I’m drinking a glass of wine (yep.) and eating a nice crusty piece of fresh bread with green olive tapenade and another with a perfect, garlicky white bean spread and fresh tomato slices. KPLU (Seattle’s public radio station) happens to be playing (I guess they get it from the internet or something) in the background and the smell of whatever’s for dinner is drifting in. We’re staying at The Beehive, a hostel/hotel in Rome. The lounge has free internet and couches and pictures of the owner’s kids on the walls and it’s right off the kitchen and feels like your best friend’s living room. And I guess since we haven’t been in a best friend’s living room for a year, it feels wonderful. We’ve been spending most of our time in Rome sitting in this lounge.
We have managed to get out and see the major attractions. The weather is perfect and because it’s winter there are no crowds or lines. We’ve walked right in to the Vatican Museum, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Colosseum, and the pantheon, many of which have 3-4 hour long lines in the summer. It’s a great time of year to travel.
A couple of days before coming to Rome we were in Egypt where we saw the pyramids and the sphinx, rode camels through the desert and ate more delicious Mediterranean food. The pollution and garbage and smog were overwhelming. I was surprised by how depressed and impoverished the country was. Donkey-drawn carts were “driving” down the highways carrying loads of beautiful purple, white and orange carrots, huge heads of cabbage, oranges and bananas. Ladies carrying bags and baskets on their heads and children and babies in their arms and on their backs walked along the shoulder. The houses were ALL under construction with rebar sticking out of the top floor, ready for another story to be added for the next generation.
My head is growing…about to explode. Now we’re in Rome with big, beautiful, intricate churches covered in gold and marble, priceless works of art, museums full of jewels and an embarrassment of riches on our plates and in our bellies each night. But Egypt is full of valuable exports, just equally full of corruption and lacking in a wealth-distribution system. If only we could solve the world’s problems.
