Ah, Rome!

I wrote a nice long message on my computer and saved it to a flash drive
(I don't have wifi at this hotel), and then it turns out the internet
point I found lacks USB drives on their computers. Short version: I'm
well and happy and things are off to a great beginning!

Vince

Rome! (Full Post)

I found better internet, sorry about the double post :)

It's great to be home!

I truly love this city, and my biggest regret about being here is always
that I have the opportunity to work hard enough not to see much of it. As
a performer, that's much more of a blessing than a curse.

I'm off to a fantastic beginning to my trip, starting off with a shopping
day (enforced by the airline losing my dulcimer stand, which happily was
delivered to my hotel later the same day I arrived). I was smart enough
to budget for new clothes, wearing and bringing a few articles that I
didn't like enough to bother keeping past the first week or so. I am,
therefore now decked out in a new leather jacket, scarf, and lovely shoes.

It was a serious hopping day. As I was leaving my hotel room I noticed a
window full of leather jackets, which gave me a style and price point to
compare to. I then walked from Piazza Barberini past the Trevi Fountain,
down to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona, over to the Campo dei Fiori (a
great source of quality bargain shopping), up the river to Vatican City
(and down Via Cola di Rienzo, a good area for midrange shopping),
re-crossing the river to head down Via del Corso (upper mid-range
shopping), and studiously avoiding the area around the Spanish Steps
(which is where Gucci, Prada, and the like are to be found). I didn't
want to torture myself overmuch.

It turns out that the best jackets I saw all day were in that first
window, two blocks from my hotel. And the shoes I liked best were only a
few blocks further away. But at least I'm pretty certain that, in all of
Rome, I got what I was looking for!

Busking is off to a great start, and I'm diving back into Italian with
little trouble. I keep forgetting, however, that Romans are a bit more
straight-laced than other Italians, and I always feel self-conscious when
I use the familiar form only to be answered formally. At least they're
answering in Italian - since most people in the area are bilingual it
means I've passed a minimum threshold when they don't immediately change
over to English. I'm feeling good (other than a bizarrely sore right knee
from overdoing the shopping expedition), and hope to be sleeping through
the night in the near future as I get over my jetlag. Ciao!