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Ciao tutti!!! I am back in Rome now after a short trip to Venice and Verona.
The flights were not bad. The first part to DC went by fast. But on the atlantic leg I only slept for 1 hour......aaaaaghhh so yeah. Not too fun. But I had a nice woman sitting next to me from Belmont. I got through customs okay, it was very quick actually and I was expecting a lot more. The guy didn't even talk to me! Then the first day one other girl was there with me in the morning and we went running and then layed out and then napped. Then our first dinner in Italy we cooked ourself because at about 6 we were starving and nothing was open for dinner yet. After a few days I think I'm starting to get used to it though.
As for Venice and Verona, both places were AMAZING. Very touristy, but then again, I am one of them. Definitely worth it to go to them though. Verona was small and cute, and not as crowded. We got to see a fashion show there though which was really cool! Venice was huge though, and it was all pretty much the same. At least the parts we saw. I think it would've been good to stay one more day/night with that. Still cool though, thanks to my Rick Steves travel book, we found some awesome little places. We found this bulk wine place where you can fill up a liter water bottle for 3 euros, of local wine! It was very yummy. I think by the time I get back I will like wine more. But in Venice it was very easy to get lost!
After a long train ride we are back in Rome and got some bomb pizza last night! My Italian has certainly been coming in handy. The rest of the girls that I was on the pre-trip with didn't know any Italian, so I helped them. And all these maps have helped too. We also have found some good wines in Verona, they are known for their white wines.
Our apartment area is very cute. Lots of parks nearby. But we are on a main street that is totally crazy!!!!! Rome drivers are psycho. They are always on their horns! Time for orientation now though, I'll be back on here later for another update!
Pax!
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Dad
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Rome
Hey Remy, Thanks for the update. Glad you had a great time at Venice and Verona. I recall a good time at Venice 'a few years ago' (~1975), but never made it to Verona. I just finished up an excellent book called the Fall of Rome by Bryan Ward-Perkins, a professor at Oxford. Seems many recent historians are arguing the 'fall' was more of a 'transition' or 'evolution' with the Germanic tribes. The author presents a very strong case that the fall was in fact, quite violent, and threw Europe into the Dark Ages. In the book he cites pottery finds as evidence. He notes that pottery was much more prevalent during the Roman period, and that there was a strong trade route throughout the empire, that was not matched until the 1700's! Anyway, the point of what I'm getting to is to check out a hill in Rome called 'Monte Testaccio', that is 150' high, which is made up entirely of broken amphorae from the Roman period! It is estimated it contains the remains of over 53 million vases used for olive oil and wine (guess they weren't big into recycling those days!). It is an excellent book, and through analyzing pottery, coinage, churches, language, writing, and cattle bones (!), he presents a strong argument about the conflict that ultimately caused the empire to collapse in the fifth century A.D. (On the cattle bones, they have determined Roman cattle were much larger than cattle either before or after the empire period, which the author believes supports the theory of a collapse, and not a transition). Glad to hear you're able to use your Italian with the locals; keep it up... We returned today after getting Phoebe off, so she's 'next door' to you now (Provence). Take care, Love, Dad