i don't know what happened to sunday
it started
there was the outdoor market down the street
meri picked up some good vegetables
i slept
we had coos coos and artichokes that meri made
i had negative contribution
after lunch
we went out and it was cool, but nice in the sun
from campo dei fiori full of tourists
we took a 62 bus as far as san silvestro
some how we wandered into the galleria
named for the beloved actor alberto sordi
a great old building converted into a mall
a fifty foot high stained glass ceiling and beautiful rose marble arches and niches in the well-sculptured structure
built about a hundred fifty years ago
they don't do this quality now
we were going to have a coffee and little half sandwich called a tramezzino, but prices were too high
2.50 to sit down with coffee
2.40 for a tramezzino that are usually 1.30
that 2.50 euro is 3.85 in u.s. dollars
coffee used to cost fifty cents
when italy first went to the euro prices immediately doubled
they haven't slowed
weekly news stories bemoan excelerating food prices
out the side door at a pizza place we bought a slice each
meri noted that when we were first in roma eighteen years ago
the pizza was always made on sight
now it is shipped in and re-heated in a microwave
fast food has arrived
romans are noticeably heavier
around the corner was trevi fountain
we wound through the crushing crowd and i took Meri to the photo
exhibition that i saw last week at the Igovernment printing lab
outside was jammed. inside there was no one and four rooms of historic photos in this free exhibit
no advertising. no crowd.
photos of old Roma dated from 1845 to about 1870
we noted the differences from a hundred fifty years ago
then there were empty fields, now in that same area are city streets and apartment buildings
it has changed from few people to full of people
we have seen so much change in our lifetime
i first flew in a Ford Tri-motor prop plane before crowds
and before jets were the common airliner
a couple of years ago i was getting off a packed bus at chiesa nuova, a crazy italian guy who had been talking all along the way, got off at the same stop and said to me
"there's too many of us."
"what are you saying" i asked. i understood his words in italian, but wanted clarification about what he'd said
"people. i am talking about the earth's population. there are too many of us."
i nodded, said something in agreement and went on my way
about two months later Meri and I were in San Diego, California walking down a busy street. in the group coming our way was a crazy guy talking to everyone. just as he passed us he turned back and said directly to me, "there are too many of us."
it shocked me, but i kept walking. it was the same guy.
it took me about a second to remember the other time and when i turned back to him i said
"hey, you just told me that two weeks ago." but he was already gone, invisible in the crowd
it started
there was the outdoor market down the street
meri picked up some good vegetables
i slept
we had coos coos and artichokes that meri made
i had negative contribution
after lunch
we went out and it was cool, but nice in the sun
from campo dei fiori full of tourists
we took a 62 bus as far as san silvestro
some how we wandered into the galleria
named for the beloved actor alberto sordi
a great old building converted into a mall
a fifty foot high stained glass ceiling and beautiful rose marble arches and niches in the well-sculptured structure
built about a hundred fifty years ago
they don't do this quality now
we were going to have a coffee and little half sandwich called a tramezzino, but prices were too high
2.50 to sit down with coffee
2.40 for a tramezzino that are usually 1.30
that 2.50 euro is 3.85 in u.s. dollars
coffee used to cost fifty cents
when italy first went to the euro prices immediately doubled
they haven't slowed
weekly news stories bemoan excelerating food prices
out the side door at a pizza place we bought a slice each
meri noted that when we were first in roma eighteen years ago
the pizza was always made on sight
now it is shipped in and re-heated in a microwave
fast food has arrived
romans are noticeably heavier
around the corner was trevi fountain
we wound through the crushing crowd and i took Meri to the photo
exhibition that i saw last week at the Igovernment printing lab
outside was jammed. inside there was no one and four rooms of historic photos in this free exhibit
no advertising. no crowd.
photos of old Roma dated from 1845 to about 1870
we noted the differences from a hundred fifty years ago
then there were empty fields, now in that same area are city streets and apartment buildings
it has changed from few people to full of people
we have seen so much change in our lifetime
i first flew in a Ford Tri-motor prop plane before crowds
and before jets were the common airliner
a couple of years ago i was getting off a packed bus at chiesa nuova, a crazy italian guy who had been talking all along the way, got off at the same stop and said to me
"there's too many of us."
"what are you saying" i asked. i understood his words in italian, but wanted clarification about what he'd said
"people. i am talking about the earth's population. there are too many of us."
i nodded, said something in agreement and went on my way
about two months later Meri and I were in San Diego, California walking down a busy street. in the group coming our way was a crazy guy talking to everyone. just as he passed us he turned back and said directly to me, "there are too many of us."
it shocked me, but i kept walking. it was the same guy.
it took me about a second to remember the other time and when i turned back to him i said
"hey, you just told me that two weeks ago." but he was already gone, invisible in the crowd
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