After about 12 hours of sleep I woke the next day actually feeling pretty good. I decided to take a walk and see the old neighborhood. It was as I remembered it, with a few shops that had changed. I wandered through the park, Villa Torlonia, and made my way to Mizzica, where I get the bast arancini around, another food item I've been dying to taste, as well as a couple small canoli that I enjoyed while sitting in the park.
(note: you can click on all pictures for a larger view)
That evening I went to meet my Italian friend Gerry. I have known him since the last time I was here when he worked at the scooter rental place. We've kept in contact since I've been away and now that I'm here I'm sure I'll see him often. He invited me to his house for dinner, so I met him at the train station after he got off work. He rides a bicycle to work everyday, so he walked me to where the small city train departs, gave me a ticket and and I got on just before it took off. When I asked him which stop to get off he said to just look out the window and he'll be there on his bike. I didn't know how he would keep up with the train since we got a pretty good start and it was about 5 miles, but the train had to make many stops and sure enough when we got to the right stop he was right outside. He shares an apartment with his sister Maria, and when we arrived she had dinner waiting. She made rice with vegetables, and after I was stuffed from that she gave me another plate with sausage and salad, it was all very good. While we were eating, their neighbor stopped by. He was wearing red pants, a black T-shirt with a white tie printed on it, and carrying a guitar case. I thought at first it was just another funny Italian outfit, but it turns out he was going to play in a band covering 80's music and it was for the look, so I was a bit relieved. He was entertaining, both because he talked so fast and also because he played a couple songs with the guitar, one by Guns'n'Roses and the other by John Denver, naturally. Gerry insisted that I stayed with them for the night, giving me his room and making clear that the house was mine as well. Both he and Maria are very kind and generous people and I'm lucky to have them as friends here and I'm looking forward to spending more time with them. The next morning I headed back to my place, then I took a trip into the center of the city to bring the house keys to Maria at the school where shes works. I took a small tour and visited the Pantheon and was once again impressed by it's imposing size and the way it just continues to remain in place, seemingly immortal after nearly 2000 years.
That afternoon I collected my things, had a quick lunch with Anne at the house, then left to catch a train for Florence. I made it on the train about 1 minute before it started to leave the station. I had a reserved seat but there was a mix up with the tickets and I was supposed to be in car number 4, but that was the dinning car, so I went to number 3 and took a seat where. When the woman checked my ticket she said they screwed up, but it worked out in my favor because I had sat down in the First Class car, which meant a nicer seat and free tea, cookies and moist towlette for my face, very nice. By the time the 1 1/2 hour ride was over I actually wanted to stay on for a few more hours, but the time had come to take the first step in securing a job and my place in Italy. I walked a couple short blocks to my budget hotel and rested up for my first day at my new job.
Plenty of space!
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