so, the first thing we saw the first time we got off the metro stop to head to our apartment was a group of "off-duty" gladiators grabbing pizza slices at the local lunch counter.
(these guys normally stand near the big old shell of a stadium and bilk tourists into giving them money for posing in photos.)
we got some pizza of our own.
traditional-style roman pizza turned our to be our favorite of the trip so far. it's thin, crispy and square; when you order, slices are cut - typically with scissors - from a large sheet and then weighed. (you pay by weight.)
we favored the slices at Il Gladatorini - whose mascot was a disturbing little baby gladiator holding a sword and shield. but it was around the corner from our place and very good. ann and I both took a liking toward a hot pepper-topped pie that, despite our ordering it three times in four days, the pizza guy warned us every time was "caliente!" we would then, every time, say "si" and he would confirm - again - that we indeed wanted the "caliente!" he was apparently very concerned that we knew what we were getting was hot, even through it wasn't really so scorching. the nice thing about the heat deriving from actual small hot peppers baked on the pizza instead of coming from red pepper flakes added post-oven was that the spiciness integrated with the overall flavor and, in some ways, mellowed into a slightly new taste rather than sitting on top of the "pizza flavor."
ann liked that we were staying in "the part of town favored by archaeologists and history buffs" because when we walked to the grocery store or the metro or ... anywhere ... we passed ancient ruins.
and this big thing - a lot.
and this one, too:
the deli and fridge cases in the market said this on them:
I don't know why.
The Pantheon was pretty cool, mostly because it was so intact.
Did I mention that we walked by this a lot?
Rome also has a central market, Campo de Fiori. Situated in a piazza that bore witness to countless public deaths by torture during the Inquisition, it's a little surreal and morbid.
The statue in this photo is of a hooded man - a famous guy killed there. kinda creepy when all you want are some tomatoes.
Near the market we bought this rad fabric from an old man selling ... fabric at a ... fabric store. based on the signs and assumed common sense ("this must be the price per square meter, right?"), I asked the guy for 4 meters. he then explained to me, in a lengthy Italian conversation he had with himself and some scissors ... something. I have no idea what. It involved gestures and emphatic looks and questions and - finally - shrugging. on both our parts. I finally just set some money on the counter, showed it to him and indicated that I would please like him to cut off however much that would buy and I would be on my way.
It worked. And we covered up the apartment's smelly couch with this odd piece of (unintentional?) cool.
Some night, we went to Rome's famed Trevi Fountain. It's big and nice to look at for a minute, but the ever-present flower/candy/flashing light toy peddlers really do their best to ruin the whole experience.
That said, those guys offer some of the better customer service hours in Italy. It seems like everything is closed pretty much all of the time. If you want to buy something in Italy, better wake up early and be prepared to go to four or five places to look for it. And don't even bother on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday afternoon or any day from 1-4 pm — as most everything will be closed.
Except this flower shop around the block from us, which was open something close to 24 hours. We think they were dealing drugs. or pasta.
on Thanksgiving Day (see Ann's previous post for a full account), we went to the Coliseum for a little while before dinner.
which reminds me, they keep their eggs out on the shelf here:
it's a little disconcerting at first, but you get over it. just like how they keep the beer right next to the coca cola (hey kids!)
christmas is coming over here, too:
and the whole Mod thing is big right now. we noticed this in france as well.
it's a prevalent theme in many euro designer chain stores right now (Agnes B., anyone?), but overall, street fashion here has been a bit tame. maybe they sort of give up for the winter? dunno, but the obvious kids with style are usually too obvious and too styled and the rest of the population looks like they love the Gap - or worse.
and on the shoe front, Vans and Converse are *decimating* all euro competition. they are everywhere.
anyway, Ann really liked this crazy cooking game show.
it is hosted by a stock type of Italian TV host - the older blonde lady with the large bust. it's bizarre.
we went to the pope's house
and the roman forum (aka - yep, more ruins)
the senate building
an arch or temple facade or ...
it rained. so ann practiced her head scarving for Egypt:
we wandered into this church one evening across from the gelato stand. it was unassuming from the outside, but turned out to be pretty cool inside:
and the courtyard had palm trees
with that, and four more slices of caliente pizza, we left rome and set off on the train for the port town of Bari and the overnight ferry to Greece...
I took the opportunity to try on my sunglasses and look cool.
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