Europe again!

Good morning from Rome! I set out what feels like a very long time ago but now I’m typing away in a little orange bedroom in a little apartment in a great city. We have not set out in earnest yet to see or do anything, but I have a few little notes to share. 1. Even though my particular isolated wing of the Frankfurt airport seemed to reflect German dourness, I was still full of grins to see Europe again. And it didn’t feel foreign anymore – which is almost stranger. I knew the brands in the candy racks (kinder, anyone?) and I expected the barrage of perfume displays and odors. I could pick out ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ in German, and everyone’s way of dressing didn’t seem exotic anymore. I did feel a bit funky in my brightly colored wool coat from Alaska, but hey, it was snowing when I left. 2. It’s so nice to hear French again. I haven’t had much occasion to use it, but I’m waiting for it! 3. Rome – Italy is probably the most beautiful place I’ve seen from the air. Grids and right angles didn't seem to exist in a chaotic patchwork of green fields spotted with white and orange cities. It was so pretty after gloomy Seattle. Fr. Maher gathered us at the airport and got us safely ferried ‘home’ in taxis. Taxis here have a state-set price around 48 euros, but many cabbies will try to swindle you and ask for 70. As Fr. Maher says: What does it mean if someone has a laminated plastic card around their neck? They have a laminated plastic card around their neck. That is it. 4. For dinner we went around the corner to a sandwich place, since the area is pretty touristy and it would have taken a good walk to get out of the pricy places. They have a menu of superhero sandwiches, which makes it a lot easier to order when you don’t know what anything on the menu says. I ended up with the ‘Bat Man’ which was mushrooms, mushroom sauce stuff, sausage, pickles, turkey, lettuce, and nice bread. Other options included the Hulk, Ironman, Diabolik, and Super Woman. That will make future ordering easy to remember. 5. My roommate keeps an early schedule, so today I’m up at 5. I’m a tad groggy, but I’m also watching the sun rise and listening to birds burst into song. And now I have all this time to write. We’re off to celebrate a late pseudo Pentecostal mass in St. Peter’s.