|
FIRST DAYS (primo giornos) Day One
When I wokeup I took my first shower, which was complicated (see the apartment description), especially because the shower curtain was too long and seemed to be stopping up the drain, severely increasing the chances of me causing a flash-flood on my first day in the place. Nevertheless, I got cleaned up and settled the cats and then went out for groceries. Got some dried toast, some really stinky but good Camembert cheese, some vanilla wafers, a diet coke (or Coca-Cola light as they say here) and some fruit. Also made a visit to the little wine shop and bar down the street and asked them for a recommendation. The owner gave me a bottle of Cabernet and I promised him I'd return every week for a new bottle to try. Hopefully I'll keep true to that and make friendly with them - which would be quite a nice affection to have! Returned to the apartment and after trying to figure out Italian television, I finally went out to find some dinner and see the Fontana di Trevi. That fountain is my absolute favorite thing in Rome (at least until I stumble upon a favorite bar or boy) and all I could think of while in New York preparing for my departure was how nice it would be to have gelato again in front of the Fontana di Trevi. So I wandered up there, walking past Quirinale (the President's palace) and getting only slightly disoriented en route. Grabbed a quattro formaggi pizza from a stall down the street from the fountain, and with a diet coke it only came to 3Euros, which I found to be quite a deal. Ate my pizza, took this picture and was very content, tired, happy and satisfied with day one. Went home and tried to sleep. Day Two
Sleeping was a challenge. I read Middlemarch until 11pm and then finally fell asleep, despite all the crazy unfamiliar sounds of my new neighborhood. (Every creak outside seems to sound like a creak inside my place and I am being super paranoid about both the cats getting out and someone else coming in!) The alarm clock went off unexpectedly at 12:45am, waking me up and unsettling me again, so I watched TV for 2 hours, trying to sort out how the Italian teletext system works (with hopes of finding English subtitles somewhere - but no luck!) Finally fell back to sleep with kitties beside me at 3am, only to be startled awake by the loud screeching brawl of a cat fight outside (with real cats, not crazy Italian girls - sorry to disappoint you guys!) Kaizar and Mao were super freaked out and hid for the rest of the night. I got up and went out to the garden to try to see what was going on (especially since I heard some lame pained sounding whines from the loser of the brawl for a while.) Couldn't sort that out, so read more Middlemarch and finally slept again til 10:30am. Lacking Internet and in need of DSL installation help, I made my way up to the EasyInternetCafe after a shower and breakfast of fruits. Checked email, sent some replies and sent an email to Marco, the only person I know in Rome, in hopes that he could swing by and help me. Unfortunately it seems Marco is on vacation, along with the rest of Rome (everyone here leaves town for all of August, leaving me with only tourists galore). I finally had my long-awaited gelato - pineapple (also known in Italian as "ananas") and strawberry flavors, while sitting in front of the Bernini fountain pictured here. Tried to run more errands, mainly attempting to find cat litter, which proved quite a challenge. I guess not many Italians have house cats so I had to seek for quite a while to find a place that sold the stuff. (Imagine how funny it was for me to try to explain to the Italian sales people what I was looking for!) Came home and gave the cats a litter box and they were thrilled - and finally unclogged. Since I also bought the DK Eyewitnees Travel Guide to Rome, I decided to read a little, which then inspired a quick nap before dinner. For dinner I went to a restaurant just down the street for some pasta. I had spaghetti pomodoro for 7.5Euros and a 1/2 liter of house red wine (which was really quite good) for 3.5Euros more. Not that bad a deal - especially since it let me sit outside for 2 hours reading Middlemarch and watching the people dine and wander around my new neighborhood. Of course while I want to try all the local restaurants, I also need to conserve funds, so I don't intend to eat out too often on my own at full-fledged restaurants. I should save that for when I have company! Came home, called the folks in Florida and then read more and finally went to sleep, only waking twice in the night and managing to go back to bed despite the continued strange creaks, bumps and noises of my neighbors. Day Three Today I wokeup and went straight to the EasyInternetCafe to download some files I need for a little side Perl project I am working on and to try to suss out more help with the DSL. The woman I am subletting from rang yesterday and it struck me that she was the only one to call me - making me wonder if I had the wrong number that I'd been giving out. True enough, I had left out a digit - so I had to email everyone later today, after confirming the number by having my friend Rod in New York ring me, to let them all know. Anyway, the landlady told me to go to the TIM store down the street for DSL help, but they could not assist me. They referred me to the Termini Station.. but they, along with the people at the Internet cafe, were also no help. Fortunately I decided desperate times call for desperate measures and so I signed up for a pay-per-minute global Internet dialup account. Managed to use that when I got back to the apartment - and then found out about Jumpy, a free Italian ISP that only charges you by telephone per minute. (I think it's 5 cents a minute - not sure though - so I am not going online too, too much!) Regardless, now I have Internet access from home which means I don't have to wake up and run to Barberini square for the EasyInternetCafe anymore!
I really meant to write today, but, surprise!, I did not. I read more of my DK Rome guide, talked to Rod for a while, then to Joe in Brazil and then to Constanza in Buenos Aires. Don't I sound so woman-of-the-worldly? I also went out for a wander - to see the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and to get more "gelato ananas" for myself. Was a nice walk at sunset, as the above pictures show. It made me happy that I only have to go outside now when I want to - and not to get on the Internet or otherwise. That makes a big difference in my life! Finally tried to do that Perl project while having dinner when I realised I lost the instructions on what she needed from me (although now at least I have the relevant files and documents). So that has to wait, and I decided instead to get some things together to start a blog online about my Italian adventure. Call it procrastination, but since you are reading it this far, you must be either relatively amused or severely dedicated to me. Either way, I guess it's serving its purpose. Plus it looks sorta cute, no? Tomorrow is Friday, my first weekend. I will again try to stay in and work for most of the day and just head out at dusk to wander to Campo dei' Fiori and Piazza Navona for dinner and maybe a little social activity. Not expecting much though. As I said before, almost all the Romans are out of town and so all that's left are tourists and touristy place. Regardless, another walk about will be good for me. Plus - soon enough I'll have lots of company visiting, so I should enjoy my down-time and not worry too much. I have time - which is the best thing to be able to say about being in a place like Rome! | ||||||
<< back to where it all began...
Content & Photos © 2004 Laura Laytham, laura@girlsaresmarter.com.