Today, we slept in a bit and then took the subway to Villa Barbarini. That family had cardinals and popes galore back in the day. There was a special exhibit of wonderful 15 and 16th century art, including some Carravaggio’s.
Across the hall, there are about 35 rooms filled with beautiful art. Each room tried to have a theme…one filled with crosses, one portraits, one Virgin and Child, etc. The famous portrait of Henry VIII by Hans Holbein was there as well as an El Greco. The ceilings of each room were beautiful, paintings framed with fruits and such. Some of them seemed to have cherubs carved as three dimensional statues, but it was all painted. One ceiling was like the ceiling of an aviary, with birds and monkeys cavorting. Then we came to a huge room – perhaps a ballroom – with beautiful silk wall covering in golds. The ceiling was huge and it appeared to be three dimensional carvings…but again all painted. Cherubs with laurels, the pope’s crown, bees, flowers, Angels, and even a cyclops. Whatever they thought of, they painted it.
Afterward, we met an old friend of mine and had pizza with him before he went to work. He is quite a character and entertainer. He loved having a new audience in Andy. He loves Barbra Streisand and sings one of her songs if a word is said that prompts him. Mention the word, ‘People’ and he sings a few line of Barbra’s ‘People’. This can go on all night.
We have been getting warnings of possible terror threats to the Vatican and the Ghetto here in Rome. We are trying to be very aware. One thing we are aware of is the increase of police everywhere we go. In the pizza place today, 6 policemen came in for drinks while we were there and we weren’t in a very touristy area.
That’s about it for today. Got to pet a dog named Spitz…who wasn’t a spitz…but didn’t see Great Banks.
Sleep tight. Domani is Sunday and we have no plans. Sure that might change unless it rains.

Andy got her Tax ID! The 3rd time was the charm! Now she’s panicked about getting a bank account!

After we finished there, which took all of 5 minutes, we came back to our neighborhood and walked to the market. Got some mushrooms for dinner with rosemary chicken tonight and some swordfish for dinner tomorrow night. We will fix it with tangerines. And garlic.
One our way to get a sandwich for lunch, we saw a strange looking little man furiously peddling a bicycle on the sidewalk…but it was in some kind of stall and going nowhere. Couldn’t figure out what on earth he was doing until we got right on him. He was sharpening scissors and knives. He’s called an arrotino. The wheels of the bike were turning a whet stone. This reminded me of an article I read about a man who lives near Florence, Mauro Grifoni, who has a large garage and collects Peddlar’s Bicycles. These were from an era when tradesmen had customized bikes to ply their trade.
As we went down one street, we saw three more Stumbling Stones…three more Jews taken to Auswitz. I’m sure there are dozens around the city.
Close to the apartment, we saw a big fat English bulldog. I have seen him several times, but never close enough to stop and give a scratch. Today we got to meet ‘Great Banks’. He goes by Banks. He is 7 years old and he LOVES having his butt scratched! He lives on our street and we look forward to many more encounters.
Tomorrow, we are going to attempt to go to a museum near Piazza Barbarini and then meet my eccentric friend, Nicola for lunch. He is obsessed with Barbra Streisand and knows every word of every song and movie she has ever done. If, in conversation you mention the word, ‘people’, he breaks into song. (And you just thought I was crazy!) He is a hoot. Speaks about 5 languages fluently. I speak English.
Off to bed.

