Unleashed...

Bought a bike today and had a most excellent time riding around... by the river, through Travestere, etc. (Travestere's food is not all that, so far.) Riding a bicycle in Rome is Perfect - far better than walking your feet raw every day. I'm so happy, and I covered a lot of ground today.

In Paris, gay men universally shave their heads. In Rome, most men (esp. young men) shave their heads. Perhaps its a way to keep cool. The only way you can tell who is gay in Rome is the lustful look in their eyes when they see my awesome pink bike. Rome is supposed to have a large gay community, but so far as I can tell there's no gay neighborhood per se.

My better internet connection fell through... oh no!

I've left off going to museums for a while, and started going to churches. The churches are museums, not just in the sense of having beautiful art, but in the sense of being swamped with tourists, full of gift shops, etc. They feel much more like a tourist destination than sacred ground.

All in all, I had strong feelings of gratitude and thanksgiving all day, from small things (I have yet to write a blog entry on being a victim of crime, despite the constant warnings about crime) to large (how privileged I am to be here). For some reason, I've been looking back over my trip lately, perhaps because I'm crossing the halfway point.

But I've also been looking forward: to my trip to Venice. To Barcelona. To improving my Italian and Spanish. To my upcoming visitors. To seeing the finest two museums in Rome - the Vatican Museums and the Museo Borghese - which I've been saving for last. I've also heard it said that Rome only really comes alive later in the summer, in July, and there's quite of bit of evidence that its true. I'm looking forward to it.