Rome: DAY 78

SEVENTY-EIGHTH DAY

November 30, 2005

The Tiber runneth over.  It has rained so hard that the Tiber has risen to higher levels than anytime in the last 50 years.  I believe that is apocryphal and that, in fact, it has been higher.  But, this morning I took a walk down to the river and Tiber Island, which like most everything else around here is close to our place.  The river was moving fast and high but there’s still plenty of room to rise; after all I have seen Nathanson Creek in Sonoma come out of its banks.  The rain continues to pelt down and umbrellas stay open.  In the middle of the night the rain was so dramatic that it woke me up.  Even the Romans claim that we have had a lot of rain for this early in the season. 

I have found a coffee bar I like.  Very much a working class place near the apartment and I stop for my morning favorite.  I have discovered Café Corretto .  This little puppy is a single shot of express with a scosh of Grappa.  I like the taste of the combo.  It is by no means a full jigger of grappa, just enough to give you a little morning jolt.  I pick up my Herald Tribune and feel like a real expat.  Now, in our neighborhood that includes the Campo di Fiori, we have a meat guy, a bread guy (several), the supermarket, a general household store, and Kim has even found a dry cleaner.  It sort of reminds me of when we had the apartment in New York and investigated our neighborhood until we knew it like the back of our hand.  New York had the benefit of at least a couple of people who spoke the same language I speak.  No problem, I have become a very good pointer and shaker of my head, yes/no, waving my hands and even saying things like Basta (enough) and Grazie and a muffled Buona Sera in the afternoon or to be cool just Sera.  My entire Italian vocabulary could not be over 100 words, but I am determined to make it work. 

Just a little laugher, our telephone landline went out again today.  I got one of the regulars at the Academy to call in the repair people and they promise to come around sometime tomorrow.  Kimberly and I will probably do shifts waiting for Italian Telecom.  God knows when they would come back if we missed their knock. 

Yesterday Kim bought an Italian cookbook and we continue to eat more at home then outside.  It is a good weight control technique and Kim says she likes doing the cooking.  A friend of ours called to say that indeed she has a built in grill in her Italian kitchen.  We have dedicated ourselves to doing a BBQ on her grill in the near future. In the annex of one of our bread stores there is a very nice deli.  Today the manager started speaking to me in English and showed me all his delicacies including a great big roast pork that he roasts and slices down everyday for sandwiches on their own hard rolls.  What a nice treat to taste that Porco, I think I have found another lunch treat.  I just turned on BBC World and surprise of surprises, rain is forecast for tomorrow.