mid life crisis/reinvention: Rome

Rome is, hands down, THE greatest city on earth. Athens, Paris, London, New York, Istanbul, Madrid (sorry Angel) are all great, but Rome is the best. Here's why:

1. Food. Italian food is damn good, and done well all over the place here. The quality is not as consistent as in Spain, nor as inconsistent as in France, but the style of cooking really turns my crank. I think it's partly because Italian cooking in general has so much influence on American cooking, but then again, who can say no to carbonara, pizza, saltimboca, prosciutto, montepulciano, limoncello and gelato? I need to get out of here quick or I'm going to need an extra seat for my ass on the return trip!

2. Coffee. We Seattlites love our coffee, and appreciate people who take it seriously. The English approach to coffee is so universally bad/wrong (push button lattes? INSTANT?) that it's easy to forget how good it can be. These Italians jam out the good stuff, and craft it with care. Good coffee is a leading indicator of a city's level of livability.

3. Booze. Limoncello, grappa, cheap good red wine, and prosecco. I don't even think about cognac here! We bought a tasty bottle of wine for €1.85 yesterday. That is unheard of in the US and simply laughable in the UK.

4. People. As a tourist that doesn't speak the local language, you're always an outsider. So, it's hard for me to say too much about these Romans, other than that they have been universally reasonable, friendly, polite, and honest with us. They do seem to be yelling at each other alot... I suspect that this may be the normal Italian way of communicating, though it is hard to say without closer inspection. The people here are also very fashionable, everyone is well dressed in the latest fashions... young and old people alike. I feel pretty sloppy in my cargo shorts and tshirts. Next time I'll bring better clothes. Scooters are also big here, watching everyone zip around on their cool Vespas has made me want a scooter or motorcycle even MORE! Reba wants me to add that the Roman men are HOT. I personally have no opinion on this subject.

5. Oh yeah, and by the way, Rome also just happens to be the seat of one of history's greatest civilizations. Never having visited before, it was tempting to place Rome in the company of Athens and Paris. Th parallels don't hold up under scrutiny. The Parthenon is awesome, but walk a mile away and you're surrounded by 20th century buildings, whereas in Rome, you're confronted with a huge and ancient structure at every corner. The Palatine hill makes the Louvre seem simplistic and small by comparison. Massive walls and multi-storied arches from centuries of building still stand on the hill, with hundreds of buildings in various states of decay. We were able to get a view of the Forum itself, looking right down onto where Julius Caesar's body was burned by outraged Roman mobs after he was murdered. The same Forum where Augusts, Tiberiums, Cicero, Hadrian, Anthony, Nero, Caligula walked, argued and lived 2000 years ago. Heady stuff! The temple of the Vestal Virgins still stands (no flame though) just past the huge Circus Maximus, where people still jog and take their dogs for walks today. The Colosseum is big (seated 50,000) and still solid enough to walk around the second floor, it's amazing to think that this is place where gladiators and wild animals duked it out for centuries. The Pantheon is a huge single room domed building, 1900 years old and still standing. I'm sure the architects of the Hajia Sofia and Blue Mosque had this building in the back of their minds when they drew up their plans. The Vatican is a whole other crazy experience: it's simply massive, and if you take the 6 hours or so that it takes to tour through to the creepy and dark Sistine chapel, you will walk down literally kilometers of ornately painted walls and ceilings. By painted, I mean floor to ceiling framed Renaissance paintings jammed frame to golden frame. The art collection of that place is simply exhausting to peruse, and after the first couple of hours, I was feeling what one British tourist called the "Papal Overload". A tour guide claimed that the Vatican has the worlds largest cataloged art collection, and I believe it. Their stuff starts with the (predictable) pilfered Egyptian stuff, and continues right up to the present, with a lot of Roman Empire era sculpture and asstons of Renaissance era painting. I could go on, but I think you get the point: think massive when you think Rome. Another interesting feature of the city is the way it's tiny crooked little streets open onto squares (Piazzas) with outdoor restaurants, fountains, and monumental 18th century buildings. We spent lots of time just strolling around seeing all the different neat architecture crammed together. As the streets twist around quite a bit, buildings had to be stuck in some pretty odd little nooks and corners, resulting is some very crazy shapes for such ostentatious constructions. And finally, if the cafes, monuments, food, booze, people, little streets and scooters didn't do the trick, the plethora of hip little boutiques and vintage stores should sell you on this town! Ok, so that's enough gushing about how great Rome is for now. :)