Floriana

I am scheduled to fly back home next Monday, November 25th. I have been in Rome 10 days by myself as Claudio was called back to the States to consult on a project. It’s been a lot of fun catching up with family and friends, but I’m ready to come home. Here are some highlights from these past 10 days.

Meet my neighbors! Leonida (named after a Spartan King and a revered Greek warrior….the dog is a pit bull and rottweiler mix….he’s really big and mean looking, but doesn’t have a bad bone in his body. However, he does love me and has become my bodyguard. Anyone who attempts to approach me becomes a potential meal!) and then there’s little Allen….not sure why they called him Allen but he’s a mix between a french bulldog (notice the ears) and another small dog. It’s funny to watch the two dogs play….Leonida is very gentle with the little guy and never steps on him or manhandles him. Little Allen, on the other hand, thinks he’s big enough to rough-house with Leonida. Too cute!

Going out to breakfast in Italy is one of my favorite things to do. At the Apollo 13 Caffe` (this is a family owned business that has been making these ‘Ciambelle’ or doughnuts for over 40 years! They were big fans of the Apollo 13 mission and have framed newspaper clippings from the era all over their walls!). They make a frothy, creamy cappuccino that helps start the day well….and their Ciambelle are always freshly made and hot … sometimes too hot to bite into!

Catching up with long-time friends is always great. Agnese and I met when we were 23 years old….me a newlywed and she a new mom. Her son Stefano is my and Claudio’s godson. To think that he now has 2 beautiful little girls of his own, Penelope and Beatrice! Lunch on the beach, with weather in the mid 70’s, was wonderful. You recognize a close friend because, no matter how much time has gone by since your last meeting, the conversation picks up right where you left it…as if nothing has happened in between then and now.

On the way home one night, I spotted a yellow moon over the cypress trees. How beautiful!

This time of year, there is a large scale bird migration that takes place in the skies over Rome. I saw the first flocks when we landed at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport.

Then one day I was home tidying up….and I heard a noise…like a screeching raucous. I went out to my little balcony and saw a tree full of starling….thousands of them! So, I filmed a sequence of the starling migration. It is a treat for the eyes!

Amazing to watch them swoop over my head….always in sequenced formations, never colliding with each other, and constantly adding more and more birds to their flock until the sky is peppered in starling!

The next video was not filmed by me. But I wanted to show you what a starling migration looks like over the skies of Rome, in this case over the Colosseum. Researchers think that starlings seem to prefer flying in and around historic cities like Rome because they are attracted by the warmth produced by the sun bathed marble monuments. But the Romans know that, even though the migration is a wonderful spectacle, the starlings are announcing that the cold weather is just behind them. And they are always right!

It was a great trip! Arrivederci Roma.