TWENTY-SECOND
DAY
IN
THE FOOTSTEPS OF AURELIUS
October
4-5, 2005
Yesterday
followed the pattern of many of our days in Rome. There was a walk and talk scheduled by the
Academy along the line of the Aurelian Wall.
A young fellow, Hendrick from the University of Michigan, led us. He
sure knows about that Wall. We started
at the Pyramid, which one of the Emperor’s built to celebrate some kind of
triumph over Egypt. The Pyramid is about
150 feet tall with chambers inside and it is part of the wall. The original foundation of the wall or its
core is the same as when the first guy built it. The entire wall over 18 miles encircling the
city was originally built in less then 6 years.
It is hard to believe but it was the defense of Rome for over 400 years
until some Goths sieged the city in the mid 500’s. The only way they got in was that some Roman
woman opened the gates. She thought Rome
had suffered enough or so the story goes. This walk, which I estimate, was
about 3 miles ended at the Porto Appia in a light rain. There are no bus stops at that place. So Kim and I decided to hike back to the bus
stop at Circus Maximus (the old horse track) and catch the bus there. It rained steadily for the entire walk only
letting up when we reached our destination. Then the sun came out, and we quickly dried
off. One of the best things to do for
lunch in Rome is to go to a bar where they several things you can’t get in a
restaurant. One of the things most of
them don’t have is Pasta and Pizza.
That’s good, not bad. They do
have several very nice salads with either Tuna or Chicken, which together with
a diet coke make a nice light lunch for about 8 Euro. We have found several bars we like, but they
are all over and the quality is pretty even. Before trying to get back to our
place, we stopped in one of the ones we like on the Aventine. They also have those fatastico sandwiches
that are so good that they are bad. Oh
well, even with the walking it is hard to stay even calorically. Something
happened in downtown Rome and our bus # 75 that runs about every 10 minutes,
never came. We lasted at the bus stop
for about 40 minutes before I was able to persuade Kimbo to try for a cab. I got one and as we passed stop after stop
and there were at least 50 people at each stop. We do not know the cause but my
guess is a small strike action by the drivers.
Whatever, very Italian.
We
got back to the cabin, finally dry and Kim starred studying and I began to
prepare myself for picking up my motor scooter.
I bought the helmet Monday from a stand in the Portese market. The guy was a friend of a friend of the motor
mechanic who takes care of Kristin’s old Motorino. That’s is the way Rome works, you have to
know someone to get a deal on your helmet or anything else for that matter. So after getting all my paper work together,
copying my passport page, getting a letter in Italian that says I am using
Kristin’s bike, etc., I had this feeling that they were not going to give me
the scooter. It was time to go. Out the door, bus to the place, enter the
shop. Holy of Hollies, it is ready and
on the floor. A minimum of paper work,
and I am out the door and on the bike in Rome, at rush hour. With my vast knowledge of Italian, I ask the
person who was explaining the features of the new Honda 125 if it had gas in
the tank. Oh yes, he replied, 6
liters. Ok, not ok, the tank was
basically empty. What he meant was the
capacity was 6 liters. I am certain
that I was on fumes from the second I left the shop. Traffic was bad, but oh how those scooters
love to weave through. No more suspense,
I found a pump and said filler up. 10
Euro later back and home with the great vibe of knowing where I was going and
driving up the hill. While we are at the
Academy, I will be able to store the bike at night in their lot. But I do have all the locks. The scooter made me feel that I was finally
in my comfort zone. That has not always
been the case here.
Speaking
of zones, we looked at yet another apartment Monday. This one was dear, a five story walkup (it
has an elevator but it is not working and who knows when) with lots of
renovation that makes it interesting but really it didn’t work for Kim because
none of the stairwells had railings and we’d be sure to fall and break
something. The street was in Central Rome and cobbled. That is one of her requirements. Keep looking!
Just
another heartfelt comment on computers, the process for me in not intuitive,
and I have been trying to put photos on the blog since day one. I caught up with the systems guy here
yesterday and he agreed to give me a little time. So, at 2:00 I showed up at his door laptop in
hand for my lesson. About 20 minutes
later when he had figured out how to do it, he showed me as well. I tried it a few times in his office and then
came back upstairs to practice. I am
sure everybody that reads this will know that I immediately failed to be able
to duplicate my efforts in the room. So
as far as photos are concerned, I will have to take another lesson or wait for
Keith Unke in a couple of weeks.
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