Monday, October 10
I went to see my PT guy and I had clearly done too much walking
my first two days off crutches. Everything (except, strangely, the knee) felt sore, from the plantar fasciitis to the aching hip. Federico (and his wonderful assistant, Claudia) got me
pretty much straightened out, and afterwards Brad and I had a nice dinner at Da
Trani near Piazza del Popolo.
Tuesday, October 11
On a colder and rainy Tuesday, we went shopping at Coin, a big department store a little
north of here in Parioli. It has everything from fancy shoes to groceries in
the basement.
We had lunch at Ristorante 3 Quarti (they make these great
little rolls from pizza dough stuffed with various delicious things, like
anchovies and mozzarella).
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| 3 quarti |
We got talking to two young women, one from Northern Ireland and one from London. Much to the chagrin of her Irish friend, the
Londoner had voted for Brexit. She defended her decision—and resented what she
said was the lecturing she encountered about it—because of the problems with
immigration that she felt existed.
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| Natalie, pro-Brexit Londoner, and Stacey, anti-Brexit from Northern Ireland |
That put me in mind of an Italian man we’ve
become friendly with here. His sister (they both grew up in Rome) has lived in
London for almost 20 years. She is a history professor with the London branch
of a U.S. university, is married to a Londoner and has a teenage daughter who
was born there. Now, when she goes out with Italian friends, she is harassed
by other people in restaurants. An American (!) who lives in her building even told
her she should go back where she came from. She is completely uncertain whether
she will even be allowed to remain, notwithstanding her family and connections.
Very alarming and something that doesn’t seem to be reported in the press!
In what could be a complication in our plans, we got an
email from our tenants in Seattle that they wished to break the lease (they
were renting our place while they put a new story on their house but the
estimate increased so much, they had to cancel the project)!
Wednesday, October 12
Spent several hours making plans to re-lease the condo.
Fingers crossed. Had a wonderful Italian lesson with Walter. On a cold day, I took a walk by
myself down nearby Via Banchi Vecchi and picked up some suppli (an Italian street
food made with rice) for later.
We had dinner that night with Billy Tubbs and
Elletra Paparella, a delightful young couple traveling around Italy. He is a Boeing
engineer in Seattle who was in our Dante Alighieri Italian class. She is from
the countryside outside Milan (where her parents ran a drug rehabilitation center
for 30 years) and was au pairing in Seattle when they met. They have been to
Milan, Venice, Lake Como (hiked into Switzerland), and were headed to Naples
next. First, we had the suppli with some tomatoes and wine at home, and then went to a
favorite little restaurant nearby, Alfredo e Ada, for dinner.
We walked back home
across the bridge, always lovely.
A great night!
Thursday, October 13
Another planning day at home. We only ventured out that
night after making dinner at home, wandering around the Borgo near St. Peter’s. Rome is always interesting, from the street corner Madonnas to the shops selling articoli religiosi (I think I might get my St. Brigid a crown for her feast day...).
Friday, October 14
Took a way-too-expensive tax ride to Galleria Porta di Roma,
a huge mall on the north side of the city. Wandered through an enormous Ikea
(even more exhausting when nothing is in English—just Swedish and Italian), a
big electronics and housewares store, and a gigantic general merchandise place.
Had a surprisingly good meal at the restaurant in the mall. (Must try to make lupini beans, which were in my delicious salatone.) Brought home lots of important, everyday loot (like a bathroom scale, a good hair
dryer, some storage containers, etc.)
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| A new bathroom scale: Gotta keep tabs on all that pasta we've been eating ... |
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| Brad, on right, with our new rolling grocery bag... |
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