Today was our last day in Italy. Tomorrow morning early we head for home. We have a car coming for us at 6:50 AM...so that means we will be up at 6 AM and will have to eat breakfast at the airport.
We had no tour planned today, so we explored Rome on our own. We first took a walk from our hotel to the Boughesie (sp?) Gardens, which is like central park. We found our way to the National Gallery of Modern Art, where they had both painting and sculpture on display. We saw Degas, Van Gough, Ceszanne, Miro, Modriean, etc. It was a nice gallery and a nice change from the heavy art displayed at the Vatican. I really think the Catholic church needs to sell about two thirds of the stuff they have on display to galleries around the world. They should take the proceeds and create a fund for helping displaced people or something. It is a sin to have so much stuff not doing anyone any good. No wonder Martin Luther protested. I did not realize that the Reformation had its beginnings when the church instituted indulgences in order to decorate the Vatican. It was certainly enough to have broken the camel's back!
After visiting the national art gallery, we took a cab to Piazza de something or other....near the Trevi Fountain, where we understood there was shopping. We wanted to by some souveniers. Long story short, we ended up on a street that had stall after stall of local artists, basically going from The Spanish Steps to Piazza de Poppulo (sp?). There was some pretty interesting things to look at but nothing I would spend good money for. We did find a place that sold Persian carpets, but the one I had an eye on was $10,000! Next year I will take Yoko to Dubai and we can look for a carpet then!
Anyway, we made our way back to the hotel at about 5:30PM, so we were out and about walking for about 7 hours. I am beat.
Yoko wanted me to mention to musical events. One occurred last night. We went to Caffe de Paris on Via Veneto and there was a piano player/ singer who played a variety of songs. He was very good and made Yoko tear up several times over the course of the hour. Also, in Florence she wanted me to mention how much she enjoyed the guitar player we listened to in the main square (we bought 2 CDs) as well as an opera singer who was singing on the street for money.
Most of the places we visited cater to tourists. Everywhere you go there are people singing O Solo Mio and Vorarei. We had heard the accordian playing in the square, gondoliers singing, church bells ringing on the hour and half hour in nearly every city. The sights and sounds of Italy are just as you might imagine.
Everyone talks about how good the food is here. I must say it is good, but for the most part no better than what Yoko makes at home. The problem in Italy is that you really have no choice...it is Italian every day...morning, noon and night. I asked if there is a French restaurant in Florence and the consierge answered "no." It was like...are you crazy? Here in Rome our first meal out was Indian. We went to a place by cab recommended by the hotel. The food was good, but Yoko and I both thought that the Indian was "Italian style" meaning that even curry was cooked to taste like tomato sauce!
What are my most lasting impressions of Italy? I would say that, number one, people are very fashionable or fashion minded. Lots of branded stores everywhere. Everyone seems to have a lot of money, but then when you talk to them they complain that conversion of the lira to the euro has doubled the prices of things without a concurrent increase in wages. As a result, families need two incomes to survive, and that is breaking up the traditional nuclear family. This appears to be a country of the very rich and the merely surviving. We have not seen any slums or obviously poor areas. We did see a lot of gypsies and people begging for money, though I am given to understanding these beggers are drug adicts.
It is a beautiful country and certainly someplace everyone should visit. I think our stay here worked out just perfect. We saw a lot of six cities...Milano, Venice, Bologna, Sorrento, Naples and Rome. I have had enough and am looking forward to my return to the US.
