7/17/08
After a late start and some morning espressos (which we seem to order wrong every time and then drink standing up at the bar to avoid paying extra for servicio),
we headed up to the Capitoline Hill to see Michelangelo's fancy facades and how the faces on the capital of the columns change on each one. Bobby doesn't think he is any good at explaining to me why each thing we see was actually revolutionary in its time but he actually is. I feel like I'm beginning to understand how cool it is for him to see a building that invented some concept that is now commonplace in our buildings. I have to say that I'm really very jealous of all his knowledge and ability to appreciate these things beyond a normal tourist. But I guess that's why I am just lucky that I get to tag along and have some of his enthusiasm rub off on me.
After the Capitoline we went back to the sandwich place that Professor Morton had showed and then had granitas again while watching the action out front of the Pantheon. It is really pretty funny to see such an awesome and historic, not to mention really old building be turned into nothing more than a veranda to be used for a place of shade.
While watching the hubbub we saw some Tommy-Bahama clad tourists get ripped off by the costumed gladiators (who probably got said costume at an Italian Party City) who lay waiting to charge a fortune for a goofy picture. We also saw the creepiest guy ever. He didn't really look homeless but he was definitely not clean-shaven. He had these super intense eyes and this thin, hungry-looking smile. Bobby noticed him first staring at a girl while we ate our granitas but then we saw him again standing over a group of girls who were sitting, lounging on the steps. HE got super close to one girl, behind her back, and just stood over her staring and smiling without her noticing. I got so freaked out by him that I
was about to warn her when he gave up and wandered over to another spot to stare at even younger girls. Mind you that he did all this in a bright yellow track jacket, which is really a poor choice if you are going to indiscreetly leer.
After the creeper incident we wound our way through the city looking for cool, urban spots. We almost went to the Ara Pacis Museum, mostly because they have the only bathroom in Rome or at least it seemed so but once we found out that no student discounts were given to US students we gave up and made fun of the building for being by some Fascist architecture. (For Bobby that is a pretty big insult!) Then we decided to head back to our apartment for a much-needed siesta and because I could not locate a public toilet anywhere.
For dinner we wound up at a place that caters to a student crowd and as it turned out pub crawls. It was a pleasant reminder of why the Ara Pacis museum didn't give discounts to US students. It might be because they are loud, drunk and on the whole a fairly disrespectful lot. On our way to dinner, I invented an awesome game. I had just seen a VW bug and I asked Bobby if
he ever played 'Slug Bug', the game where you slug your fellow passengers when you pass a VW bug. He had but under the alternate name of 'Punch Buggy'. I said that we should have a game for Smart Cars because we had seen quite a few in Rome already, but instead of punching we would slap each other's butts. Within the first two minutes of the game it was Jane - 6 and Bobby - 2 and Bobby was thoroughly regretting agreeing to my game. The game, for me, was a godsend because it made crazy Rome traffic fun to watch and gave me a way to cheer myself up when I was sick of walking to another building. As it turns out, Smart Cars are like a dime a dozen!
After a late start and some morning espressos (which we seem to order wrong every time and then drink standing up at the bar to avoid paying extra for servicio),
we headed up to the Capitoline Hill to see Michelangelo's fancy facades and how the faces on the capital of the columns change on each one. Bobby doesn't think he is any good at explaining to me why each thing we see was actually revolutionary in its time but he actually is. I feel like I'm beginning to understand how cool it is for him to see a building that invented some concept that is now commonplace in our buildings. I have to say that I'm really very jealous of all his knowledge and ability to appreciate these things beyond a normal tourist. But I guess that's why I am just lucky that I get to tag along and have some of his enthusiasm rub off on me.After the Capitoline we went back to the sandwich place that Professor Morton had showed and then had granitas again while watching the action out front of the Pantheon. It is really pretty funny to see such an awesome and historic, not to mention really old building be turned into nothing more than a veranda to be used for a place of shade.
While watching the hubbub we saw some Tommy-Bahama clad tourists get ripped off by the costumed gladiators (who probably got said costume at an Italian Party City) who lay waiting to charge a fortune for a goofy picture. We also saw the creepiest guy ever. He didn't really look homeless but he was definitely not clean-shaven. He had these super intense eyes and this thin, hungry-looking smile. Bobby noticed him first staring at a girl while we ate our granitas but then we saw him again standing over a group of girls who were sitting, lounging on the steps. HE got super close to one girl, behind her back, and just stood over her staring and smiling without her noticing. I got so freaked out by him that I
was about to warn her when he gave up and wandered over to another spot to stare at even younger girls. Mind you that he did all this in a bright yellow track jacket, which is really a poor choice if you are going to indiscreetly leer.After the creeper incident we wound our way through the city looking for cool, urban spots. We almost went to the Ara Pacis Museum, mostly because they have the only bathroom in Rome or at least it seemed so but once we found out that no student discounts were given to US students we gave up and made fun of the building for being by some Fascist architecture. (For Bobby that is a pretty big insult!) Then we decided to head back to our apartment for a much-needed siesta and because I could not locate a public toilet anywhere.
For dinner we wound up at a place that caters to a student crowd and as it turned out pub crawls. It was a pleasant reminder of why the Ara Pacis museum didn't give discounts to US students. It might be because they are loud, drunk and on the whole a fairly disrespectful lot. On our way to dinner, I invented an awesome game. I had just seen a VW bug and I asked Bobby if
he ever played 'Slug Bug', the game where you slug your fellow passengers when you pass a VW bug. He had but under the alternate name of 'Punch Buggy'. I said that we should have a game for Smart Cars because we had seen quite a few in Rome already, but instead of punching we would slap each other's butts. Within the first two minutes of the game it was Jane - 6 and Bobby - 2 and Bobby was thoroughly regretting agreeing to my game. The game, for me, was a godsend because it made crazy Rome traffic fun to watch and gave me a way to cheer myself up when I was sick of walking to another building. As it turns out, Smart Cars are like a dime a dozen!
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