ROMA!

I have been to Rome before, twice actually, but never with this capacity of time and this, I suppose, appreciation for all things beautiful. THIS CITY IS NOT REAL. It almost feels like Disney World b/c it's THAT amazing and old and just one of those places you can't believe people actually, LIVE and HAVE LIVED for like soooooooo many years. It's ridiculous!!! But in a very, very good way.

I arrived yesterday after flying to Frankfurt from Philadelphia and then into Rome. I think all in all I got about 4 or 5 hours of sleep. My flight left Philly at 6:50pm, which, in my opinion, is kind of a dumb time to leave b/c its not like I am ready to go to bed for the night at 7pm. By the time I was tired on the plane, there were only like 3 more hours left and then I was in Germany. I did, however, have a 3 hour lay-over and was able to fall asleep on some airport seats. ANYWAYS, I got to watch "Letters To Juliet" on the plane and actually prayed in my mind that it MIGHT be an option and IT WAS. It was, however, really really bad and boring and predictable. But I'm glad I finally saw it. This trip also marked the first time I ever had my own individual tv at my seat! I WAS SO DELIGHTED. For some reason in the past, I always got the one plane that was not equipped. Thank you Lufthansa, for making this a final reality in my travel experience.

I got in a cab once in Rome, and a very good looking young Italian man took me to where I was supposed to meet my brother, Piazza Novana. This Piazza is a huge, very touristy place with 3 famous fountains. The Piazza is outlined by restaurants and cafes and souvenir stands, with tons and tons of artwork being sold in the middle of the square. I was really in need of some nourishment and caffeine, so I scanned the perimeter of restaurants, lugging my large suitcase and carry-on. Eventually, one little host man approached me, like they do, and asked me to come to his restaurant. I was like "ok." He carried my luggage to a nice shaded table, and proceeded to sit down across from me and chat. He was nice and funny, non-creepster, which is always good in this country. I told him I wanted something small, along with a cappuccino, and he suggested some bruschetta. So there I sat, eating bruschetta and a cappuccino, alone at a table in the Piazza Novana. I had no phone and was just hoping Jimmy would find me. Let's talk about italian cappuccino's for a second- they are GOOD. They only use whole milk, and are always served in tiny cappuccino cups, and the frothiness of them is PERFETTO. Like, WOW, they are so good. The bruschetta at this particular place was sub par, but thats what you get in these tourist restaurants. Eventually, after sitting for an hour, my host friend, who I learned is originally from northern Africa, offered me his phone to use to call my brother. He took it out and PUT MONEY ON IT for me to use. SO NICE! I got in contact with him and told him the name of the restaurant I was at "Novana Ristorante"... could it be any more non-specific?? He told me he would be there in 20 minutes. So, after about another hr went by, I was getting concerned, and my host friend had left since his shift was over. Behind me, was a group of 65 year old smoking, tattoed, rockster men, let's call them The Italian Rolling Stones. This one dude, with long, gray hair and an opened black button down, of course initiated conversation with me. I told him my name was Annie, and he said "LIKE ANNIE LENNOX!" He then proceeded to sing my name a lot. It was obvious he was either on drugs or had a little too many in his earlier years. He gave me his card for their band title "Frock Rock". One of the other old men suggested I come to "a very nice" party tomorrow night with them filled with "very nice people, and very nice party." HAHA. Oh my god. I eventually turned my back a little more forcefully and thye stopped talking to me. But they were amusing. I got very nervous since Jimmy was so late, so I went into the restaurant and asked the non-english speaking owner if I could use his phone. He was super nice and dialed my numbers for me, to no avail. He then let me leave my suitcase there while I went on a walk around the Piazza to find him. And when I returned... viola! Jimmy was there, seated exactly at my seat ordering a beer. What a nice little place that was. Bravo Navona Ristorante.



This is Piazza Novana, where I waited among nice Italian company.

We went back to Jimmy and Julia's apt, HUGE apt, and had some vino. aaaahhhh. Jimmy turned on the radio, which always sounds like a middle school dance, and ITALIAN GILMORE GIRLS, titled "Una Mama para Mica" meaning "A Mom for a Friend". hahahaha. He opened the huge windows in the living room, where there is obviously a glorious view of the streets below, and ITALIAN OPERA was blaring in the streets. I laughed a lot, bc this is of course very absurd. LIKE OF COUURRRSE theres a man SINGING ITALIAN OPERA OUTSIDE OUR WINDOW. I later discovered, it was coming from a music school just down the street, where they leave their windows open. SO AMAZING.

This evening, Jimmy, Julia and I went to a mojito beach bar looking place on the edge of The Tiber River. It was called "Mojito Tres" and only had one mojito on the menu... hmm. It was great though. We then proceeded to dinner at a cool totally italian little place called Osteria Del Gallo. We had some mixed antipasto of various meats and cheeses, some tomato bruschetta and I got the spaghetti carbonara, a traditional roman dish made with eggs and bacon and pasta. It was gooooooood. With red wine, duh. I of course, then had to get a cone of gelato on the way home, I chose hazlenut, a fav gelato flavor of mine. We walked home in the glorious night, I watched some True Blood and passed out. BENE!