Kickin Out Plugs

Uhh. We been slackin. Pologizes.

Christmas eve:
At Gerardo's in our fancy dresses (oh lord), with the Carlos fam and some others. Deliciousness foodwise, we're talkin shrimpies, fishies, clammies, noodle-ies? Buncha fast-talkin Italians bein hype (ruth: "buh?"). Funny thing is, nobody in this Christmas eve dinner in Rome was Roman. Some gringas from the states (that's us), Carlos and mom from Ecuador, Sister from Denmark and Ecuador, some Ukranian lady ("mother Russia" as she said), and two chubs from Naples. An international table. We were awarded for being tourists with travel gear for Christmas. Ruth (me) got a passport hangy neck thing - which honestly, won't kill me. Sarah (me) got a - ready? - if a messenger bag and a fanny pack had a baby... bag. Yes.

Christmas day:
Drove around Rome with the whole Carlos fam. Went to an orange garden that's connected to a church - bellisimo. Citrus scents and a beautiful view of Rome (pics on Carlos' camera, ours needed some more juice). As tempting as it was, no oranges were stolen. Walked around. Heard old ladies singing. Looked through a keyhole that had a path through arched trees that lead to a view of the Vatican. But nobody goes in there, only looks through the keyhole. Probably only the pope is allowed. Drove down to Circo Massimo (Giant Circus?), huge ruins and a big green .. space. Park. Thing. Walked over to an old temple, very pretty, no idea what its deal was. Saw this tourist thing. That tourist thing. Very nice time. THEN (DRUMSSS) went to a Peruvian restaurant (the only place open on Christmas), "where all the immigrants go" says Carlos' mom. Goooood fooood. FULL. After naps, met up with Monica, Tim, Chris, went for a LONGASS walk, then watched way too many episodes from season 3 of Weeds, passed out at about 4 in the morning.

Today:
Uh.. Got breakfast around noon. Went to the Forum, beautiful sunlight and mind-blowing scapes. (Picked up some pebbles por la mama). Looked at the arch of our people being conquered. Way to rep, jews. Went to the Colosseo and walked in big circles for a while. Left. Ate some good stuff. Walked to the Pantheon to find it closed. More things seemed to be closed today than on actual Christmas day. BUT. What WAS open was a GELATO place that was HEAVENLY. A million flavors. We ripped that up. (Well, Ruth (I) did her (my) part). Wandered little streets for a bit. Art store was closed - we'll try that tomorrow. Had dinner at Carlos'. Yum. Chilled. Now we're home.

Plans for tomorrow (let's see if they happen):
Russian Tea room in the Jewish Ghetto. Synagogue - to check it out. Nikeroma!! Art store. Cinema.

All in all, the weather is nicer than expected - not too cold, none of that snow stuff we're hearing about on the news in that united states place. Snow in Philly? Doubt it. Any more suggestions before my (Ruth) time is up?

PEACELOVE
roosaa.


p.s. They hooked up a crazy ass nativity scene at the Vatican. If the pope was interested in going into show business, or funding theater in Rome, he'd know who to call. (Ghostbusters?)

Ok we're tired again.