O.K., I hope this blog thing works and everyone can find it. So here goes...
There have been many tourists in the city since I've been here, and they are mostly Italian's. I guess Rome is where the non-Romans go for the holidays. I purchased some clothes, a pair of jeans and a funny looking sweater, so I must look pretty Italian because I have had several Italians ask ME for directions to things! But the most surprising part is I was able to give them answers :) I think I have gotten the historic center of the city figured out. I walked it for three days straight without looking at a map and I never got lost. To me this is surprising, since last time I was here I was totally lost and walked in circles the entire time. With all the time I spent thinking about this place and looking at maps at home something must have stuck in my head.
I celebrated the New Year (Capodanno, Anno Nuovo) in the Piazza Del Popolo (People's Square), which I think is the biggest square in Rome, besides St. Peter's. I was expecting maybe something organized there, but it was just tons of people hanging out and shooting off fireworks all night. Similar to the 4th of July, but with a lot more of the "bomb" type, like M80s I guess. There was explosion after explosion. Most were loud, but some were "Bahgdad" loud and those got the most cheers from the croud. I could actually feel the blast from some of them on my face. The square is round (if that makes sense) and most people were in the outer circle, with some in the center, but the area between was the war zone where everybody threw the bombs, so nobody stood there, in fact they usually ran when they wanted to get to the center. There was no big clock with a countdown, but you knew when it was midnight because everybody started cheering and there were big fireworks being shot off all around the piazza and then people started breaking bottles everywhere. It was a little bit crazy for a minute, but then it cleared up, and everywhere you went people were saying "Auguri" to each other. I'm not positive what it means, but it's some kind of well wishing. The next day everybody was saying "Buon Anno", like "Good Year". Most everything was closed on New Year's day and it was fairly quiet everywhere. I had to check out of the hotel in the morning and kill time until about 8:00 when I could go to my new house. So I walked some more......
There have been many tourists in the city since I've been here, and they are mostly Italian's. I guess Rome is where the non-Romans go for the holidays. I purchased some clothes, a pair of jeans and a funny looking sweater, so I must look pretty Italian because I have had several Italians ask ME for directions to things! But the most surprising part is I was able to give them answers :) I think I have gotten the historic center of the city figured out. I walked it for three days straight without looking at a map and I never got lost. To me this is surprising, since last time I was here I was totally lost and walked in circles the entire time. With all the time I spent thinking about this place and looking at maps at home something must have stuck in my head.
I celebrated the New Year (Capodanno, Anno Nuovo) in the Piazza Del Popolo (People's Square), which I think is the biggest square in Rome, besides St. Peter's. I was expecting maybe something organized there, but it was just tons of people hanging out and shooting off fireworks all night. Similar to the 4th of July, but with a lot more of the "bomb" type, like M80s I guess. There was explosion after explosion. Most were loud, but some were "Bahgdad" loud and those got the most cheers from the croud. I could actually feel the blast from some of them on my face. The square is round (if that makes sense) and most people were in the outer circle, with some in the center, but the area between was the war zone where everybody threw the bombs, so nobody stood there, in fact they usually ran when they wanted to get to the center. There was no big clock with a countdown, but you knew when it was midnight because everybody started cheering and there were big fireworks being shot off all around the piazza and then people started breaking bottles everywhere. It was a little bit crazy for a minute, but then it cleared up, and everywhere you went people were saying "Auguri" to each other. I'm not positive what it means, but it's some kind of well wishing. The next day everybody was saying "Buon Anno", like "Good Year". Most everything was closed on New Year's day and it was fairly quiet everywhere. I had to check out of the hotel in the morning and kill time until about 8:00 when I could go to my new house. So I walked some more......
1 comment:
Hey Joe this is your uncle Joe, great to see your having a great time. Keep it up.
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