Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Roman Holiday

Sorry for the delay; our travel companions kept us pretty busy...

Since we've visited Rome twice in the last six years and spent our first visit on a crash-course through national museums and ancient ruins, we had the luxury of arriving at our San Pietro B&B and relaxedly saying, ¨so, what now?¨

On our first day we were bistro patrons with house red in our glasses on some pedestrian-only boulevard intersection, listening to a xylophone or accordion performance from street musicians. Midway through the day, our band of travelers doubled to include Vicki ¨wine spritzer¨Friedman and Gary ¨Shoppaerobic¨Friedman. They had the same idea the first night, and we had a lot to discuss, so we made quick work of some street gialatto and dined at Piazza Navona.

In the next two days, our travel companions declared war on the shopping districts of central and northwest Rome. The shops didn´t stand a chance, but it was a lot to conquer in two days...

Gary: Scott! Status report!
Scott: Well, it looks like we´re two blocks from the Trevi fountain.
Gary: Affirmative. Resume shopping! Scotty, I need you to hold more shopping bags!
Scott: I´m giving it all I can! Sara´s two blocks back with a sprained ankle!
Vicki: Leave her! Diesel shop at two o´clock!

Just kidding, we had a great time ducking into the shops; it inspired us to come back to the ¨clean side¨and increase our hygiene after our rustic trek. We also really appreciate the birthday gifts we acquired - thanks so much for your attentiveness and your generosity, you two!

We wrapped up the Italian Job with an evening of Euchre at a cafe near the Pantheon, followed by a nighttime trip to Trastevre for a brief dessert, drink, and hookah experience.

We thought we´d lose some luggage weight in Rome after doling out the souvenirs for the St. Louis Friedmans (and Levines), but some nifty pairs of shoes seemed to have found their way into our bags.

To madre & padre: thanks so much for the Roman rendezvous and showing us a great time - we hope you had a delightful 30th anniversary celebration.

More from Iceland!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Scott & Sara -

Thank you so much for showing us a great time. Yeah, your bag is heavy with new shoes, clothes, etc, but you earned them and deserved them for putting up with us. We appreciate everything you did with us.

For public information, Scott is an able pack animal as well as navigator and got us all around Rome with no problems or hassles. I guess he studied too many camels while in Dubai and Turkey. Sara can detect a Gelato shop from a radius of 12.5 km.

Meanwhile, we're very proud of you both and all your accomplishments. Sara, congratulations, in advance, on the big day on Friday.

Love and big hugs to you both...

Love,
El Padre

Unknown said...

In addition to pack mule, Scott is also a very good audio guide (as in reading from a travel book to inform you of the historical significance of differen sites, much like an audio guide). He also responds well to typical audio commands from Sara such as "Audio guide stop!" or "Fast forward audio guide!"