The price is paid

Yesterday morning I woke up to cloudy skies. The benefit was that is was a little warmer than the previous morning. I decided that fashion be damned and donned my running shoes with my work clothes for the long walk to the FAO building. This was far more sensible! I had my work shoes in my bag so that I could change shoes just before I got there.

The walk was pleasant except for seeing a small glimpse into the underbelly of Rome.I came across a guy who I thought was going to die right in front of me. He was very clearly tripping out on something but it did not look like a very good trip.

Anyway I left him behind quite quickly and got back to gawking at all the old buildings. My route to FAO took me alongside the Circo Massimo which was the ancient Roman chariot racing stadium. These days it seems to be a place to walk dogs. It is a nice open space though in a city that is pretty much overcrowded with buildings.

Amazing how there is graffiti everywhere

Circo Massimo

Across the way from Circo Massimo is the Palatino which is on my list of things to see much closer but here is a photo of just a small section of it:


And then across the other side is the statue of Giuseppe Mazzini who was Italian politician who advocated for the unification of Italy in the 1800s. He was nicknamed the "Soul of Italy".

Giuseppe Mazzino

The meeting was very interesting and there were an number of presentations that provided information that will be useful to me in the future. By the afternoon though I was itching for it to be done so that my holiday could begin. Once the meeting was adjourned though I ended up spending another hour talking to the organiser who had invited me. It was good to discuss the issues facing us in the collaboration between our projects and to clear the air a little. Anyway my work duties are not complete and I have fulfilled all the obligations that made this trip possible.

I arrived back at the hotel just after Charles had arrived so the timing was really good. We quickly sorted out our things, had a glass of wine and then went across the road to a little restaurant for some pizza. It was the kind of restaurant that I had envisioned, not a tourist in sight and only local patrons. When I saw the menu I was torn between having a pasta dish or going for the pizza. It all looked so good and the prices were reasonable. In the end we decided to have the pizza. I had pizza with a tomato base, cheese and salami while Charles went for buffalo mozzarella and cherry tomatoes. Both were absolutely delicious!!!!!! Everything I expected of real Italian pizza.
This morning we woke up to thunder and a rain storm but hopefully it will clear by the time we head off to the Vatican.
Location: Rome, Italy

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