Gails Blog

It’s early on Sunday morning here in Firenzia. It is cool and the bells have peeled to becken believers to morning mass. We arrived very late last night after two WONDERFUL days in Roma. OMG. With all the warnings about the amount of traffic, the cacaphony, the dirt, I think Rome was way undersold. It totally pwned!

We walked along the narrow shop-filled streets, darting in and out to look at all the STUFF. You know what? Stuff everywhere starts to look the same after a while. But it was fun seeing the kinds of things Italians like to buy: lots of purses and shoes, tons of costume jewelry, gelato (yummy), fashion everywhere. I saw lots of stuff that would look abfab on Producer Jennifer, who is the girliest girl I know with the keenest fashion sense.

We hit the Spanish Steps, sat and watched the milleau of people — an international smorgasborg. Then we headed to the Trevi Fountain. Did y’all see Roman Holiday? It was one of my favorite movies and as we approached the fountain I started singing the song. My kids are very used to me breaking into song at the drop of a hat, so Alex joined right in with me. (I tought my children early on that no one could embarass them, they were the only ones who could embarass themselves. The lesson stuck with Alex and so I’m free to be me!) So, we round the corner and I spy the fountain and I burst into tears. I was sooo blown away by the beauty, I bawled like a baby. Aparently my family found it “charming.” Ken wouldn’t stop taking pictures of my blubbering, blotchy, laughing face.

We took a tour of the Colesseum. It was so interesting seeing where Caesars sat, animals fought and so many people died. Did you know that all that stuff about Gladiators and animals fighting is a bunch of hooey? Yep. Apparantly, the mornings were used for “hunts” — hunters, usually with nets and short swords,  against animals; at mid-day all the criminals were thrown to the wild beasts for lunch and everyone could watch them being devoured — good with hotdog and a coke, right? In the afternoon the Glads fought each other. It was all very organized. Organized massacré. Hmmm . We stopped by the Pantheon, which is the most perfect example of a dome anywhere. Then we went to the Villa Borgese to see David. He is fiercely concentrating on his target. The clench of his mouth and the set of his brow show his determination. And all the rest of him looks pretty good too. We caught a train to Florence at about 6 last night, and when we got here we were all done in but our socks, so we fell into bed.

The holiday is definately back on track. Getting the crappy stuff out of the way early seems to have set the tone for optimism and a real sense of appreciation. Despite how tired we got over the last two days, the kids stayed cool.

We’re planning a quietish day today. Ken is all walked out and Malcolm needs to do some bouncing (which is how he deals with stress). Alex and I might do a little shopping. I bought a new toe-ring in Sicily (2 eu) and a book on Roman myth with some Roman coins as mementos at the Colesseum. Alex has done a little better. A couple of tops, a beautiful dress — Marilyn Monroe style — with a killer pair of heels for the Spring Fling dance. What a treat for a teenager, eh? To say, “Oh this little thing? I got it in Rome.” She’s doing great with her budget. I had promised to buy the dress — up to a limit — and her grandmother sent her with 100 bucks, which bought the left shoe. Her dad sprung for the right! They’re pretty nice shoes, though I noticed that they fit her perfectly which means they’re a smidgeon too small for me. (I have longer feet; hers are fatter, so we can often share shoes — but not these!)

Well, I’m off to check on the munchkins. There are no hotspots in the hotel, so I’m typing away on the one computer in the reception area, with a Euro-keyboad, which has all the symbols in different places so I keep having to stop to find the “?” or the “/” I couldn’t find the “at” sign at all.

Before I go, some of you had some questions about talking to elderly parents about financial matters. I have an article on the site about just this topic. So have a look around for it. If you can’t find it, let me know and I’ll post the name.

 TTFN

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at 3:47 am and is filed under Thinking Out Loud. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.