Today was probably one of the most
memorable days I have had in Rome. I got back from the party quite
late (or should I say early- Romans model their partying style after
the Spanish so parties usually last from 12-5am). I headed to a
concert with Teresa around 11 in my favorite neighborhood Garbatella.
While getting off the train we had the weirdest moment when we ran
into one of the people from the CouchSurfing party the night before.
His name is Johan and he was surfing in Rome for the weekend. We met
briefly at the beginning of the party, and left at the same time.
Since he was staying with a host who lived near by he walked us to
our night bus (one of many that night!). We said goodnight and
thanked him for walking us home thinking we would most likely never
see each other again so you can imagine our surprise when we ran into
him on the metro platform. It was somewhat of a surreal experience and
neither one of us could believe it. We decided that it must be fate
and convinced Joan to forgo his plans to look at churches and hang out with us. While
looking for the concert we ran into yet another friend (this one,
while surprising was nowhere near as shocking as running into Johan),
Jack the SLA, his Italian friends, and two girls in the jfrc program.
We told them about the concert and decided to look for it all
together. While walking down the street we heard music and decided to
follow it. We came across a parade which we followed (walked
through?) all around the neighborhood. The children were all dressed
in adorable costumes, as well as some of the parents. There was also
a lot of music which was a gypsy/folk style (my favorite!)
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| My kind of sign |
After the parade ended, and since the
band still wasn't out, one of Jack's friends invited us back to her
apartment. We spoke in a mix of broken English and Italian over
cookies, and tea (the Italians like to “correct” their tea by
putting a bit of alcohol- usually – so if you are ever in Italy
make sure to order your drink “correctivo.”) The couple whose
home we were at we so kind and inviting. It was my first time inside
a home in Rome, and I'm hoping they are the rule and not the
exception in terms of hospitality. We talked about Günther Uecker, the
contemporary artist, and some others who I had never heard of (I'm
not really into modern of contemporary art). The husband and I bonded
over our love of classical piano, and may possibly have a date to
play sometime in the near future.
Our marvelous evening did not end here.
Johan is very into
geocaching. I had done it once with my sister via
gps in Colorado, but this was my first time doing it with Johan's
smart phone and out of the country. We went to the Spanish Steps and
Trevi Fountian where we found both caches. We ended the night with
good food and conversation at a delicious restaurant near the Spanish
Steps.
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| Trevi Fountian |
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| Looks like we'll be coming back! |
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| Trevi Fountian Cache! |
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| Spanish Steps- at the top |
