Well we arrived in Rome about two and a half months ago. We found out in the van on the way from the airport to our new apartment that our new apartment wasn't available. Well, that was a huge letdown, because I had unwisely bonded with it on the internet. We've been in temporary quarters in the meantime, trying to work out a solution to lack of housing. The temporary apartment is in a great neighborhood with good bus service and lots of shopping for daily necessities. The problem is that it's in a condo canyon with no sunlight, on the first floor with all the utilities humming and vibrating, and there's construction on at least three sides of our building, the kind of construction that involves the grinding saws that cut steel pipes, marble and tile. Excruciating. To top it off, we're in the landing pattern of the airport. Again.
I know I can just leave the apartment during the day, and most of the noise stops at night. But I'm trying to learn Italian by studying at home, and the noise is just too painful and distracting. So I study in short bursts and get out as much as possible to sight-see and talk to Italians.
Keeping it positive as best as I can, in spite of missing our daughter and our cats so much it takes my breath away and causes a clamping feeling in my vital organs, we are truly enjoying being in Rome. We've been having a blast, attending concerts, ballets, art installations, tech conferences, university events and archaeology exhibits. We've been attending receptions, dinners and cocktail parties at the Colosseum, the Vatican and the Baths of Caracalla where the prosecco flows like water. We've met writers, artists, cartoonists, diplomats, dancers and musicians. It's fabulous.
This week, we got word that we can finally move into our apartment, the first one that I had unwisely bonded with, hopefully before Christmas. And our daughter is coming to visit next week, just in time to help unpack all the stuff she helped pack up last summer. Yay!
