PEOPLE
Dinner at La Spirita in Trastevere after the Caravaggio exhibit. At the table from left to right is Anna (retired head of Department of Biology at Roma Tre), Yence (Tor Vegata - the second university of Rome), Sandra (Roma Tre), Elizabeta (Roma Tre - an expert in inflammation), King, Queen and Elizabeta's husband.
On one of our bike trips we were exiting from Termini when we saw a couple with luggage consulting a map. We normally stop to help people who need directions, It turns out this couple was staying in a hotel close to our apartment and they were from Bethesda. Dominique works for the World Bank and was going to be working for a UN agency here in Rome for 6 years and they were looking for a house to rent. His wife Dora was from Columbia and she had a PhD in Theology. We met them for dinner one night at La Lampada.
Passover at Pitigliano Jewish Community Center. For the third year we attended Passover in Rome. There is normally one table of English speakers and we get the far table. Starting from the left there is Ron Bush who has been teaching at Oxford for 30 years and is in Rome on sabbatical for one year. He is an expert in Ezra Pound. On either side of him is Charlie his son and Charlie's girlfriend. They are from California. Next is Marilyn, Ron's wife and then there is a father and son from Chicago who had just arrived. The Queen is sitting next to Josef Levi who is a fairly well know artist - at least he has an entry in Wikipedia.
The Mecuri family at Al Peperoncino for dinner with the Queen.
Art in the Monti. Rome has no art district like in some other cities. Galleries are spread out all over town. We happened upon this exhibit on our way to dinner in the Monti one night. The artist is Susan Kessler and that is one of her pieces behind the Queen. She was from Germany but has lived in Rome for 30 years.
For the last two years there have been two older women living at the entrance to the train station. The city has done a fairly good job of getting rid of the tourists around the main sites but these women have remained. They are there rain or shine.
The Berlusconi trial was starting while we were in Rome. This poster appeared after the start of the trial was postponed for many months. 'Impuniti' means unpunished. The bottom translates as: Short trial: 15000 unpunished crimes to save the Dachshund.
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