And so the sun sets on another vacation. I technically have one more day tomorrow but as that is going to involve `18-20 hours of travel time as I get to Rome airport, fly to ATL, deal with customs and all that jazz and then fly back to BHM I’m not really sure that counts as a vacation day. More of an endurance test. I will have to say that this trip, cobbled together out of a lot of ideas that came from other people’s schedules and travel plans has been a smashing success. 19 days, 18 nights, 4 major cultural capitals, 180 foot miles by my pedometer, 4 planes, 3 trains, an uncounted number of taxis and metro/light rail rides, many excellent meals, theatre, opera, cabaret, museums, ruins, beaches, and most importantly my amazing travel partners and excellent company – Patti Steelman, David Pohler, Jonathan Uday Ramteke, and Thomas Cagle.
This last day was low key. Thomas and I walked over to the last part of tourist Rome we had yet to explore, the streets around the Spanish Steps full of chic designer boutiques with elegant salespeople selling couture well out of either of our price range. We did find some belts that were quite reasonable and satisfied ourself with those. This was followed by aperatifs and light lunch before heading back to the hotel to get him packed up and on his way to his archeological dig. He’ll be here for another month or so looking for fragments of classical Roman life at the site of Hadrian’s Villa. I don’t envy him wielding a pickaxe in the Italian sun day after day but he’s young and he can endure.
After he departed, I took a nap and then headed out fo finish what little shopping I had left to do. My life is a bit overstuffed with things so I tend to be selective when buying for myself. Occasional articles of clothing, pieces of local craft that are small and lightweight, original pieces of art for my gallery walls. That’s about my usual limit. I did look at some mosaic art for sale at the Vatican and there were some pieces I quite liked. Over priced. I shall live without. I then took a bit of a walk through the Trastavere before dinner. I’ve had so much rich food recently that I wanted something simple and comforting for dinner and ended up at a Mexican restaurant with a plate of enchiladas verdes and black beans. As I tend to eat Mexican at least once a week when out on house calls (the Mexican place is usually the only reliable restaurant for lunch in a small Alabama town), it was comfort food (and quite reasonable quality).
I’m going to watch bad TV tonight, dubbed into Italian, and then try to get a long and sound sleep to make up for the craziness that will likely occur tomorrow. In the morning, I may take a walk before heading to the airport as I don’t have to head that way until about 11 am Rome time. (4 AM Birmingham). It will give me one more day of pedometer happiness before heading back to my usual patterns. My stiffening hips have been fairly happy with all the walking. I should really keep it up but finding the time around work and other obligations is always a chore. And I have to launch myself into the Tempest as we’re due to start rehearsing three weeks from tomorrow and I don’t have a cast as of yet. (If you’re interested, drop me a line).
This also means I have to shove myself back into the insanity of American political life again. The quotes and actions I have seen from the president, should they be coming from one of my patients, would lead me to start introducing difficult conversations about the future. I may hide in a bunker for July 4th weekend which he and his team appear to have completely screwed up. There also appears to be some new move afoot to allow political appointees to cancel any federal grant for any vague reason at any time. Scientific and medical research cannot proceed without stable funding sources so if this one goes through, we’re likely to see American science, already moving towards free fall, plummet through the floor. If I were an up and coming young researcher, I would be exploring emigration options and appointments at foreign universities with alacrity
Life, The Universe, and Everything 