two coins in a fountain

first, i have to say i just heard three things in succession outside my window.  well, four.  the first was birds screeching.  the second was a gun shot.  the third was more screeching, and the fourth a siren.  i'm just saying.  coincidence?  i think not.

but on with the post.  we are in rome!  roma! the eternal city, right?  it's surreal.  utterly surreal.  it's huge, first off.  and there's a whole lot of ugly and a whole lot of dirt and grime and grit and all the things that go along with a big city.  but then there's the other stuff.  the good stuff.

we are staying in a bed and breakfast in trastevere which is a medieval section of rome that is fairly untouched. cobblestone streets and large, tall and winding houses that belonged to merchants or business people or something like that.  we are in one such house.  it's beautiful, but so different.  marble, wood, tapestries.  not like the comfy cozy places in scotland.  

i think i am more affected than my mother.  she's been so many different places, exotic places. but to me it's just gorgeous and like a fairy tale.

our incredibly rude taxi driver dropped us off in the middle of nowhere and we ended up having to call the b&b for directions.  our hostess came out into the piazza to meet us, which was very nice.  she was sweet and accomodating and made us feel right at home.  we dropped our bags and headed across the street to a small and bustling pizzeria.  i swear to you, the owner reminded me of my great aunt katie. short, fat, ginormous bosoms, tank top, no bra.  yup.  that was her!  cheerful waiter who humored my terrible italian.

that's the other thing.  every time i try to speak italian it comes out french. studied it for eight years, majored in it, guess i should expect no less.  perhaps one can only be fluent in one romance language at a time.  frustrating though.

don't want to fall asleep.  i like listening to the rain hit the tile roofs, the young couples walking on the cobblestones, the mopeds winding up our street.  nice warm change of pace from chilly scotland.

tomorrow a private tour of raphael's rooms at the vatican.  should be inspiring.

miss b and mmm so much i could cry.  don't think i will ever leave them again after this.