Evening of Day 2
Trip Start
Dec 03, 2007
1
3
6
Trip End
Dec 15, 2007
Rome, Italy
Thursday, December 6, 2007
I made it to the Vatican and have included a couple of photos of the Vatican (outside and inside). Again, some function at the Vatican with the Swiss guards dressed in their finest and some guy in a cassock all ready to MC something. I've also included a photo of one of the undercover cops at the Vatican.
I had lunch at the place Paul and I ate a few days ago and it was wonderful as usual. I could get used to having wine with lunch! I then stumbled . . . I mean walked to the metro and found a restaurant that an acquaintance opened up south of downtown. After a couple of hours I found it and got to chat with him for a few minutes. If Paul and I return next week we'll make sure to make reservations to eat there.
I made it back (the metro stop is really close to the hotel) to the Spanish Steps. One of the photos shows the steps (no Spanish people there that I could tell) and the area with lots of people just milling around.
Dinner tonight was interesting. I sat and watched and listened to the crowd. There was a very loud American couple from Seattle who are real estate types. Heard all the woes of selling houses on the west coast. Oy! There was a crazy lady and her dog having dinner as well. The only thing that would have made her more eccentric would have been if she had a fried egg on her head. The next lady that walked out with HER dog (she must have been sitting closer to the kitchen) may as well have had an egg on her head (I don't think I've ever seen that color of cap before!). She was kind enough not to drag her dog out immediately when it started to sniff the leg on one of the chairs... thank God it decided not to go to the bathroom just then!
Tomorrow, my plans to go to Naples have been changed. A priest friend that I know from the old days and who now lives and teaches in Rome is in town and we're having lunch (I expect that will take at least 4 hrs as it takes about 2.5 hrs when I'm alone!). I'm sure he'll have interesting stories and I may even get to see some things most people don't . Stay tuned.
Lastly, I bought new shoes. I've included a photo of my brand spanking new pointy Italian shoes. Unlike my brand spanking new Italian haircut that I got last year, these I can take off whenever I want. The haircut was a mistake last year that I had to live with for 4 weeks.
Til tomorrow--
