Roman Holiday 2006 III

From Gumnickopedia

Ed’s 2006 Roman Vacation pages: Part I | Part II | Part III

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Contents 1 Wednesday, November 22 2 Thursday, November 23 3 Friday, November 24 4 Saturday, November 25 5 Sunday, November 26 6 Monday, November 27

Wednesday, November 22

I forgot to mention that on Tuesday afternoon, I fried the power supply for my laptop. I’d been working for an hour or so at the Internet café in Piazza Barberini when I noticed that the laptop wasn’t charging, even though it was plugged into a power strip. Then I discovered that the power supply casing was burning hot. I unplugged it and let it cool completely before trying it again, but it was a goner.

So my first errand on Wednesday was to replace it, because the computer’s battery was down to almost no remaining charge. On our 2001 trip, Mark and I had had to hunt down a means to archive photos off our camera’s memory card, and in the course of our search, we’d run across a store that sold Apple computer equipment. So I took the Metro over toward the store.

On the walk from the Metro stop to the Apple store, I happened upon a cell-phone store. Nothing in the window was as cheap as what I’d seen a few days earlier, but a bird in hand is worth two in the bush, so I went in to see what I could get. The shopkeeper didn’t speak much English, but I was able to convey that I wanted something inexpensive and not too small. (My chubby fingers have a hard time with the current trend toward ultra-miniaturization of electronics.) He fixed me up with one that didn’t cost a fortune. It uses a system called TIM, wherein you buy a tiny memory card coded with a phone number, and then you can have your account recharged from time to time at any TIM outlet.

Now I’d be able to walk around with a cell phone stuck to my ear like the real Italians!

I was delighted to find the store exactly where I remembered it to be. (That’s often not the case when I go searching for things in Rome.) I was also relieved to find it open for business, and they had exactly what I needed. The new power supply came with modular attachments for two different types of European power outlet and also accommodates the American attachment I was able to salvage from the toasted one.

The success of my errand took the edge off the morning’s cold, wet weather. Since I was in the vicinity, I decided to walk down to San Giovanni in Laterano. I’d seen it on all my previous trips, but it’s always worth another look. And I’d never gone across the street to take a look at the Scala Santa, the Holy Staircase purportedly from the Jerusalem palace of Pontius Pilate, flown to Rome miraculously through the intervention of some saint or other. (I’m not making this up.) But like so many things in Rome, the Scala Santa has very limited hours. I got there just moments before noon and got only a quick peek at the wondrous staircase before the docent shooed everyone out for the midday closing. The silver lining was being tossed out into the piazza just as the storm was beginning to clear and catching this marvelous view of the basilica as the sun burst through the gray clouds.

A visit to the church, and a chance to sit for a few minutes playing with my new phone. The first trick was figuring out how to change the language from Italian to English—no small feat. Then I keyed in all of the phone numbers I’d accumulated (both of them). The first call after I left the church was to my new friend, Augusto, who was due to get off work around noon. We made plans to meet up in the same spot.

He picked me up on the motorino and whisked me away to his house, where another delicious meal was in the works. (I confess that I don’t recall what it was, because every time I showed up Augusto cooked me another wonderful dish. It might have been some form of pasta on this occasion.)

After our late lunch and a nap, it was time for soccer practice. Augusto gathered together his gear. Everything was red with yellow accents—the colors of Leonina Sport. We hopped on the motorino for the short ride down to the soccer field. Augusto pointed out some bleacher near mid-field and suggested that I watch from there.

I tried to get comfortable on the wooden bleachers. But a cold front had passed through in the morning, so everything was a little damp, and the cold breeze had picked up after the sun went down. To make matters worse, about half an hour passed by before Augusto and his teammates even emerged from the fieldhouse. I imagined that their coach had things to discuss with the team after they suited up and before practice started, but I never found out for sure.

By the time they started doing warmup drills, I was chilled to the bone. I was also feeling guilty about how little exercise I’d gotten that day, and my guilt was compounded by the sight of all those guys stretching and trotting around the field. I wasn’t dressed for a workout, so I decided to take my chances on a walk. This being Italy, I also reasoned that I wouldn’t have to walk too far to come across a hot cup of coffee.

The neighborhood around the soccer field was mostly commercial, so there were no people anywhere in sight and not a lot of street lights. But I knew that we weren’t far from the main road back toward the center of Rome, so I set out in that direction. Once I got to the main road, I had to climb a few dozen stairs to get up to street level. The road passed over a huge railroad right-of-way, maybe 10 or 12 sets of tracks, which lead toward Tiburtina, one of Rome’s most important railway stations after Termini. (When I’d parted company with him on Sunday, my friend Michele was headed for Tiburtina to catch his train back home.)

Across the tracks, the neighborhood turned more urban—the usual Roman mix of five- and six-story apartment and office buildings with small businesses, shops, and restaurants at ground level. In the first few blocks, I found several coffee bars to choose from. The half-mile walk and a strong, hot shot of espresso were just what I’d needed.

This is as far as I’d gotten when it was time to return home. I arrived back in the U.S. on December 1 with lots of works waiting for me and Christmas coming on fast, so I never got around to writing about the rest of the trip.

Thursday, November 23

Friday, November 24

Saturday, November 25

Sunday, November 26

Monday, November 27