Many of you have expressed concern about Norm, who was hospitalized the day after I returned from Rome. He is home from the hospital now and continues to recover, comforted by his cat and his wife. Norm sustained a minor injury while doing yard work about two weeks ago, but it grew into cellulitis, a soft-tissue infection, which came upon him suddenly June 1. The good doctors and nurses at Ault…

Today was my final full day in Rome. Tomorrow, May 31, I will be winging my way back to the USA, to continue my sabbatical on American soil. My seventh and final week in Rome included some running around to pack in a few more sights and museums -- today, for example, I went to the ancient seaport of Ostica Antica and looked at its ruins -- but I have also started the process of reflection on wh…

In my last posting, I wrote mostly of pasta, pizza and produce. What about protein?

For a while I was subsisting on veal scallopini, because it is cheap and easy to fix. I have now discovered a small bird (which is NOT a chicken!) (although I am not sure what it is) somewhat smaller than a Cornish game hen, weighs about a pound, that will feed me for three days. (A pigeon perhaps?). Ther…

David Lewis asked me to do some primary research on pasta and pizza, so here is my report:

Pasta is cooked perfectly, not mushy and not tough, but the Italians do not use the term "al dente" -- they simply know how to cook it! Pasta is not a meal -- it is the first course, in a small portion, to take the edge off your hunger before you move on to the other courses of a leisurely two hour…

Given the title of this posting, you may think I went to Venice! However, I did not. in the end, I could not justify the expense and time involved to get there, even for a Gustav Klimt exhibition. Besides, Norm wants to take the fast train too, so we'll keep that for another time. Instead, I took a day trip to Tivoli, a delightful little city about 20 miles from Rome, with two major tourist at…

Trains are important in Italy, which is a long skinny country with wonderful cities scattered along its whole length. Trains are the best connection, and there are lots of different kinds, going different speeds.

When Norm and I went to Sorrento, we took a fast train the Naples, and then a regional train further south. I love the name of the regional train: "Circumvesuviana" which, as …

I put Norm on his airplane back to Ohio on May 16 (he just barely made his flights in both directions -- ask him about those adventures). After our side trip to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast, we continued our pursuit of fine art "in situ" in churches, especially paintings by Caravaggio, and my favorite Bernini sculpture, St Teresa in ecstasy. Norm is now completely clear who Caravaggio and Bern…

Norm and I have been moving around Rome on public transport, subways and buses, with varied success. Yesterday was quite frustrating, because we had carefully reserved a time at the Borghese Gallery (all entrances are timed because it is so crowded and popular -- it took us two weeks to get our time slot). We left the apartment early and had our route all figured out, only to discover that all …

Norm and I are just ending a sojourn to the south of Rome. We took a train to Naples on Monday, May 7, and went through the Naples Archeological Museum while there. The museum contains many wonderful artifacts from the archeological sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Both cities were deluged by the eruption of The volcano Vesuvius in 79 AD. We had visited Pompeii during our 2005 trip and not…

Since I last wrote, Norm arrived in Rome Wednesday, May 2, and I have kept him very busy, visiting places new for him. One of his favorites was the cat shelter in the middle of an archeological site (Largo Argentina) where about 150 cats are cared for. We also visited two museums I had checked out previously ( Palazzo Massimo and Museum of Roman Civil Life) (lots of statues). Sunday I supplied …