There are lots of rules posted on the walls of the YMCA: Don’t use your cell phone. Don’t pee in the pool. Don’t leave your children in the lockers. You know, all the regular stuff. But I never thought we would need a rule for something as routine as taking a shower, until now. In Continue Reading

I regularly pack my suitcase with a load of bricks. When it comes to coffee, I’ve been known to drink Starsucks. I like geese even though they crap all over everything. I comb my hair with a rake. I spend good, hard-earned money on jeans that look like they’ve been snagged on a tree branch Continue Reading

After saying our goodbyes to Carol, HK and I made our way to the Termini and eventually the airport. At the international terminal we said our goodbyes. I’m not a fan of this ritual because it can easily make my face leak. I watched her walk away, not much bigger than her back pack, facing Continue Reading

Quick like a bunny, I made my way through Trastevere’s cobblestone streets, across the bridge over the suspicious Tiber and back down to the Internet café. Heather and I were finishing lunch at the Ditta Trinchetti, when I reached in my purse and realized my passport was missing. The worst thing that would happen is Continue Reading

Jesus, it’s hot. Carol arrived today and we had a delightful lunch at an outdoor café. We shared some bruschetta, aqua minerale and red wine. I enjoyed an insalata di tonno (tuna salad). The food tasted fresh and was just the nourishment we needed to make the trek up the hill to the Basilica di Continue Reading

Pretty penance. The Italy in my head is all about Tuscany and its rolling hills, gardens with bright red tomatoes and cypress trees lined up at attention. I had to experience it. But first we would drop by Florence for a walk around the Duomo, through the crowded Piazza della Signoria and across the Ponte Continue Reading

Statues-R-Us. Everyone was on their own today. HK needed time on the Internet. CK needed to work. And I had some holy errands to run over at the Vatican and to see the Sistine Chapel. From Trastevere I made the long walk along the Tiber until I felt that familiar guilt, made a left and Continue Reading

Brutality, pushback and luck. The #3 bus took us all the way to the Colosseum. That was great, but what’s greater is that the ticket machine on the bus was broken so we rode for free. There are inspectors that get off and on the buses in uniform or plain clothes and ask to see Continue Reading

The price of bread. Hanging laundry out to dry in Rome feels different than in Texas. It has nothing to do with a two-year drought or saving money by not using the drier and everything to do with European culture. Wearing underwear plucked from a Roman balcony warmed by the Italian sun makes me feel Continue Reading