or having my passport and money stolen.
- Complimentary cold water with ice.
- The radio (NPR, not bad 80's pop).
- Sleeping without 400 people partying below my window.
- Carpeting. I'll appreciate this less once my feet recover from the aforementioned cobblestones.
I can be happy about the frugality with which I packed. If I included anything superfluous it would have been books and media to keep me amused (read: not in a panicked state) on the plane and before bed. In fairness it was much easier to pack because I was going to stay in an apartment rather than a hotel. I'd used almost all the tea bags I'd taken with me, but I could have left the NuSalt at home as Italian food is almost perfectly seasoned before it hits the table. Next time (!) I may bring my tiny pepper grinder, because you rarely get any seasonings on the table.
The whole idea of taking old clothes to throw out worked to the extent that I wasn't forced to do anything more than sink laundry. Don't get the idea that it will leave you tons of room in your suitcase for souvenirs. Also, if traveling to Rome you will feel very under dressed in crappy clothes, even if you are comfortable in public at home wearing the same thing. The quality of service in Rome depends quite a bit on how you look, so take care to distinguish yourself from the hawkers! Remember that as an American you are going to stand out anyway because you will be taller, lighter-skinned and heavier than most Italians. Also, Italians usually wear black, which tourists avoid for the most part. If you have ever worn to black to walk in the sun among ruins you will quickly know why this is, and yet the Italians not only prefer dark clothing, in layers, but they also bundle themselves up against the frigid 70 degree weather with parkas and scarves.
Taking a flash drive to load pictures to from the digital camera worked very well too, but there has to be a computer available to do the transfer. When space and cost are important the flash drive is your friend.
My suitcase is unpacked now. That sucks.
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