Getting settled in Trastevere

The flight out of State College on Thursday was incredibly rough.  It was raining, and the plane was a two-propeller puddle jumper.  A few times we actually bounced so hard that overhead bins popped open.  It was sort of an exciting way to leave home!  We still landed safely in Philly, and I whiled away my seven-hour layover listening to 17^th century chamber music (Marin Marais and William Lawes) and watching episodes of Robot Chicken.  I knew the iPad would come in handy!

It was raining all day Thursday in Philadelphia.  The weather wasn’t bad enough to cancel flights, but the planes were backing up on the runway because takeoffs were slow.  We boarded on time, and to my delight I discovered that the only two empty seats on the entire plane were next to me.  I had an entire row to myself!  This meant that I could actually stretch my legs out, and when the passenger ahead of me reclined, it didn’t demolish my kneecaps.  Once we pulled out of our gate the pilot announced that there were 25 planes ahead of us waiting to take off, so we were delayed for over an hour.  Once we got in the air, the trip was uneventful.  The on-flight entertainment looked wretched, so once again I turned to my own programming via iPad.  This also gave me a chance to peruse my favorite catalog of all time, Sky Mall (I wonder who actually buys this stuff?).  The food was edible (barely), but at least they didn’t charge for it.  I tried unsuccessfully to sleep (I’d been awake since about 4:30 am and it was now almost 11 pm).  Finally, I gave up and watched more Robot Chicken (Seth Green is a comedic genius!). 

I love the night flight to Europe.  You fly through and over the darkness into the dawn.  The sun came up, and out of the left windows we could see the coast of Tuscany and Lazio; on the right side, the sun was shining on the silver and blue waters of the Mediterranean.  We landed smoothly, and I made it through passport control in just a few minutes.  I got my luggage, turned down several black market cabbies, and caught a city taxi into town.  The driver knew exactly where I was going, and soon we were winding through the narrow, cobbled maze of alleys that is Trastevere, the old medieval neighborhood on the west bank of the Tiber south of the Vatican, at the foot of the Gianicolo hill.  On the way I phoned the agent for my apartment, who told me that it was still being cleaned, but I could pick up my keys and drop off my luggage. 

The apartment is very nice: sunny, with huge windows and double-paned glass to shut out the night noise of Trastevere.  There is a full kitchen with gas stove and oven, a bath with shower, a living room on the corner, and a separate bedroom.  The ceilings are high, all the walls are whitewashed, and it’s comfortable and full of light.  As soon as they were done cleaning I called Gary via Skype.  Free international videophone!  It’s the only way to call.  We talked a while, and then I unpacked.  I was exhausted, but decided to stay up as long as I could to adjust my sleep schedule.  I went shopping for groceries: juice (blood orange and pomegranate), fresh fruit and salad greens, coffee for the moka pot, bread hot from a wood-fired oven, and cold cuts (prosciutto, mortadella, and turkey breast).   

By now it was Friday afternoon, and I was starving.  I decided to have my first meal at my favorite cybercafé in Rome, Good, about five minutes away.  I ordered a liter of water con gas and a huge mixed salad of greens and roasted vegetables.  I strolled through Trastevere, happy to discover that I remembered my way through the warren of winding alleys and streets.  Finally I went home, checked my email (the apartment has wireless!), talked to Gary again, and went to bed early because I hadn’t slept in about 30 hours.