Architecture, food, and a man

Ciao!

Some highlights since we last talked:

Food: had dinner at a lovely little bistro last night - homemade pasta, squash blossoms stuffed with prawns, herbs, and breadcrumbs over a gorgonzola sauce, wine, and a cheese course - yum!

Architecture: I am going to admit something - when I first saw a few of the large columned structures here with ornate statues, etc on them, my first thought was - huh, kind of reminds me of Caesar's Palace in Vegas. I KNOW. Obviously it had been too long since I was exposed to real culture. Sad. The photo I attached to this post is of a cool structure built to connect two buildings - thought it was interesting. I'll send along another couple of photos after this..

Men: Ha! This is the fun part :). While I haven't met any other tourists here to hang out with, the local Roman men have been quite welcoming. The top two questions I am asked: 1. You are traveling alone (?!). And 2. Do you have a boyfriend?

First, yesterday, there was the 95 year old owner of a restaurant I ate at (don't worry, it does get better). He sat with me while I ate, declared that he loved me, and proceeded to call several people to tell them about the americana bella. He also called his barman and handed me the phone - I think he thought we might hit it off - but he forgot I didn't speak Italian, and the barman didn't speak English, so it was a brief conversation :)

Then last night, an Italian man - Luca - stopped me on the street to ask for directions, which apparently was a ploy to talk to me (I've
> been out of the game for a while and so didn't recognize the move).
> We chatted, he asked to meet me the next night, and then kissed me
> goodbye on both cheeks. However, he followed this with an
> informative comment that in Italy, they kiss 3 times - he then
> kissed one cheek, the other, and then tried to plant one on the
> mouth. Needless to say, he got the boot. But mainly because I
> wasn't very attracted to him - otherwise the kissing would have been
> okay (breathe slowly Mom, I promise I'm being careful:).
>
> Today I got a nice dinner offer from Amin, a shopkeeper where I was
> wandering this morning. He's from Bangladesh, has lived in Italy
> for 15 years, and was sweet/cute but too slight for me. I politely
> declined. Got puppy dog eyes in return. Ah well.
>
> Now for the fun part :). Right after Amin (I know! I felt like quite
> the wanted woman!) I was loitering near a blocked off street, and
> set my water bottle down on what was apparently the booth for the
> President's guard station. The guard was talking with someone
> several feet away but was miming chastization (is that a word??) at
> me to remove my bottle (but was smiling the whole time). He walked
> over, and we chatted for a while. His English is minimal, as is my
> Italian, so it was a slow conversation filled with flipping through
> my English/Italian phrasebook. His name is Donato, and he asked me
> out for coffee tonight at 10:30, before he has to go to work again
> at 1am. He is a handsome guy, seems sweet. I am officially calling
> this a date, thereby breaking my 18 month slump. Yay!
>
> So - I realize I have written this mostly with info only my
> girlfriends/female family would be interested in, so I apologize if
> I've bored anyone else out there :)
>
> Okay - a few more photos coming shortly....and then a siesta!!