Settling in...

Well, I've established a pattern of alternating touristy days and study days. Thus, the day before yesterday I went to the local fresh market, bought some fruit and bread, and a huge chunk of fontina. I looked up some stuff online, and decided that the way I wanted my research to go, the archives would probably not be that helpful, since I was interested mainly in the Medieval period and not the Renaissance. However, I have yet to go to the library and read some Gellius! I think that trip will have to wait for Monday or Tuesday, since it's dreadfully far away and requires a few bus stops.

However, yesterday, I went to Trastevere and rode the bus for the first time. I think I might have stolen a euro from the Italian Transportation Minstry because I didn't stick my ticket in the little stampy thing the first time. Alas. Trastevere was very cute, indeed the stuff of postcards... if you have Photoshop that is. It's pretty disgusting how every single inch of wall is covered with graffiti in Rome. It's like the South side of Chicago everywhere. I suppose it's authentic, since ancient Romans wrote on their walls as well, but it's still very offputting.

I wandered the lanes of Trasvetere and got lost, like normal. But I had the most delicious gelato ever (Chocolate-hazelnut flavor) and some decent pasta. I wish I could say that the pasta blew my mind and was out of this world, but.. meh. Hopefully I'll have better luck with the next trattoria, and if not, I'll have to chuck my Lonely Planet guidebook into the Tiber. I don't know how the Italians can eat so much though, I was full after the first pasta course and I didn't even finish all of my rigatoni. How someone can sit through three more courses is beyond me.

I hate to sound like a downer, but I feel like Italy so far has been a bit of a disappointment. Maybe I should've listened closer to Juvenal and Horace when they complained about the city of Rome, b/c it seems like it's nice, but... That's been my reaction with most of the places I've visited. It's cool, but... And being the constant tourist becomes a bore very quickly. You can only visit so many churches and so many fountains before they all become a blur. But, you can't visit a fountain more "thoroughly" or "carefully."

I exaggerate my complaints. The weather is perfect, the people are friendly (relatively and when they're not driving). I do have the sense of impending doom everytime I see a car; the bus driver literally leaves six inches between the front of the bus and the next car. On the bright side, I've managed to watch American shows again (hooray for the season finale of Bones) and listen to Pandora (translating is much more tolerable now). And I've also dealt with the bancomat people (Thank God for Skype).

Now the rest of the day remains for researching.