In the air

Well kids are on their nintendo Glenn is sleeping and we are about halfway to Washington DC. Full flight but we are in economy plus which is nice. Basically they charge you to have a bit of legroom.
It always amazes me that dad made a living at flying these things. My impression is it must be a kind of boring job a lot of the time. Especially these days with all the computers. I am nervous I won't remember hoe yo get to the apartment. Residenzia Guibbonari is on a pedestrian street. It is in the Rennaisance nieghborhood of campo di fiores whic is the flower market. In the 1400s the Vatican all lived there but they outgrew it and moved across the Tigress.
Anyway our apartment has a green door and no label if I remember correctly. There are shops along the narrow crowded streets but no awnings or signs. If you look down a street you can't tell that anything is there at all. When we land and I have out baggage I call Cristina who will then know to meet us. Meanwhile our driver will be waiting at the airport to take us there or at least close. The last part is hard. I hate taking luggage and overly tired children down crowded cobblestones hoping for the right door.
The apartment is luxerious compared to most we stay at. It has a lift ( thank God!) and a seperate washer and dryer. A lot of flats have a combined machine. Saves space but does a number on your clothing! Either it never really dries them or it flash dries them so hot that you suffer burns taking them out of the appliance!
Looking across the street there is a store with beautiful scarves. Just up the street is a deli that serves pastas pizzas and soda. To get to a grocery store you walk two blocks around a corner. They have a garage door rolled down over it midafternoon but hopefully we can stop by it before it closes. They charge here to use a cart or bags. They also ask you to use plastic gloves to handle the fruit.
In the evenings the street changed. The young crowds come out and congregate. They drink and they party. Somehow the windows and the shutters drown out the noise.
Every day the street sweepers come early to polish the cobblestones. It's a lesson in futility. The centuries of coal heat, the dozens of inebriated bodies, and the mere passage of time
has made it imposseble. I remember last time scrubbing shoes and feet nightly to get the black dirt off.
I have low expectations for our first day. We will get settled and reoriented. Everyone takes an afternoon break in Rome and we will as well. Evenings are not for venturing far with kids so instead we will plan our attack on Rome for Friday. Perhaps the Vatican or the Collusium. Both are within walking distance.
That reminds me. I need to get my head back around waking in Rome. It is really a game of cat and mouse. You find another group of mice and together you step out in front of racing cars. They honk they threaten but if there are a few of you AND you
look confident they will not hit you. Go figure! At least as a family we already make up a group. I wonder how long lone travelers wait to cross streets. Then again there are always people on the streets...

Location:Saarinen Cir,Sterling,United States