Old Italian Men

I went to the POST OFFICE yesterday! It was really, really intimidating, with tons of italians in line speaking really fast. APPARENTLY, you have to take a NUMBER when you arrive at the post office, to be the next one served. Of course. Why wouldn't you have to do that? Italy, the land of confusion and inconvenience for the sake of difficulty. Well, I didn't take a number, so some woman started talking to me, and of course I stared at her not knowing what was going on, but then the woman working there beckoned me to her station. I mailed 14 postcards. The stamps were really old school stamps, that required ripping apart on the dotted line, and using a glue-stick to apply. Non of that new age adhesive sticker stuff we use. So, hopefully everyone will be receiving them in the next 90 days. I hear the Italian post office isn't too rapido.

I spent the rest of my day across the Tiber River in a super great area called Trastevere. On my way crossing one of the bridges, this old man, probably like 67 years old, said to me "When I look at you, I think of a bambolina!" I of course, had to know what that meant, so I asked him and he said it means "little doll." Haha, ok. He proceeded to chat my ear off and ask me where I was from and told me his son is a pilot out of the raleigh durham airport in NC! SO. RANDOM. I then told him I just went to school very very close to there. He told me he should set me up with his son, but alas, I had no pen to record information. He then told me a restaurant to go to in Trastevere, and called up the chef, and told him I was coming. However, something very common amongst the italians is there lack of good direction giving. He told me the street name and acted like it was right across the bridge to the left. However, when I crossed the street, there were about 900 little alley streets with millions of names and directions to go, so after 40 minutes of NOT finding the street he spoke of, I gave up. I was kind of sad bc it would have been cool to go somewhere a guy who lives there claims to be the ultimate. But oh well. I found another place, and specifically went there bc it said PIZZERIA on the outside. When I was seated and looked at the menu, it said ONLY PIZZA AT NIGHT. Damn. But I had some gnocchi. and It was good. And none of the waiters spoke english. So that was cool.

This area is especially very authentic and Roman, with little tourist interaction. Lots of cool vintagey shops and tonnnns of super good and cool restaurants and cafes. I actually purchased a vintage bag from a little place, and then went to a cookie store, as listed in my guide book. I wanted to go to this one dessert/cookie/gelato place, but when I arrived the the address, it was CLOSED! Completely, shut down. Sad. But these cookies were good. I told her I wanted chocolate, so she filled me a little bad of assorted chocolate treats. WHAT MORE COULD I WANT?!

I saw Claudio, the waiter who kissed me on the mouth my first day I was here last night. However, he was DEFINITELY working at a different restaurant... hmmm.... I avoided him successfully.

Today, I took a super super cool exclusive tour of The American Embassy. WHOA. This place is MAJOR. It's a huge mansion/compound/used-to be Palace. I guess that's what you get when you win the war! You can only go in if you are guided by someone who works there and can only go on the tour if you know someone works there. Pretty intense. All the entrances have tons if Italian Guards, and you have to go through this big security check before you can go in. It was awesome though. The Ambassador's office is unreal, and a lot of the hallways and staircases are unbelievably exquisite. I think I'd like to marry an Ambassador. I had lunch afterwards with Jimmy, Julia and their friend Nate who works with them (who went to Haverford college while Jimmy was at Haverford school, CRAZY!) at some great modern italian restaurant. It was way trendy and good. I got a "Regina Margherita Pizza" which was just mozzarella and basil and lots of cheese and really thin crust. SO GOOD. I was, clearly, very famished after the tour. And we all know about the unsatisfying Italian breakfasts and how they don't hold you over very well...

For the rest of the day, I walked a lot and, naturally, got lost a lot. This city is very easy to get lost in. So many streets! I did a lot of window shopping but was feeling too lazy to actually try anything on. I'd really like a black leather jacket. Maybe tomorrow.

I walked into a lot of churches yesterday and today. It's almost like every church in this country is famous for something. All the intense artwork and gold everywhere. They are SO elaborate. But also mostly very, very peaceful and dark and nice. I enjoy that dark peacefulness. I went into a few that were empty of any visitors and it was really nice. I always get really stressed upon entering, however, bc they are VERY strict about covering your arms and legs. There are signs everywhere that say a dress code. I brought a sweater with me today, but its simply too hot to wear pants or leggings with all this intense walking. I keep imagining some mean priest kicking me out for being indecent! I went into one right down the street that Jimmy and Julia frequent, and this really old priest came over to me as I was putting my sweater on, and grabbed my hands. He said something in Italian, some mumbling Italian that began with the letter "d". I told him in a really frantic, nervous way that I didn't speak italian, and he continued to talk. Then I said "English" and he said "english", and nodded and walked away. He looked like he was about 90. Hahahaha. Jimmy says hes funny and a little crazy. I wish I knew what he was saying. These old italian dudes, they are somethin' else!

I found leffe blonde at the grocery store! I needed to go there, because I had eaten the last Ringo ice-cream snack in the freezer, and I needed to replenish their stock. (I also love how they call them ice cream, or gelato "snacks"). I think the only places that have Leffe Blonde in stock are NYC and Europe. So gooooooooodddddd. I'm drinking it now at my own personal happy hour.

I also forgot my camera yesterday AND today. I bought a DISPOSABLE camera today. Can't wait to develop those.

We may watch Angels and Demons tonight. It was filmed HERE IN ROME! That's always cool to be there where the movie is, ya know?!

Back to my leffe. :-)