First Day, kind of

Rome is a kind of OMFG place, and it's kind of a shame to first experience it when you're woozy, but that's what we've got. After we took our recover nap I went out to try to get some cash. This hotel doesn't have a reception desk, so there's no place to change money, so I had to go to an ATM (or Bancomat as they call it here- like most things, it's more fun to say it in Italian). Our hotel is in the ancient area, which unfortunately means there are no ATMs among the ruins and restorations (this isn't the US, after all). So you have to walk well over half a mile uphill to get to an ATM. The walk was incredible though, because of the incredible, beautiful ancient sites everywhere around. There an old theater (and by old I mean 12 BC old) across the street and a palace and all kinds of other ancient Rome stuff. I remember being in both France and Spain and marveling at the ancient Rome stuff and here we are in the middle of these amazing architectural and aesthetic achievements.

We waited out a thunderstorm and then ventured out. I didn't take many pictures because we didn't get out until after 6, but I'll upload what I've got tomorrow. We just kind of walked all over and finally stopped for dinner at the Piazza Campo de Fiori. It was nice eating outside and the food was very pleasant. I'd heard that to American tastes the pasta is crunchy here, but I'd have to say that the pasta with mushrooms I had was cooked perfectly. I also had some swordfish, which wasn't prepared the way we normally do it at home. It was a kind of thin slice, sauteed in butter and while wine and sprinkled with herbs. It was better to my taste than the thick steaks you normally encounter in the US.

The experience was somewhat spoiled by a loud, strident right-wing American guy at the table next to us expounding on how Obama is turning us into a socialist country. I knew some people actually buy that ridiculous story line, but I've never heard anyone go on about it like that. There are only so many straw man arguments and sentences beginning with "Well let me tell you..." you can hear before you want to leap across the aisle and strangle someone.

Then we made it back to the hotel and found the same TV frustration we often find in Europe. Three English channels, being CNN, BBC News, and Bloomberg News. I know I never watch anything except news news news and 1 or 2 channels just isn't enough for me. It's not like I'd want to see some sort of entertainment program or anything. Okay, time to watch The Shawshank Redemption dubbed in Italian.