Rome-ing Around

It was late. And we were trying to pack our bags. Perhaps I could blame the traveling, the heat, the huge dinner, but, either way, we were not being ourselves. We were laughing at the stupidest things and I was pretending to act all deep. We spoke about politics, ethnocentricity, and being American. He made fun of the fact that I wear a big American flag t-shirt and sing patriotic songs at inappropriate times. Oh, and remember that one time you made an American flag cake?!

And then I asked why Americans refer to Florence as Florence, not Firenze, it's actual name? Why Rome, not Roma? JD sat quietly for a few seconds, scrunched his eyebrows and said he really didn't know. But he didn't like it. Not one bit. He then told me he was going to–as an act of solidarity with his Italian friends–only refer to these places by their original name. No, we didn't visit Tuscany, but boy oh boy did we love our time In TOSCANA!

Whoa, there buddy. Let's kick back with the Italiano and stick with the gelatos, okay? I mean, could you just picture my mortification as he were to speak to our neighbors like that?! I'd pull him away and blame all the vino. Makes him do craaaazy things.

We spent our last day in Rome simply walking around and enjoying Italian life…

There's one particular store in Rome–David Hamilton–I like shopping at for JD. Just the look on his face clearly shows how excited he is to be there. Did it deter me? Nah. I'm not easily scared. 😉

Now, here's a crazy thing that happened….
The last time JD and I were in Rome, it was 2002. We came across the David Hamilton store and were treated like royalty. The store isn't anything extravagant or caters to a specific clientele…it's just a men's store. But what makes it so great? Isak. He makes it great. He's the type of guy who'll dress you. Tell you what you need, what is perfect for you.
Anyway, the craziest thing is the Isak remembered me. Sounds crazy, right? I didn't believe it either. He saw me and said, It's YOU…you're back! I nervously dismissed it as nonsense, but then he grabbed a picture from his office. A picture from 2002. Taken with me and my sister. I was shocked. We caught up–in between shouting in Italian to his sales associate to dress JD in This or That–and he taught me a valuable lesson. Making clients feel like friends is worth its weight in gold.

We ate lunch at this amazing cafe (ordering pizzas…then following it up with fettucini, because, well, that cream sauce LOOKED AMAZING) and listened to accordion player squeeze That's Amore. I hated feeling like a tourist, but I was attached to my map most the day…there's like a billion tiny streets all named Via something or Borgo something else. It's tough for a SoCal girl to find her way, but we enjoyed the experience…

Roman life…

Happy Sunday…