Postcard from Rome (written upon my return)
I decided to go to Rome for Thanksgiving to surprise Julie and Pieter who planned to celebrate the occasion with a vacation given that Thanksgiving isn’t widely celebrated in Europe anyway. I’ve never celebrated Thanksgiving before but now I’ve celebrated it in a unique Italian way not familiar to most Americans. The last time I was in Rome I was with Julie and Claudia, a gypsy on the night train predicted that Julie would marry within the year. It seemed ironic that the next time all 3 of us would be together again is in the same place with Julies husband and child there with us. Natan was so much fun to have around, it seemed like he even remembered me although he was only 7 months old when I saw him last. We all stayed with Stefano, it was like we’d never been apart and the years that passed between our meetings, although full for each of us, made no difference to the bond we all had in Helsinki. I relived Claudia’s walking tour of Rome alone after all the others had gone back to Brussels and Milan. I even included the repeated circling of the Trevi fountain before actually finding it, and the very long hike to St. Peters Basilica making sure to have plenty of ice-cream stops along the way. I suppose it could be counted as one of the first stops of my world tour (unless I count London and Kilkenny) but the real non-stop travel starts on Jan 15th when I go to Mexico. I’m going to gatecrash the SF Christmas party tonight, I feel that it’s my duty, it just wouldn’t be the same without me there to cause the scandal.