Ecco Italia,

We have arrived in Italy. Left for the airport very early (4 a.m.) Sunday morning, 29 March for a 6 a.m. flight to Rome, via Chicago, Frankfort and then Rome, arriving about 9:15 in the morning, Rome time on 30 March. I had hired a car via the internet and our driver was there to meet us. It sounds fancy, but actually, is not much more than a regular shuttle, which charges per person. This was just for the car and driver and took us directly to our hotel.

We had booked two nights at the Hotel Scott on Via Gioberti. This is a one star hotel, very basic, but clean. Its advantage was that it was a block and a half from the Termini. We were scheduled to take the train to our new home in Lecce on Wednesday, so the walk with the luggage would be short if not sweet!

Our first tragedy (at least for Polley) was that in our last minute rush to pack and get each piece of luggage under 50 pounds, I had put in some liquids into our carry-ons. They had passed through security in Portland, but those Germans had grabbed them. They were very nice and most apologetic, but rules are rules! They took Polley most valuable possessions: her Aveda shampoo and conditioner, both brand new and not cheap. This trip was suddenly not looking too bright. So immediately upon our arrival in Rome (there was WiFi in our room), I googled “Aveda Rome Italy.” Ah, Google! Near the Spanish Steps, not terribly far from our hotel, was “Aroma,” a very high end (Armani and Gucci are just down the street) styling salon, carrying all the Aveda products. Within the hour we had replaced the products (that is what they call this stuff – “product”) and emptied our bank account! Makes for a good story, however, and that is the most important part.

Did manage to catch Polley is front of the Trevi Fountain as we wandered about looking for the “World’s Finest” shampoo!


Also got to the Termini and purchased our tickets for Lecce.

We wandered about Rome a bit more and they crashed for several hours, waking in time for stroll to dinner. The girl at the hotel had recommended a place called Taverna Pretorina, just a bit beyond the Termini. People talk about our ability to connect with people . . . well, it happened again. We met a very nice couple from Sweden. Very interesting retired people. He had worked for a small company that made antennae for satellites and she was a lighting expert. We ended up with a three hour dinner and it was well after 11 before we bid them adieu, exchanging e-mails and the names of various authors.

The next day we returned to our favorite Roman neighborhood, on the Dei Serpenti, just up from the Coliseum. This had been an area that we discovered in 1994 and had come back to numerous times, including our renting an apartment for a week with my brother and his wife. At that time, we were a little disappointed as it had become a destination neighborhood, having been “outed” in the NY Times! However, that brief notoriety had passed and this time it seemed to have returned to just a typical Roman neighborhood. We drank and ate at the little bar we had enjoyed on numerous occasions during our past visits. We ended up with an antipasti plate and another plate of a thinly sliced dried beef called Bresaola. It came on a bed or arugula (rucola) with some Parmesan on top. We sort of placed the arugula and Parmesan on the beef and wrapped it up. Delicious. In fact, here in Lecce, we have just bought some at a local delicatessen and will be having it for dinner tonight (2 aprile).

As we headed back to our hotel, I did catch Polley in front of Santa Maria Maggiore.


Early on Wednesday morning, we lugged our bags the block and a half to the Termini to catch an 8 a.m. train (Eurostar, more or less direct). I had tried to pre-book tickets on-line, but could never get the TreniItalia to take my credit card. However, I figured how many people would be taking the train to Lecce this early in the season. Wrong! The train was full – of Irish! Ireland was playing Italy in the elimination rounds for the World Cup. 6000 Irish were descending on Bari, Italy, a town just 2 hours north of Lecce. It was like being trapped in a St. Patrick’s Day version of Groundhog Day! Green everywhere, beer everywhere! We did sit next to a nice young Irish couple and talked some with them. The girl’s brother, who worked for Intel had, in fact, spent a year in Portland!

Once the train stopped in Bari and unloaded a very “loaded” group of Irish, things were calm and we arrived in our hometown for the next two months, Lecce. We caught a cab and my 2:30 p.m. we were being dropped at our new apartment. A delightful woman, Floriana was there to meet us, along with the owner, Paolo. He had no English and Floriana, who writes English beautifully (I had communicated with her often over the last several weeks), was our translator as we got a quick introdeuction to our place. We wandered about the town with Floriana, having a quick Caffe Macciato (coffee with a “drop” of milk) and getting some recommendations on grocery stores, open markets and ristoranti. The rest of the afternoon and early evening was taken up with gathering supplies and having a little dinner of Italian bread, cheese, salami and wine. Tomorrow will be our first day on our own.

Hi Polley and Ed,