Day 5: Liz's bday celebration , Tori's arrival & a different take

After yesterday’s blogging session, I realized that writing about what happened that day is mind-numbing. I am still finding my “voice” and so I am going to try something different today. I’ll only be blogging about thoughts, people, interesting things, or great stories.

Adam Roumm-

I got a message from Aviki that I should only refer to Rome as Roumm to honor the great Adam Roumm. Good suggestion, Doctor, however; this won’t be happening. Instead, I will share how I am reminded of Roumm everyday here: the arcade that it on the block of our B&B. There is a stuffed animal claw machine right in the door and I know that if Roumm were here, I would be the proud owner of an Italian stuffed dog. You are the best Roumm! And Roumm, Liz gave me that hickey last night.

SWOT of B&B Trastevere Relais-

To show that I am the ultimate nerd, I am going to share a ½ SWOT of the B&B we are staying in. I don’t know enough about the Roman hotel/B&B market to intelligently comment on opportunities and threats.

Strengths:

Lots of room- we have a huge apartment with a kitchen, sitting area, loft with 1 queen, and a bedroom with another queen bed

The hangers- The external closet is really tall so they have these great hangers that even I can reach. I will be looking for these when I get home.

Wifi!

The shower- I have mentioned this before but it is this crazy capsule that sprays water from the sides and rains from the top, all while pumping top 40 tunes

The location- just over the bridge in Trastevere, it is in a great neighborhood but close to the sights

Weaknesses:

Caterina- She does not understand business or customer service. I’m over her, way over her

The metal ladder used to reach the loft- kind of scary and definitely a problem if I come home drunk one night and try to climb it

The shutters- In Rome, all of the windows are adorned with brown shutters. The ones on our windows don’t close all the way so they don’t actually block the light. They come to this weird triangle and then latch. I don’t get it

TV- we get a total of 3 channels, not including MTV. This would be a strength if it included MTV

The toiletries- the soap is making my skin itch. I miss my Dove

Roman consumerism/entrepreneurship

There have been numerous times in the last few days where Liz or I have commented on things local businesses should do to improve business, or ways that locations or resources could be used to start a business. It seems like there are endless opportunities and that the Romans are just not as entrepreneurial as others around the world. But I think that this is exactly what makes Rome, Rome. They are perfectly happy with the way things are, and that is why the city is so well preserved. They could use some of these locations to house new businesses and extract more money from tourists, but this would ultimately denigrate the feel of the ancient city. Rome has a difficult task of balancing and utilizing its past while still being modern and forward-thinking. It will be interesting to see how Athens handles this situation.

Liz’s birthday-

Tonight we celebrated Liz’s birthday. We started with a bottle of Prosecco on the roof of Hotel Minerva. Beautiful views, and even more beautiful friends. We found a hipster bar (!) and some beautiful Italian men to top off a great night. Liz got the bartender to play some Phoenix for us and we grooved with some great cocktails. Liz requested to write something and since we’re celebrating her birthday tonight, I obliged. Colette signing off and Liz signing on…

Ciao Roma. How goes it? Man it feels good to be a gangsta. So besides my deep thought about whether or not birds can actually smell (I mean, think about it-- how do they know where bread crums on the ground are if they don't have a nose? Where are those nostrils???), I've also had some other deep thoughts that go like so:

- Do you ever have those moments where you are constantly confronted by history and the utter insignificance of your own existence in relation? Because that has been a daily focal point here in Roma.

- Italian women completely live up to their name. After querreling with Caterina, our hotel office person, over 60 euros (which by the way, thanks to Greece, is worth a dinner or two at the moment, while six months ago it was worth a hot dog), I realized that my negotiation skills still need work. Man that woman was scary. And even for me!

- Traveling is best spent went you know what town you are living in for the next year and don't have to ponder what it might be like to live in Jacksonville, FA or Watertown, NY

- How it is possible that I am 27 and have so many incredible friends. Throughout my life, and particularly now with business school, so many GOOD people have come upon my way that have touched my life and I am eternally grateful.



So here's to Tori's arrival, Colette's amazingness, my birthday, good friends, good family and good Italian eats. Life es bueno mi amicas!!! Ciao preggo