And am I exhausted. 5 hour flight from San Diego to JFK and then an overnight flight to Rome, curled up in my seat (luckily, no one sitting next to me), scrunched up against a pillow and an inflatable neck rest, kind of tough. But here I am! Small room in the Prati/Vaticano section of Rome, a familiar place because Mary & I have stayed in this area before, though I'm at the Lepanto Metro stop, a little more down at the heels, but comfortable. First impressions: interesting style vibes, the Italian "bel figura," dressing well, cutting a figure, moda a la mode, and ancient remnants of past styles permeating the air . . . from the shuttle bus whipping along the auto strada, saw wierd hybrids, a Byzantine church tower stacked on top of a faux Baroque building with a green plexiglass awning jammed into the works . . . it feels like people are rushing about to keep everything from collapsing & they do it with a little stylish touch of arrogance and privilege . . . just a first impression . . . it is amazing to see the remains of Roman architecture everywhere, sometimes incorporated right into the walls of much more recent dwellings . . . & Italian . . . living out in the desert, I don't speak much Italian these days, though I have Italian friends I write to whenever I can . . . so it felt good, to go from exhausted babbling earlier this afternoon to actually asking questions & getting answers I understood, and holding some fragments of conversations that made sense, laced with lots of sbagli & goofs . . . off to Florence/Firenze tomorrow to meet up with our friends Fiorella & Giovanni who run a B&B in La Spezia, people we met on our first Italian trip in 2004, who've become good friends over the years. OK, first impressions. Exhausted. Hope I can sleep well tonight, 'cause I need it.
Oh, no pictures today. Too much in motion to stop & snap pix. Maybe tomorrow . . .
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