Bad Blogger

Since everyone is just now receiving my postcards from my trip to Rome in early November, this is a good place to start...


I met mom and dad in Rome; mom had a conference there and dad joined her. Our hotel was behind the Spanish Steps, the site where Alyssa once spotted Scar Jo, and I bought the my Universita di Roma t-shirt - which I still wear today - during my sophomore Latin class trip.


Trevi Fountain was less than a ten minute walk from our hotel, but we never took the same route twice. Once we even took the metro because Dad was determined to get our money's worth out of the "Roma pass."


The Colosseum was spectacular. Considering the criticism Americans receive for insensitivity to violence, it is amazing to think that a fun day in Rome was a trip to the amphitheater to see thousands of gladiators, crimials and animals fight to the death.


I can almost picture Marcus Aurelius bringing Marcus and Sextus to the games and admonishing Sextus for throwing hard boiled eggs at the lower balcony. Meanwhile, Cornelia is sulking back at the house while helping Aurelia prepare the late afternoon meal. Uncle Titus (sporting his pink shoes) has made up an excuse to skip the games and is cruising the baths for men. Life is as it should be in "Ecce Romanae Vol. I."


One of our funniest meals was at a small restaurant near Piazza Navona where we befriended a bunch of rowdy, middle-aged Germans. At one point, mom gave one of them her phone number, and they promised to visit us during next year's Boston Marathon. Stranger things have happened. And my parents do like "German people."


Dad contemplating life and religion in the Vatican.


Dad's coworker directed him to her friend's restaurant, a local place we never would have found on our own. The food was authentic and delicious - and so plentiful that we didn't even make it to the main course, which is saying a lot for the Bochicchios. I am not sure why I look much boozier than my parents in this photo.

Rome is a cool place - friendly people, great food and wine, and a Roman ruin down every street. I am diggin' my last name right now.