Everytime I return to Rome I think about changing the name of my website to:  Perso in Roma (Lost in Rome) or Sono Perso Sempre (I'm Always Lost) because everytime I explore a new neighborhood I get hopelessly, gloriously lost.  I marvel at how quickly it happens.  Simply turning down one side street to check out something interesting is all it takes.  I think, "I'll just turn left here to see this and then take the next right to get back."  It sounds so logical but it never seems to work that way for me.   Though I can easily get around the city central using main roads, those lovely little viales are tempting traps for me.  I am grateful that I rarely have an agenda that suffers from these unplanned excursions. 

I'm all settled in my apartment in the Via Veneto section of town.  It's a splendid little place in a clean, lovely building on Via Alessandria.  Daniela, the owner, is kind and helpful.  I couldn't be more pleased with this year's lodgings.  There's a fresh food market (produce, meat, bread, fish, etc.) directly across the street.  Here is a picture of the entryway to my place. 
I'm off to explore the neighborhood. Ciao.

I find it sad that passports expire, don't you?  We get to keep them for 10 years during which time they travel with us wherever we go.  We show them to enter a new country, when we check into a new hotel, when we rent a car, and when we leave the country.  We get stamps, notes, visas, etc.  They become worn, soft, bendable, and full of memories.  It seems to me that just when I get it broken in the way I like it, it expires.  My old one was set to expire this August so I had to renew it.  The new one is stiff and empty.  My old one had my name taped on the back because when we traveled to Brazil with 5 of our children, it made it easier to find the right passport without opening seven to get to the right one. We just turned them all over and could easily find the needed passport quickly.  My new one is clean and shiny.    My old passport had a much younger photo looking out from the pages.  My new one........ well, the subject is ten years older.  My old passport had pages full of memories.  My new one is empty.  My old passport now has holes punched in it so that it easily recognized as being retired.   I guess I could look at it as my new passport is full of possibilities.  It's waiting to be filled with new stamps, visas, notes, etc.  Perhaps when it travels a bit it will grow on me.  For now though, it just looks sad.

I first entered Rome after driving from Capena, where I was staying, to visit my brother who was staying in the city for a few days.  I must admit that it was not love at first sight.  As I manuevered my rental car along the outskirts of the city, I literally yelped and clapped when I saw a beautiful blue parking sign.  I was just getting used to driving in Italy and going even to the outskirts of Rome was my baptism by fire.  After parking in my very own fabulous parking space near the Olympic Stadium, I walked around for a bit, then returned to my car and sat down for a good cry. 

I mean, really, who did I think I was?  I was 53 years old and alone in a strange country where I didn't speak (or read) the language.  What ever possessed me to take this trip?  If by some miracle I was able to find the right bus to enter the downtown area of the city, how in the world would I ever find my car again?  Sometimes I act like a brainless child.  When would I become wise?  I called my brother and told him I couldn't do it..... that I was driving back to Capena.  He offered to figure out how to get a bus to meet me if I could find the bus terminal nearby, so I took a deep breath, took pictures of everything around me so that I might find my car later in the day, began walking around the area, and then...... well, then I fell in love.

How could I not fall in love with a city this beautiful and vibrant?  Click on any image above for a larger view.