We got up at 6am and left the apartment at 7 in the dark to get to Villa Borghese for a 9am tour. Took the subway to the Spanish Steps station. We had seen signs to turn right for the Spanish Steps and turn left for the Villa Borghese. Rode an escalator to the top and asked which direction. A worker pointed left. We walked down a dirt path to a sign that pointed right, and we went in to a field with somewhat of a road cut thru. After quite awhile, we decided we were wrong and started back to the subway. Met two American guys from Virginia who were on the same quest. They had a map and a phone. It was very foggy as we walked, and walked and walked. We asked questions of everyone we saw. Where is the door where we pay to visit the Villa Borghese. And we walked even more and finally found it…and our guide. I have decided there is NO WAY I’m walking back to any subway station. I’ll spring for a taxi. Those of you who know how frugal I am will realize I am desperate and worn out and we haven’t even started. Our guide, GianLuca is an art historian who gives daily guides. We are waiting for another couple to join us for this three hour tour. They are no-shows. So we start. After about 30 minutes I start feeling light headed and need some orange juice and to sit down…before I pass out. Have had no trouble with low blood sugar for eons…but I usually don’t walk three hundred miles before 9am. So we went to the cafeteria in the Villa and I have a glass old freshly squeezed orange juice and sit for a few minutes. In the meanwhile, GianLuca finds the other couple who came by cab. Evidently, their cab driver was training his son and they got into a fight and were late arriving. We all went back to continue the tour. It was wonderful! We saw many Carravaggio paintings and Bernini statues. The whole place is filled with art and amazing painted ceilings and walls and mosaics so tiny you have to get up close to realize they aren’t paintings. One darling sculpture was of two little angels and a bird done when Bernini was either 7 or 10 years old. I was making messes at 7! And 10! The gardens are magnificent also. After two hours in the villa, we walked thru the gardens of the park. The whole tour could have gone on all day as far as I was concerned….and guess who walked to the subway and then back home?
Now, I have been forgetting to tell you about the subway station where we have to go to catch the bus and walk the 1/2 mile to the Tax ID office. After we get out of the subway car, there are about 30 steps up to a huge escalator. Tallest I’ve ever seen. Then there is another of equal height. And then a third one of the same height. Then about 30 more steps. I can’t imagine how far down into the earth we started and how did they ever excavate that to build the station?
Also, after seeing that Andy put a ‘C’ in the space for sex, i decided she didn’t want anyone to think she flunked SEX…especially since she didn’t even know she was taking it! Hey I know that’s an old joke, but the opportunity presented itself….
We came home to a big pot of bean and vegetable stew we made up last night. Sure would be good with cornbread, but they probably don’t have that here.
Remember our word Domani? Tomorrow. Well Domani we go back to the tax office. Pray that the third time is the charm.
Good night, all.

We now know the word ‘domani’. Our new word of the day is ‘doppo domani’ meaning day after tomorrow. We know this new word because this is when we go see our new best friends again, the Tax ID people. Today, the subway ride, bus trip and walking to the office took about 40 minutes – we got on the subway going the right way, and we knew where we were going. Got our number after about a 15 minute wait in the line. We didn’t have to wait too long to see our person. She got yesterday’s papers that Andy filled out. Unfortunately, Andy had put initial C in the box marked for sex….thinking that was where her middle initial went. So, we got chewed out in Italian, of which we understood nothing but the tone. Then she pulls up the application on the computer…and yesterday’s paperwork is still in process. So, she told us to come back tomorrow…domani. But we explained we were going to the Villa Borghese tomorrow and would be back ‘doppo domani’ on Friday. She told us to come straight to her…no line and no number…see I told you we were new best friends!
Left there and had a lunch at a good Chinese place. It’s amazing how reasonable restaurant food is in the suburbs with no tourists around.
We met a beautiful dog named Penelope walking with her mistress. Due to lack of a ball, she had a huge pine cone in her mouth. She was quite proud of that pine cone.
We got to the market in time today to buy chicken, hamburger patties, olives, eggs, carrots and salmon. The salmon is marinating in olive oil, capers, garlic and rosemary. Will have it tonight with potatoes, red bell peppers and onions sautéed together.
Yesterday, near the Tax Office we saw a church dedicated to the Virgin of,Guadalupe…the patroness of Mexico. Unfortunately, it,was closed. I would have liked to have seen the interior. Maybe it will be open doppo domani. Something besides the interior of the tax office.
One thing I am noticing…when I start to speak to people in Italian, they fire back in such rapid Italian that they seem to think I’m a native born speaker. And I usually can catch one word in 10…it will get better….

