Rome and Vatican City

My first evening in Rome, Leslie, her mom Beth and I walked past the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and various runs to Piazza Navona, where we ate a delicious dinner (tortellini for me, fettuccini alfredo for Les and Beth) complete with some of the best Pinot Grigio I've ever had. Everything's better in Italy, even the water. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but the atmosphere definitely adds a romantic air to even a quick walk to an internet cafe.

It's as hot as Kentucky here, and if you're in the sun, you're dripping with sweat. At least there's a breeze and occasional shady spot.

Yesterday we went to Vatican City. First we toured St. Peter's Basilica, the largest church in the world. Our tour guide was a Yale-educated historical theologian from Louisiana who was not only ssssmokin', he was also giving the tour for the perfect price: free! The Basilica was beautiful, and we got to see Michelangelo's famous Pieta, a statue of Mary holding a full-grown Christ on her lap. In the seventies, a Bulgarian attacked the statue with a hammer, breaking off Mary's nose and Jesus' toes. Visitors to the Basilica ran off with the pieces but eventually returned most of them. They were able to repair the statue, and today you can hardly see the damage. Now they have bulletproof glass shielding it.

After a cheap sandwich for lunch, we headed to the Vatican Museum, where we saw the Sisteen Chapel. We weren't supposed to take pictures, but I snuck a few in. I'm posting all my pics on Snapfish, and if I haven't invited you to look at them, drop me a line and I'll send you an invite.
On our way home from Vatican City, we saw the Pantheon, which was built 2000 years ago, as well as Trevi Fountain.

Last night we went to an outdoor opera a block from our apartment. They were putting on The Magic Flute, and though I'm not a huge Opera fan, I loved it! The cast's voices were incredible, the setting was spectacular, and the orchestra music was enchanting. It was in garden complete with arches, columns and a fountain. A church stood on one side of the garden, and there were candles everywhere. The opera was in German, so I got a little practice trying to understand the storyline.

Les and I went to a bar late last night and chatted it up with some young Swedes for a couple of hours before coming home and crashing at 3 am.

A long trip

Monday night I flew out of NY. What I thought was going to be a straight shot to Paris ended up stopping in Iceland. The flight there was less than 5 hours, and since mine was a last-minute ticket, I ended up getting a seat in the very last row, with no one occupying the two seats beside me. That was nice, but being in the back also meant I was the last person to be served dinner. I could've eaten a barf bag (an empty one!) by the time they got to me.
Seeing dawn from the airplane was breathtaking, but it was gray and dreary in Iceland. The landscape was barren and rocky, like the moon. I saw no trees, but did spot an ice-blue spring/lake. I think I was on the wrong side of the plane to spot the mountains in the distance, but when we deboarded I caught a glimpse. It was under 50 degrees there, and the airport workers were all wearing coats. I only spent an hour at the airport, then we were off to Paris. I got to see the Eiffel Tower through the smog as we were landing, and at the airport got my first whif of famous Parisian B.O.
I took an overnight train to Rome from Paris. It was supposed to take 12 hours, but it lasted 16 hours. I met some cool people in the bar car of the train: Americans, Mexicans, a crazy Italian (is that a redundancy?), an Austrian and a Swiss. It was good company for an otherwise excruciating ride. I could hardly sleep, as the jetlag had my internal clock all messed up, so when we finally arrived in Rome at 3 the next day (Wednesday), I was exhausted. Plus I was sweaty, stinky and greasy. I cherish my first shower in Rome.

Outta here...

It looks like I'll probably be leaving tonight for Europe. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that this will work out.
Last night Josh, Phil and I drove into Manhattan for dinner. We hit a beergarden by NYU for a couple of drinks and then had dinner at a Malaysian restaurant in Little Italy (ARA: it's across the street from that dessert shop where we ate gelato 13 years ago).
I gotta give mad props to Josh and Phil for their New York driving skills.

Sparklers on 1st St., Louisville 07/15/06

Fort Lee, New Jersey

I write from Josh Dickinson and his girlfriend Philomena's co-op in Fort Lee, New Jersey. They are kind enough to take pity on my poor (literally) soul and let me stay with them. I am stuck waiting for a flight out of NY, and can't afford to keep staying at a hostel indefinitely. Josh and Phil's place isn't far from Manhattan. In fact, last night after eating delicious Vietnamese food at a joint called Mo'pho, we drove to a lookout spot not far from their house where you can get an awesome view of the George Washington Bridge and upper Manhattan. I took a couple of night photos (which I will try to post soon as I figure out how to transfer photos to Josh's Mac), then put away my camera. Lucky for me, because the next guy who walked up to take photos got approached by a flashlight-wielding cop wanting to know why he was taking photos of the G.W. Bridge. I guess the beautiful nocturnal view of the city lights wasn't obvious to the cop, who cited anti-terrorism as the reason for harassing this man. He told him that the G.W. Bridge is a possible target and that photography from that overlook was by permit only, though there was no sign stating that anywhere. The man told him he was from Germany, and the hostile cop demanded proof and then even searched the guy's car. Josh commented that they need to give cops elementary lessons on photography, since no regular-use digital camera could ever capture enough detail for those purposes. Besides, couldn't anyone get pics of the bridge off the internet if they really wanted to?
I have a phone interview tomorrow for a job in South Korea. I'm hoping to fly out on Tuesday for Italy if all works out.