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06/05/2005: "Quick Note from Roma"

Doing this from an industrial grade internet operation at the end of Via Veneto in Roma. It has been our practice on Italy trips to spend the last night in a nice hotel in Roma before taking the early train out to Fiumicino airport for the flight back. Rome is a perfectly fine city, but not my favorite Italian city by any means. It is a good decompression stop before returning, though. The trip was quite successful. The main event was showing up at the town hall of the remote medieval village in an isolated but extremely beautiful area of Italy in the Abruzzi mountains. There is no English there at all, and unfortunately Italian is my fourth in proficiency after Russian and German, but I have been applying myself during the commute to improve the basic travellers Italian Ive gained over the last five years. Im pleased to report that everything went quite well. We spoke with the mayor, the chief of police, and the town patriarch, who arranged a jeep ride out on some mountain roads to the site of some property my wife has inherited. The view was spectacular! Once Im back Ill upload some pictures. We spent a good amount of time speaking with town inhabitants, visiting the mausoleum, supporting the town economy, and other worthwhile activities. Prior to arriving in the Abruzzi, we spent a day on the beach in Rimini, Italys answer to the Jersey shore. (BTW appologies for spelling it Riminini on the last post. A little too much vinono just before!) Looking forward to getting back tomorrow. Lots of thoughts and observations tied to experiencing European culture this last week. Ciao e ciliamo presto!