Michael Bolton. As I sit in the lobby of our hotel in Roma, the greatest hits of Mr. Bolton plays over me and my fellow friends and travelers, Chris, Stacie, and Kerry. You know I am not afraid to admit that I loved some MB back in the day. That guy can belt it out. Ok, sorry, tangent. But truly when was the last time and when will be the next when you sit and listen to Michael of one's own accord. I cannot forsee it happening, so I thought it noteworthy.
Rome. Wow. Bellisima! I am overwhelmed by how ancient, how full of history, how rich with talent and meaning...amazing. We have made the rounds to say the least and walked ourselves to the point of throbbing feet for the past handful of days. We happened upon the best tour guide of all time, Michael, an English guy who truly knows his stuff. What a joy to have his perspective as we looked at ancient ruins, picturesque statues, and vast buildings. He truly loves history, storytelling, and people. We even went to the extent of getting our picture taken with him...American groupies, we are and proud of it. Well, "proud" may not be the word, but we got a picture to capture our three days we spent with him on guided tours.

OK, this post was started last Thursday, on my regular posting day. I only had a bit of time to compose, but I wanted to leave it on there so you could hear some words directly from Italy. I sit presently taking a break from being on hold with the would-be company who will hook up my broadband and cable. Process. The theme for my life, I have discovered. I could write a book about all the implications of this seven-letter word in my life, as I am sure you could as well. My thought at the moment lives with the process of setting up house, if you will, here in England. I suppose moving anywhere involves time taken to get all put in place, but it seems as if another country adds a new dynamic. So, the process of constant, predictable internet access continues. I'll keep you posted on the progress of said process. : )

So, I spent my birthday in Rome. I turned twenty-eight as I toured St. Peter's Basilica, The Christian Catacombs, wandered past The Pantheon, and ate gelati. Never before in my life...I am overcome with awe. Fantastic, special, and memorable. I missed Becky, who is my twin seperated by a few years. I missed Ginny and Steph, my pals who also have October birthdays, who I would have celebrated with had I been home. I missed Bordino's from last year with my fun friends and the year before when I got surprised with a birthday ghetto dance party... My point? The only thing that would have made my celebration better would have been to have my sweet friends there to hug, laugh with, and stay up late with chatting. So, though I feel blessed to have a bit of a dreamlike 24th this year, know it felt strange to not be with you guys.
Rome is amazing. The city holds such history, story, and visual impression. As mentioned, we had a great tour guide that showed us around and increased my enjoyment of my living history lesson. I was pleased to find that a few years of life has deepened my interest in topics such as Constantine legalizing Christianity, St Peter's Basilica being worth $40 billion, and what prison would have looked like for Peter. It truly is a shame that when you learn all these facts in school, they are so crammed in for the purpose of test taking that they easily seep out of your memory. I wish I could have retained all my facts I absorbed on my trip, but though some have been lost, I do remember quite a lot and can tell you all you want to know (and more, I am sure) when I get to see you in December as I show the massive slide show of photos that I will have in my possession.

I have taken a few snapshots of my flat and will try fervently to post some of both my home and Rome. HA! Laugh, you know you want to...feel like I am there with you being a complete goof. : ) (That pun was unintentional, by the way, but I left it in because I laughed out loud at myself.) Sometimes this blogger rejects my requests to put up pics. Ah, technology!

As far as words/phrases of the week go, to be truthful, I must speak a bit of Italian to you...interesting how it seems that Italian is sort of Spanish and French put together. (Ok, it probably is not at all, but knowing un pocito de espanol was a bit helpful in communicating there.) So... "Grazie" and "Prego", or Thank you and You're welcome, were the most foreign words used this past week. Ok, that's lame. You don't wade through all my thoughts and analyzations for that sillyness that you already know...what can I come up with for the week? Hmmm...
ok, how about "spot on". It means what you would most likely think it would, but it is used here quite a lot. Our equivalent would be like "on the nose". A little boy answered a question on our tour in Italy, and Michael (the Englishman) replied exhuberantly, "Spot on! You are correct." I liked it. Tis clever.
Look for more on Thursday. Oh, and Happy Halloween! Eat candy corn for me!