Roma

We are going to Italy. We are staying in a hotel with ensuite bathrooms. Thank you God. We are going with Ray and Devon, who said we could come as long as we stayed in different rooms. And no fanny packs. I think he had us confused with someone else; the last time I shared a hotel room with my daughter, she was 18 and we were posing for pictures in front of "Sock World" in Pigeon Forge. I am not really sure what a fanny pack is, but with my fanny, I would not be inclined to pack anything additional on it. Actually, they INVITED us to come along, which I took as the ultimate compliment to two old fogies. The clincher was when Ray said, "if you think my tour of Washington was good, wait till I show you Rome!" And his tour of D.C. was so much fun, on Christmas eve. As we were driving into the city from Reston, Va., I mentioned that I would love to see Georgetown. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in a cheery neighborhood eatery in Georgetown, Clydes, eating eggs Benedict and watching my three under seven grandchildren behave like polite strangers. We were surrounded by adults, well dressed and holding discussions of the kind one sees in self conscious college towns. It was great. The streets of Georgetown were replete with last minute shoppers and creative panhandlers. The stores were of a kind I do not see in High Point, Anthropologie, Abercrombie and Fitch, you know, "A" stores. Later on the "DC TOUR" (we had been to DC several times before, but not with such a willing tour guide), we circled the White House several times in hopes of obtaining the official White House tour book which I had heard had many pictures of the Bush Scotties. However, the chances of getting near the place were slim and we began to look suspicious, Ray with his skinhead haircut and threatening facial hair, circling the White House in the rented van. So it was off to XM radio to tour the studios, great huge photos of Jimi and Janis, great huge satellite dishes pointing at the skies. Then the highlight of the tour, we zoomed off to Reagan National and spent an hour plane spotting as dusk descended and the intense cold seeped under our jackets and the kids ran wild in the park and I realized it was Christmas Eve and I was NOT COOKING.
Rome ought to be SPECTACULAR!