First "Wake up and get going" Day

So, as yesterday was arrival day last night was, to some extent, collapse night.  Unusual for me. Usually I pass out some time in the afternoon and then am wide awake at something like 2am. This time we held out to, what, 10pm? and then we both slept through until 10:30am or so.  The point of all this is that we (a) got thoroughly rested and (b) got a late start.

Nancy, so beautiful, even first thing in the morning.

The start looked like cleaning up and then walking a half block to the piazza for cafe and, for me, a brioche marmelade or a croissant filled with an apple preparation.

The 12 Steps in Maori, don't ask.

Above, "Keep it Simple".  Below, the Serenity Prayer. 

Alley entrance to St. Paul's meetings

After (or rather in the midst of) this we realized that there was an English speaking meeting at 12:45 so we, as much as possible, hurried up the hill and after some confusion found the entrance, through a gate to an alley and down some stairs as shown in one of the pictures above. So, a nice small literature meeting, reading stories from the Big Book. Four people besides us.

St. Paul's Inside the Walls

There was an Italian speaking meeting immediately after that.  Nancy stayed and I went for a stroll. First I went into the church hosting the meetings, St. Paul's Inside the Walls, shown above.  I just sat an read from my Kindle, starting The Leopard, an Italian classic (in translation).  Somewhere in the midst a couple came in and after photographing everything else started on each other.  As is usual inthese circumstances I offered to photograph them both.  (A great way to meet people and start a conversation.)  Turns out they were newlyweds as of last Saturday, she Russian and he Dutch; a nice couple.  That got me up so I walked to the corner for a acqua minerale frizzante, carbonated mineral water. I then fetched Nancy and we both went back and had another water; high times boy.

An image of the Madonna in a chapel in Santa Maria Maggiore

Nancy loved these doors

As this left us at the top of the hill it seemed like a good time to stroll over to Santa Maria Maggiore, just by the by and one of Romes oldest churches. This is well known for is mosaics which is right in Nancy's kitchen.  

A quiet interior courtyard

And then stroll back down the hill. We stopped and bought some ridiculously ripe fruit at a little shop about 100 feet from our door.  Then we hung around and completed some business with the apartment owner who left us with a pile of business cards from good local restaurants.

Youth in the piazza at night

So, what to do then?  Time for a passeggiatta, an evening stroll. We wandered past the again crowded piazza up to the Cavour Metro station which I suspect we'll be using a lot and then back to the piazza for a Coke and gander.  In the few feet back to our apartment there was an original cinquecento, a Fiat 500. The ones being sold now as Fiat 500s are much larger and they don't have the original's 500cc engine.  (I haven't owned a motorcycle with an engine that small since I was a youth.)  Anyhow Nancy just loved it so she got memorialized with it, below.

Nancy and cinquicento