feldmanlarry

My morning was exactly what I needed. I ate breakfast at the hotel and went up to my room and worked on the blog and relaxed.

My Israeli friend Neta was coming to Rome from Florence by train this morning then leaving for Israeli this same evening. I was jealous because she got to spend another night with the group we hang out with in Florence. I invited her to join me on a walking tour of Rome that a guide had laid out for me.

Rome has so many bizarre fountains.

I’ll steam an artichoke and pull off the leaves one by one. The leaves get dipped in a salad dressing. When all the leaves are gone, you have to scoop out the choke part. What’s left is the stem and the best part, the artichoke heart. It’s so good. I wonder if I could live on nothing but these artichokes.

My friend Ken Wilkinson has created beautiful artistic clocks, an app with “impossible” clocks, and a children’s book about clocks. I’m sure he would have wanted to spend some time in this shop.

The famous Trevi Fountain was under construction but they had a walkway through it and I threw just one coin with my right hand over my left shoulder as is the tradition.

Here’s Neta in front of the Spanish Steps. We were both too tired to climb them.

We ate at a restaurant which is part of the “slow foods” movement. Neta’s pizza has eggplant, zucchini, red peppers and tomatoes. I love the irregular shape. They let you cut it however you like. I’m not a big pizza eater but the super thin crust is how I like it.

We walked all the way back to my hotel where she got a car to go to the airport. It came late and I felt again a little bit of the feeling I had with my parents always being late for traveling. It wasn’t her fault and fortunately there wasn’t a lot of traffic so she got on the plane with plenty of time. On the walk back, we ran into so many monuments and churches. Here’s just one.

Neta is a really fun person. I wish her all the best. She will have to start searching for another art therapy job. I’m sure she’s amazing at her job and really makes a difference in people’s lives. She thanked me for helping her to do some of the things in Florence and today’s trip. She was great company today and is a really interesting and thoughtful person. I’m very glad that our paths crossed.