Back from Italy! My, what a great city Rome is. You just do not know how long a civilization has been around until you have been to Rome and see the ruins from thousands of years ago. My 7 day tour ended just like that, and just like that, I am jetlagged, trying to type in from the computer. Trying to get some thoughts out before I lose it. Rome is so culturally different than what I imagined. First off, I thought Romans love to booze and party. To my surprise, their concept of a BAR is nothing more than a cafe, serving potent coffee and sandwiches. Nonetheless, I frequented a lot of the BAR's. I went in the morning, sometimes dropped in during the afternoon, and might even go by at night.Coffee is drunk different than here. The first time I ordered coffee, I orderd a cafe freddo. Not knowing what it was, the waiter poured me a cold expresso sweetened with sugar. It was not more than 2 oz, but man did I get a jolt of caffine! I mean, I just had a venti vanilla lattee from Starbucks and I can't even stay awake. A small shot of expresso from Rome, and I can climb trees for a few hours!Italian food from Italy was so GOOD and not what is served here. If you were to go to a resturant in Rome, expect to sit for a few hours. There is no rushing you to eat, and there is never a rush to pay and leave. You can sit for days and just stare the interesting decor that often times hangs in these little food joints. But, you need to know where to find the good eateries, as there are a lot of spaghetti and meatball joints for the tourists who do not know what to expect. My first meal was exactly one of these touristy joints. I asked to proscuitto with melon, but the place said it was out of season. Next I ordered one of those thin crust pizza's that Rome is famous for. What comes out is a slab of microwaved pizza with uber-melted mozzerella on a warmed up pizza crust. Not what I expected. But rest assure, the rest of the week was a more pleasant dining experience. I was able to sample freshly made spaghetti, with a great carbonara sauce. I was also able to find a place which servered some of the best thin crust pizza's I've ever had. Ok, ok, that does not amount to much, but it was still good. And the kicker is this nice Florentine T-Bone which just had me wanting to go back a second night. But at 22 euro's a pound, with a 2 pound miniumum, I opted to try a different place. But man, was I happy to get a full bottle of Remy Martin for a desert liquour!!Now, what do I want to say about some of the attractions around town? They are HUGE!!!! Anything built by romans have a prereq of being 10 stories tall and have a minimum of 20 columns, and writing with a lot of Vs instead of U's. From the colesseo to the roman forums, to even the smallest church, it must have sculptures, colorful paintings on the ceiling and big doors, combined with smaller usable doors. Now, I ask, how do you spot an american in a tucked away trattoria? Easy, he asks for the "Vino day casa" as a bebita. First off, this is Italy and not Barcelona. Isn't casa a spanish word? Man, what an annoying SOB. Maybe I should feel sorry for him. I can't bring myself to tell the italian waiters to serve up the Caprese with half a bottle of olive oil! Oh well, I guess that is the characteristics of people I interact with daily. I just did not know how obnoxious some of them are. By that, I mean, people from Jesusland, and not the U.S. of Canada!Now that I am back home, I am itching to run down to the surf, and get my ass handed to me by mother nature. It might happen tomorrow!I do have a ton of pictures to post, but right now, I am going to find my Vino de Casa, pour some olive oil over everything I am going to eat, and then try to figure out what to do for thanksgiving. I love the plan, go on vacation for a week, then come home for a four day weekend!
