Rome or Bust

One week before I'm in Rome and I'm ready to rumble.  Euros? check.  Passport & copies? check. Guide books? check.  Camera gear? check.  Tickets to Borghese Galleria and Vatican? check.  Today's work: making flash cards of Italian words and phrases that I'll need.  Dove la toilette? Dove la autobus?  Non parlo Italiano; Parla ingles.  Mi dispiace, mi scusi.  Where is the bathroom?  How about the bus?  I speak English, not Italian, and I'm sorry, excuse me.  That should just about do it, except for "Vino!  Dove es vino?"

Reading about ancient Rome has me in a time warp.  My apartment backs up to the ancient theater where Julius Caeser was murdered.  I plan a bike ride on the Appian Way, where 6000 slaves were crucified after their rebellion was quashed, one cross every 30 yards.  The Pantheon is less than a quarter mile from my apartment.  How can we presume anything in our culture to be "old", given this history?

I am reading a book about life in everyday Rome.  Like New York City and Seoul, the apartments for most people were small, over-priced, spare rooms used mostly for sleeping.  Other functions- baths, toilets, restaurants, laundry, socializing- occurred in common spaces.  Slaves were the norm, lives were short and often dirty.  The image of the rich on their couches eating gold-dipped grapes was not the norm...

Thanks to my adventurous daughter for inspiring me to leave my comfort zone.  Planning this trip to Rome has been an adventure in itself.  Six more days, then off.