It looks like just another day in Rome to us, but to the Italians, it’s more of the same “revolving door” government. The Italian Senate handed down a vote of no confidence to the prime minister last night, and it’s probably no coincidence that the area surrounding the Italian Ministry of Justice building on Piazza Cavour was crawling with Carabinieri when we passed on our way to Saint Peter’s Basilica. And the cops weren’t just on foot; they were standing next to motorcycles, in their cars and vans and were even on horseback. The horses were probably a sign that the turnout was more for show than effectiveness.
We wished the police had been eyeing us and not the traffic as we walked past Castel Sant’Angelo, tomb of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Doug fell for a little trickery by a "gentleman" who flagged us down that involved help with driving directions, some flattery (“Your wife is so beautiful…a model!”), geographical association (“MY wife is from Colorado!”), a cover story (he was with a fashion house in Milan and couldn’t find his way out of Rome), some freely given “high-fashion” jackets for our trouble, and – the kicker – an inoperable credit card that segued to a request for euros in light of the driver’s generosity with the jackets. Doug was reeled in, even as Lennie was pulling in the other direction. Bottom line, the small amount of money we’re out has already been repaid by the laughter of some of our friends, at Doug’s expense. (PS: The men’s jacket was so horrid it was left next to the trash in our hotel room. Doug insisted on packing the women’s coat.)
The rest of the day was considerably better, as we spent more time in the Basilica than our visit in 2003 allowed. We’re told by the Travel Journal’s administrators that they’ll soon upgrade the site to allow larger photographs. For now, the limitations of the current format – and the photographer – will have to do.
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