Monthly Archives: May 2024

Making marks in Rome

I used to be a little enamored of graffiti, maybe because my two boys came of age as Shepard Fairey was gaining notoriety, maybe because the idea of leaving a mark, any mark, holds presumptive value. There’s rebellion in graffiti. There can be artistry.

But this trip changed my mind. Rome, especially, seemed dirtied and marred by graffiti. It was everywhere.

Some motifs recurred, not just within a city but across the two cities, Rome and Florence

Would it change my reaction if I knew what any of it meant?

Top left particularly prevalent — collage-graffiti.

Boar is popular. D and Ken had some. I didn’t.

I came home two pounds lighter even though my carb count was sky high and every day included at least one serving of gelato. Speaks to quality of ingredients, I think. Well, and those 14,000 – 19,000 step count days!

I’m jumping around. Indulge me.

If I’d had more space in my luggage and more disposable dollars, I would have bought some pottery. It was bright, cheerful, and so evocative of the landscape that it would’ve been a nice memento. One cereal-sized bowl I picked up was priced at 65 Euros. Craft worthy of the price — just not for me that day.

I did treat myself to a cheap pair of earrings from L’Accadamie’s gift store.

Cappuccino with Santa Maria Novella in the background

I’ll end with a movie recommendation. We picked it out because most of it takes place in Rome. That’s the Castel Sant’Angelo. We crossed that bridge! Are those the Spanish Steps? Trevi Fountain with four people at its lip? Sure, a little movie conceit.

It happens to be an uplifting story about second chances — one of my favorite themes. Also, I don’t even know why but I love the actor Bill Nighy. Here he plays a wise soccer (er – football) coach to England’s Homeless World Cup team. Highly recommend, especially if you’ve spent the day reading about Alito and the Orange Menace.

Stag horn ferns at the side gate. Ellen — come and get some!

PS forgive the repetition from earlier posts. I can hardly remember what I put in an Instagram story and what here and what nowhere at all, so I need to give myself permission to be repetitive!

Home at sunset

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Ferns trying to take over. New azalea in bloom.

Pansies decapitated by rabbits came back!

Big Daddy hosta looking big-daddy-ish. Hydrangea (behind) rescued from bad spot thrives here. First of phlox in bloom.

We arrived many hours earlier than originally planned because of our delayed flight. What? Yes, we were able to snag earlier flights. Four people. Layovers in Newark. Two final destinations. All done in apps. Thank god Ken is a seasoned traveler!

Margins were tight but not that tight. You have to go through passport control, customs, and security (twice if you check a bag, which I do).

Even snagging a cab is hairy (yet another travel app). Will they come or not? Will we miss another train? We could get train tix from Florence right to the airport in Rome, which was nice.

A layover in Newark is dumb (you fly right over Boston!), but necessitated by using United. Next time, I’ll want to go direct. For some reason the United app was telling us the train ride between terminals in Newark was 81 minutes. It was not — more like six — and I suspected as much but you don’t know til you go, so it’s all a little breathless.

Anyway. Yawn. Right?

The real story here is arriving home to sweet Finny. Body wiggles and tiny throat yelps (a sound he makes at no other time).

Also sweet was arriving home near sunset to a garden that had popped in our absence. It happens every year, the popping, but not usually with time away to render it all so dramatic.

Peonies put forth their tiny fists of flowers

Second to last night dinner. They had a wine window, which is a thing. People gathering and drinking in the streets. Even that night, when it was raining on and off.

Well this is too long. I have to figure out if my messages to cover designer are getting through. Reedsy, the marketplace site I’m using, isn’t that user friendly. Then writing with others at ten. Also: Dog walk! Supposed to be in high eighties later. Ugh.

Last day in Italy

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At some point, you long for home and think things like, “This time tomorrow, I’ll be on my way to seeing FinnFinn.”

This is what they mean by “skip the line”

Enough for now!

Pasta making in Florence

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It rained today. Hard at times. But we never really got caught in it.

We had to hoof it to the south bank of the Arno early this morning for our pasta making class, a last minute and very welcome addition to our activities.

Genius device: a pasta guitar

It was a nice group. A mother/daughter duo from Jersey, a couple from Northern Quebec, and two cousins from England (one from Suffolk; one from I-can’t-remember-where), plus us. Our instructor haled from Mexico but has lived in Florence for 14 years. Check out her serving technique, below.

Of course we got to eat what we made.

The green swirl is a basil/olive oil mix

Then we went to the Duomo and I’m way too exhausted to post about that. Here are some random pix from last few days though.

Early graffiti at Colosseum, demonstrating why word “graffiti” derives from “scratch”

A pleasant surprise!

Travel notes. Not in order

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No photos were allowed inside the Santo Spirito so other senses and impulses came to the fore. The feel of cool air on my arms, the smell of incense. I lit a candle for my sister. Almost everywhere, votives are now electric but this church offered real wax candles with wicks.