I walked up to class with Patrick, then headed into the Janiculum park, walking first past the Villa Pamphilj, which seems to be closed for renovations, but still gorgeous.
I planned on going north and coming out near the Vatican: instead I wandered a bit west and ended up completely lost. Well, as lost as you can get with plenty of people around you during the day.
When I got directions I'd been walking for 2 hours so instead of backtracking I just walked out of the park and took a bus instead. It drove through a new neighborhood for me just south of the Vatican. I hopped off once it crossed the Tiber then spotted this calendar at a tourist kiosk.
I think I know what some people will be getting for Christmas this year!
I looked at my guidebook for where to go next, seeing as I still had an hour before the movie started. They listed a good place for granita di limone nearby, so I went to that bar and got a big cup. Yum - very refreshing.
I walked by the theater but it wasn't open yet so I walked down via Babuino for some shopping. Loved Gente - clothing store full of top designers - for window shopping but the weak dollar & lack of job has made me surprisingly frugal. Well, maybe not so surprisingly.
Another shop (sorry, "experience") called TAD was a riot. Picture the love child of the MoMA design store, Barney's CO-OP and Bloomingdale's beauty level. A Chloe dress hung next to a book on hip Tokyo hotels, down the hall from a stylish floral design shop and downstairs from furniture salons with patchwork silk throws costing 100's of euros.
But there were shops I'll definitely go back to for some real shopping one day - Subdued and Ethic had great clothes. More important matters cut shopping short. My first English language movie in Rome.
I walked back to toward the piazza del Popolo and saw Ocean's 13, in versione originale (original language) with Italian subtitles. Great movie; better chance to learn Italian. My favorite translation was when someone said "Abbot and Costello" and the subtitle read "Laurel and Hardy." Bizarre. Also, if you were disappointed with Ocean's 12, go to this one anyway. It's fast and funny and looks beautiful.
After the movie I walked down to Largo Argentina to meet Pat, John and Leah. We went to Leah's parents' place for dinner. They've rented an apartment right on the square with an amazing view of the city from a huge terrace. Everyone was so excited about their wedding next weekend so I think it will be a lot of fun.
After dinner, Pat and I walked over to Trastevere and ran into a few people from his class celebrating one girl's 29th birthday. We spent the next few hours sitting around a fountain drinking wine and singing along to Pat on guitar. Plus, I got to try out some of my camera's low-light features.
We trudged up the big hill home, called our parents for the weekly check-in and slept late today. So far I've walked Pat up to class, run a load of laundry, done the food shopping and cleaned up the kitchen. Oh, and uploaded all my photos for this blog!
Tonight I'm making veal parmagiana with fresh tagliatelle and spinach. Not sure when our houseguests are returning from Pompeii so we will have to stay in. I could use it after yesterday, especially if the plan to go to the Vatican museums tomorrow at 6AM ends up happening. It's free one Sunday a month and I'm sure it will be a mad-house. Then there's the weekly Latin trip - but this time it's local, the baths of Diocletian.
