S.P.Q.R.

Some People Quit Rome

Actually S.P.Q.R. stands for Senatus PopulusQue Romanorum, the Senate and People of Rome, Rome's motto since antiquity and one whose abbreviation is everywhere like this utility hole cover.

That having been said, we are (hopefully) quitting Rome and other than perhaps a flight wrap-up thus endeth the blog.

Note that I said "hopefully". This morning, being in the electronic age, I got the email from Lufthansa saying that we were ready for electronic check-in. So, we checked in. Then we downloaded Nancy's boarding pass. And I spent the next four hours attempting to generate my boarding pass. This includes the better than an hour being left on telephone hold only to be answered and subsequently either hung up on or transferred back to the beginning by people in the Philippines or India. I finally got someone who didn't hang up on me but who said that if I didn't get one I ain't getting one and to try a kiosk at the airport.

So tomorrow morning I'm getting up at 5am to be at the airport four hours early. I'm not quite sure what will happen after that.

After that at some point I wandered for a bit saying goodbye to a city that in all likelihood I will never see again which is a shame because there are many ways in which I love it and in which it is my favorite city.

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So Nancy goes to a meeting and I join her halfway through. We then walk back down the hill into Monti and decide to go to one of our favorite restaurants.

The bus boy sees us and just beams. I'm not used to this kind of treatment. A waitress, not our waitress but one we had had, what? a week ago?, comes over and all but throws herself into Nancy's arms. Said waitress, our waitress, and another waitress and the bus boy all have to have their pictures taken with us. And, check this out, the owner gives us a set of demitasse cups from the restaurant. As I said, I'm not used to this kind of treatment.

The WiFi in the apartment has grown so feeble as to be unusable so we stopped into a cafe on the piazza to use theirs. Wherein the cashier comes over and all but throws herself into Nancy's arms. I am so not used to this kind of treatment.

Finis