Did I mention a movie today? Silly me. I forgot you can only do one…maybe two things a day here.
We got to the post office and got that paperwork out of the way. Hopped on our subway…got two two stops down and realized we were going the wrong way. Got off, changed direction and off we went the the correct stop. Caught a bus..got off and wandered around a bit, finally finding the correct building to get our tax ID. Take a number…I am #61 and Andy is #62. They are working on the low 30’s. An hour and a half later, our number is called. I get my tax ID paper and will get my card in the mail in a few weeks. But, we have AN OFFICIAL RECEIPT! Andy gets hers, we go for lunch and decide to go home as it is too late to find the theater for the movie. And we might as well go to the market before we go home. We get there at 3pm…and it shut down at 2pm. Oh well, we will go tomorrow. That word is ‘domani’…
Learn it. Trust me!
On our way to the market, we see two more “Stumbling Blocks” on a street. A husband and wife…a couple in their 60’s who were taken to Auswitz and were killed there a couple of weeks later.
We stopped in a movie theater near us and found all the movies there are in Italian, but the people there were kind enough to tell us where a theater in English is near the Spanish Steps. We do well getting there.
On our way back to the apartment, feeling all flush with getting two major things accomplished today, i suggest we go to the Post Office with our new OFFICIAL TAX ID numbers and open the bank account that Andy wants. Take a number. #182 and they are working on 181. We get called and the woman hasn’t got a clue what we are talking about, so she gets the man next to her to help us. He knows just about as much English as I know Italian and we muddle thru. Turns out, we have taken the wrong #, but he isn’t letting us go…he has a chance to practice his English with real English speaking people. He finally gets the gist that we do have all of our OFFICIAL papers and can indeed LEGALLY open a bank account at his post office. He turns us over to a lady in a private office who has Google Translate. No English, just Google Translate. She gets all the paperwork going, making copies, putting info into the computer and then she discovers that the TAX ID office failed to put Andy’s middle name on her OFFICIAL document, so therefore – She is NOT OFFICIAL!! So, tomorrow – remember ‘Domani’ – we go back on the subway, back on the bus…no wandering cause we know where the office is…and please God let it be open…take a number and repeat the process. Unless I know how to insist we go ahead of everyone because THEY made the mistake…but of course I don’t know how to do that in Italian. Maybe I need Google Translate…
We have been washing clothes for two weeks with some clothes washing stuff we got at the store. Not feeling like the clothes were getting really clean. Then we find out it is the Italian equivalent of Woolite…for wools and delicates. We have some new stuff now. Hope it does better!
That’s it for tonight. Until Domani…

We finally got our paperwork translated! Lovely young woman at the CAF office and miracle of miracles…no charge for her services. Another miracle…I could understand most of what she asked and was able to answer…all in Italian. We then had to go to the Tabachi and get a 16€ stamp. Then today we pay the Post office 127.50€ for whatever, then affix envelope with a 30€’stamp. Taxing is alive and well in Italy! This is to get our permit to live in Rome. The Visa we got in October was to live in Italy for longer than 3 months.
So, off to post office after breakfast (Andy is cooking) then to the tax office to get our TAX ID and then maybe a movie in English. Will report later.

And as a reminder…..to communicate with me….you must email. You can’t respond to this blog. My email is: leslie@lwrose.com
Would love to hear from everyone!

Today we went back to the Villa Medici for the Tour in English. Before the tour started, we went thru a gallery with many beautiful paintings. We learned all about the Medici who lived there for awhile. He had his horoscope done at birth and it said he was destined for a great destiny. His older brother was like the Duke of Tuscany…a,very high rank…but alas! The older brother died one day and his wife the next, so this fellow went to be Duke of Tuscany instead of being a Cardinal in Rome (at the age of 14). The Villa is lovely and the gardens are beautiful. Napoleon bought the Villa Medici and it now belongs to the French Academy of Art. 528 artists from around the world applied to study there and 17 were chosen. They stay from a year to a year and a half with their families. There is a forested garden, a formal Italian garden and a labyrinth. In the labyrinth, there are statues of a Greek myth. A woman had 12 children and bragged about it to the gods. They rained down death upon the 12 children and the mother’s tears were turned into a lake in Greece. The 13 statues are all in a grove in this labyrinth garden.
I cooked a good dinner tonight of chicken, onions, red bell peppers, garlic, potatoes and olives…with capers thrown in for good measure. Mixed salad and cannoli for dessert.
It was a grey day with misty showers. Nice to be home in our cozy apartment.
Forgot to tell you that we picked up two more trashed plants yesterday. One just needed the dead leaves plucked off- but the other one really looked pitiful…all droopy and half dead. We watered it and it is perking up and putting out new blooms. Both have pretty red flowers…can’t remember the name of the plant…but they have perked up our little abode.
Going to quilt a bit, read a bit, then go to bed.
Buona Notte…good night!

