Monday, October 15, 2012

Written Thursday, October 11

I am grateful to Aerosoles walking shoes. The cobblestones of Rome can do a number on feet, and we did a lot of walking today!

We arrived in Rome via London on the night of October 10, and were taken to our Bed and Breakfast by a driver who met us at the airport. our lodging in on the fifth floor of an apartment building near the Vatican and the Castle St. Angelo. Our host, Luca, made us a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, croissants, "pizza rosa", fresh fruit, and more. Our rooms are cozy and have everything we need for a comfortable stay.

Today is the first of two days we have set aside for sightseeing prior to the conference. we visited the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, and the fountain at Trevi. I threw three coins into the fountain to be sure that I come back here with Don the next time to enjoy this with him.

There was clearly no general plan for the city of Rome. Streets meander, making random pathways as we referred to our maps and found our way to each location we had chosen to visit. Each turn meant another discovery. At one location were two portions of an ancient wall - which stood like bookends between a building from perhaps the seventeenth century. we have no idea how old the wall was, but it clearly had been an important structure in its day.

Look to the right - a beautiful doorway - look to the left, an open archway leading to an elegant building, a park, or a church. Shops carry exquisite handmade goods, restaurants with outdoor seating spilling out onto the piazzas, and did I mention the shoes?

It is a city of hues from buttery yellow to rich sepia tones on multistoried shuttered buildings. Look up and see another spire of a beautiful church or a sculpted statues on a pediment over a doorway. it is a city of art and architecture, beauty and at the same time,  a bit tattered around the edges.





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