destination unknown friday

first of all, i would like to apologize for my lack of posting. various events and obligations have sucked up all my time. if it's not burping, changing, singing to, pleading with, or moddle-coddling the La Cognilia, any time on the computer is spent trying to finish up the last two weeks of the last class i need to get my associates degree in accounting. now that i actually write that down, it seems all the more reason to post a destination to which inspires me to run away for the weekend...!

as many already know, i do not like hot weather. my logic is that it is always easier to warm up than to cool down. and i hate to sweat. so for this week's destination, i thought to incorporate the inescapable warmer weather with somewhere that seems to be made for such weather;
Rome, Italy

with the possible exception of tijuana, mexico, rome is my most visited foreign destination. i have been four times (and counting), and have experienced both cold and warm weather in this city. and i have to say, the warm weather really does it justice. there are certain smells that seem to appear in rome when the weather's warm. i don't mean the noxious odors (even though there are those), it's more of a "fragrance" than an "odor". i don't know if it's the bread baking, the espresso, or the flowers, but accompianed with the warm sun on your face and a vision full of the the colliseum or st. peter's basilica, it is an experience you will never forget.


my last trip was in the autumn of 2004, late enough in the year for the heavy sweaters. however, rome was experiencing a delightful warm spell with temperatures hovering in the low to mid 70 degrees fahrenheit. i spent an evening at a small pub, with van morrison on the jukebox, sitting in front of a window enjoying the light evening breeze staring out at the late-night sidewalk diners enjoying their espressos and wine. it brought me back to my first trip about 15 years before, when i traveled the country for three weeks in early summer with my best friend and $500 in my pocket. the closest i've ever come to heaven on earth....
during my last trip i was visiting with my parents, and because of poor timing, we had hotels on opposite sides of st. peter's square (which is actually round). every morning i would traverse the square to my parent's hotel, and in the evening, after our day's activities, i would go back across st. peter's square to my hotel on a small tree-lined street, tucked away above small cafes and shops. i remember thinking what a wonderful commute i had!



but aside from the weather, rome is one of those cities that gets into your sense of reality and spins it around. as you wander the streets, seeing all the monuments, buildings, statues, etc. that up until now, has only been a picture in a book, or a location so storied it's almost unbelievable. seeing that it actually does exist, and is right in front of you is strange enough. then it finally hits you how old this stuff is; that stone in the wall of the colliseum has been in that exact same spot for 2000 years. it really makes you think about everything that's happened in the world since that stone was laid, and who has also looked at this very building, walked these very steps, and stared at this very stone.


i think if i ever go to egypt, my brain will explode.