I love a good market, and Rome certainly has several excellent ones that never disappoint. One of the many benefits to renting an apartment instead of staying in a hotel is that we can actually purchase food from these markets instead of just staring longingly at all the food.

We have made daily morning visits to a market close to our apartment (a few blocks from Vatican City), to gather lunch items. None of the vendors speak English, and we do not speak Italian. But we do try our best, and have had success getting what we want, so we must be saying the right things most of the time! Of course, we sound like demanding cavemen learning Italian, albeit polite ones. We say things like, “questo, un mezzo kilo, per favore” which means, “this one, half kilo please”.

We were downtown yesterday, when a man zipped by from behind us on his bike. He was negotiating his way into very heavy traffic. Naturally, my camera was in my bag, so I missed what might have been the photo op of this trip….the man’s big tabby cat was lying across the back of his neck and shoulders, hanging on tightly, peering intently into traffic as though he was navigating for his owner. As the man cycled down the packed street, all you could see was this red tabby, moving quickly above all the tops of the cars and vespas.

It’s been very hot and sunny here. Museums provide some relief from the weather. Oh, and I guess they also teach us a thing or two about art and culture.