Post #7: Rome
I felt like Rome was the playoffs of pasta. Only the good teams are left and there is fierce competition. I’ll include some food-porn pics later in this posting.
With regards to the major sites, I hit the Vatican and the Coliseum…and I have thoughts on both.
If you are a big Jesus fan, please skip my commentary on the Vatican. Having grown up Jewish and being the least religious person that I know, needless to say, the Vatican did not induce any kind of spiritual awakening. The whole thing felt like the lavish property of a group of questionably-virginal super powers. They had some cool art, signed soccer memorabilia and treasures that they plundered from countries that they overtook. They also broke the junk off of a lot of the male statues. We had an amusingly hyperactive English tour guide that may or may not have been on Special K. She proceeded to tell us about the prickly Michelangelo that was essentially forced to paint the Sistine Chapel. Apparently he neither bathed or took off his shoes, and spitefully added an image of a critical politician with his penis being bitten by a snake. Like a James Bond museum, she also gave us a tour of the various Popemobiles (pretty cool). I made more than a few jokes about where they hide the ‘bad priests’.
Jesus fans can resume reading here. I have some thoughts about the coliseum and the general architecture. These items are not possible without both slavery and barbarism….and I like it. We’re too nice to people nowadays and these historical landmarks would not be possible to replicate these days. Gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelette.
On to the important parts. The pasta in Rome was incredible and better than I’ve ever had. Please don’t share this with my friends at Iavarone. I even went as far as to take a pasta making class. My best meal was a lunch that included pasta w olive oil and porcini mushrooms and the most delicious lamb shank ever. Food-porn as promised:
In between pasta sessions, I did a lot of walking and got a really good massage. I intended to get gelato, but I ultimately never did. I’ll get some in Venice.
Overall, this has been my favorite stop on the trip so far, but there are still many places left on my itinerary. The only negative is that I allowed myself to be ripped off by money-changers that prey on dumb tourists (me). They advertised a reasonable rate on their big-screen LCD screen (121EU = $100USD), but the small print with their excessive extra fees was on a separate piece of paper than I didn’t see. When they only gave me 55 Euros for $100, I demanded a refund….but alas, their small print on a separate sheet talks of their ‘no refunds’ policy. Last time that I fall for that tourist trap. Next time I’m just going to an ATM, international transaction fees be damned.
Special thanks to my cousin, Dr. K, for giving a (no-liability) medical screening via Skype to a friend on the trip that was coughing up blood. His suspicion that she may have bronchitis was later confirmed by a local doctor. Medication has since been prescribed and she’s feeling and looks much better. My cousin is notoriously private, so instead of posting a picture of him, I will post a picture of his doppelgänger, Alex White of Pure Leaf Tea Company.
Off to Venice!!