Roma Birthday

Just got back from Roma. It was all it was cracked up to be and there are a lot of cracks. Ha! The age of things is hard to grasp when you’re walking over a bridge that was built in 139 AD or a church in the countryside built in 200 BC.....Celebrated my birthday with my personal tour guide, Susie, her husband and a friend, who is also a TG. Went to a great seafood restaurant where the owner personally waited on us. He brought a tray with sea bass, red snapper and halibut all caught that morning…so we're looking at these whole fish on a tray - how fresh can you get? After a 10-course meal the lights in the restaurant go out - we thought it was a power outage. The owner and the waiters come in with the dessert and a candle singing, "Happy-a-Birth-a-Day-a"…and the lights go back on and everyone in the place is singing and applauding…a real Italian BD.

Tuscany

The art school I’m attending arranged a bus tour of Seina and San Gimignano in the Tuscany region. Siena is a lovely Tuscan city with a huge piazza and an annual horse race around the edge of the enormous plaza. Both cities are very popular tourist destinations, but I'd like to see some of the less-traveled villages and shoot some photos for possible subjects.

No matter where you go, a dive off the street, or an elegant restaurant, the food here is amazing! Eating dinner is common after nine or ten pm.

Florence is definitely a walking town... but you have to be aware of motor scooters and bikes that seem to be out to kill you. The streets are very narrow and bumpy and drivers with cars are like maniacs, although you rarely hear horns tooting.

Nice day!