On a short trip to the market...

...a small bakery hidden away, a newborn baby carried proudly by his papa at a local bar, a shopowner hosing down the cobblestone, a puppy with big paws, the smell of espresso, the temptation of gelato, a warm breeze, lost tourists, a near wipeout on a rough patch of road, friends packed tightly on a too-small bench, teenagers starting to gather in the piazza, church bells, rock n' roll, hastily shouted "ciaos," warm sunshine on my shoulders, and finally, the bottle of mineral water I'd set out for.

As promised

J left for home this morning, and while this is sad for a number of reasons, the least of which being that I never uploaded his pictures to my Flickr account, well, the fact that I never uploaded the pictures is too bad, I have to admit. Luckily we live in an advanced technological age and I can probably get my hands on them. I did, however, upload some of my mother's pictures and thought I'd at least post a couple, and will post more soon. J took about 3,000. I'm only sort of kidding.

My dad and Gianni, who owns a restaurant nearby, and who we were calling "second Papa" by the end of the night.

Nora in her stroller, which we are beating to death on these rough, cobblestone streets (visible in the background).

Nora with Enzo, who sang for us at the Roman "nightclub" in both English and Italian, including a special song for Nora and traditional Roman songs, our company singing along at times. One of those unforgettable nights that can only be attained by traveling many miles from home and fully immersing yourself in a foreign culture. We went to the club last night with our new Italian friends - for Flavia's birthday - after dinner at a local restaurant. where we discussed many subjects in two languages, ate seafood and drank many bottles of wine.