We took the subway to the Spanish Steps, walked around and then up to the church at the top of the stairs. Wandered down to the Villa Medici and found out that the English speaking tour is at noon daily, so we are going back tomorrow. Walked to Piazza Barbarini to see about a restaurant that Andy had seen earlier in the week when we went to the American Consulate that was serving “the best American Hamburgers in Italy”. They are closed today, so we ended up eating lasagna and a hamburger and French fries at another place. Quite good. Then we went to the actual church where the monk’s bones are displayed. There was an organist playing, probably practicing for Mass tomorrow. Then we got on the subway for home. It was packed and we shoved in and a nicely dressed man was shoving particularly hard and got behind me. At one point I realized my messenger bag zipper was opened about an inch. I closed it and put my hand over it. The subway stopped and the same man started shoving past me and he was unzipping the bag as he was shoving. I slapped his hand away and he disappeared into the crowd getting off. The bag was totally unzipped! He got nothing. This is where I keep my map, dictionary, tote bag and quilting project. Nothing of great value. Money, passport and credit card are in my bra in my neck pouch under layers of clothes. So, all the pickpockets in Rome don’t look like Gypsies as they usually do.
We are in for the evening getting ready to have our chicken vegetable bread soup, Buon appetito!

Beautiful day here today. About 60 degrees, and I hear Dallas and the East Coast are in the deep freeze.
We cleaned house this morning, mopped floors, cleaned the bathroom, did several loads of wash and then went out shopping. Took a suitcase on rollers and two shopping bags. Filled them all and then some. When we got home, I started some Ribollita soup. It’s a Tuscan vegetable soup with bread…and I added a chicken leg and thigh. We will have it for dinner tomorrow night. I know those of you who know me are shocked and amazed to hear that I am cooking. Sunday night I am planning Grilled chicken, with onions and red bell peppers with capers.
The market was wonderful. Stall after stall with fresh fish, fresh meats, fresh vegetables, even a pasta stall with freshly made pasta and ravioli.
The plan tomorrow is to go to the Borghese Villa and see it. I have never been, so it will be a new treat for me.
Will report on it tomorrow night…and how the soup turned out.
Stay warm and write me a note when you can.

Yesterday we spent half a day trying to get information that no one seems to have. About and hour in line at the post office trying to find out how Andy can open an account. No one knows. So we went back to the CAF office where they will help us with our paperwork…but they are closed until Monday. We meet two young men who work next to the CAF office and they direct us to a Main post office. We walk blocks and blocks to be told she has to get her Carta de Soggiorno – which is what the paperwork is for. Then get a tax ID from their IRS then come back and open an account. After all this we go to a fish restaurant near our apartment and have calamari. I came back to rest and Andy went to buy water and cannolis for dessert. I cooked Italian sausage and scrambled eggs and it was delicious.
At our apartment, we climb about 25 steps inside to the first floor – not to be confused with the ground floor – and then we can get in the elevator up to floor #1 to our apartment which is really on the second floor. More to come about the elevator…
Today, we have coffee and a bite to eat and head out to the American Embassy for help with this paperwork. I start to take the elevator down…but there is NO Elevator car. None whatsoever. Nada. The whole shaft is glassed in and there is NO car. Gone! (It is still gone when we got home today).
We took the subway to Piazza Bernini and went to the American Embassy. They told us to go to the American Consulate next door. We arrived about noon and were told to come back at 2 as everyone was at lunch. (Two hour Italian lunch hours). We decided to go to the Bone Church. They have remodeled since the last time I was there and they have a very nice museum telling the history of the Capuchin Monks who lived there. Lots of beautiful art work, bibles and religious articles displayed very nicely. At the end of the museum you go into the crypt that has made this church famous. In several small grottos, the monks bones have been artistically displayed over the walls and ceilings. In each grotto, there are several monks with their bones all intact dressed in their Capuchin robes…either standing or lying in repose. It is all tastefully (?) done…but very macabre. There are the bones of about 3700 monks here.
We were back in line before 2 at the Consulate and got in after showing our passports and going thru X-ray screening. We didn’t have to remove our shoes.