Cosica and Beyond

Final Blog

Well, I'm sitting here on a plane back to Rome. Just got so busy the last few days didn't really get to blog. The last night in Rome was wonderful. Roberto was waiting for us when we got off the ship - which was a huge relief to all 4 of us. He drove us into the city and talked about Italian culture all the way in to Rome. We stopped for coffee and pastry just outside the Vatican in the neighborhood where he grew up. OMG - the chocolate croissants were friggin wonderful. We went from there to the Vatican. Gotta admit I just kinda held my breath. I stood in St. Peter's square and sand Hasa Digo Ebowi from the Book of Mormon (the new musical by the creators of Southpark). It was quite satisfying. I'm still so angry there - but it helped relieve some of the anger. We went to a Vatican gift shop to get a gift for Ray's Mom. Found her a small gold cross that wis quite nice. I realized I was really uncomfortable in the space - but saw a place where we could get a Papal Blessing for Ray's Mom. Despite my major issues with the Catholic Church I knew she would really like it and so we stayed long enough for us to get her one which will be delivered in about 40 days. As we left I realized that she's probably the only person in the world that I would have done that for.

Roberto took us to the major sites in Rome. Spanish Steps (which it turns out aren't really famous for being anything other than pretty steps), the place where Napoleon was killed (name escapes me now), the Roman forum, and lots of other places. Mostly he told us about the culture in Italy. How they are ashamed somewhat of Naples - which we had picked up on when we docked there and landed in Sorrento, about how Italian drivers were crazy - but courteous to one another. He told us about the insurance rating system for cars. Basically you start out with the worst rating (15) and hang on with the same company until you get to level zero. He told us a little about growing up in the shadow of St. Pere's Basilica. He took us to Campo di fiorno (and I'll will admit up front my Italian spelling of English names - or vice versa - is awful) and got us Zucchini flower and anchovy pizza. It sound gross - it was WONDERFUL. We were going to the Trevi fountain, but the traffic was just too much. FYI if you ever want a tour guide in Rome - use Miles & Miles (which is Roberto's company). OMG great service. If we every go back we'll certainly call on him to get us to some of the lesser known sites.

The last night Ray and I and Bill and Tenon went out for dinner - ok, I HAD to have Carbonara just one more time. It seems strange but I've had that now like 4 or 5 times in Italy. They were all REALLY different - all good, just very different takes on the same concept. We ate at a place like 1/2 mile from our hotel on the street (al Fresco). It was like 75F and sunny with a slight breeze - just couldn't have been a more gorgeous night. From there we were going to go to the Trevi Fountain - instead we sat on the rooftop garden of our hotel, drank wine, watched the sunset, admired the sites all around us, and laughed until we cried and silly stuff. Like the White Party on the ship. OMG - seriously someone needs to explain to some of these guys that when you're over 50 and overweight (and I'll own both of those) white spandex is NOT an appropriate thing to wear to a dance party targeted an 20 somethings! Anyway, could NOT have asked for a more wonderful last night in Rome. I haven't laughed that much in a long long time - and it did my psyche good.

Corsica (Ajaccio) tour was a precursor to this. We had booked a wine tour. I thought it was like 1.5 hours or something like that - turned out is was 4 hours. We started by touring a current local winery. This was a working production winery. We walked across the scales where they weigh the grapes. It's built in to the driveway to the winery - kind of like a truck stop where they weigh trucks. I thought for sure when the four us us walked across it was going to scream "OMG - AAAH - get OFF of me." After the amount of pasta I've eaten I would not blame it. It didn't. Then we were seated under Olive trees in a garden and tasted 4 wines - a white (kind of Pinot Grigio type), Chardonnay, a house red that was kind of like a Chianti, and a Rose -which typically both Ray and I would HATE for being too sweet - but it wasn't.
Then they started serving food - we didn't know there was going to be lunch. Homemade Pate' (OMG - YUM), lots of Italian meats and cheeses and homemade bread, followed by fruit and what we would call doughnut holes. Someone call the Carb Police, STAT! Ajaccio is the birthplace of Napolean and even though he never really returned there after his political career was launched, there are several statues of him. After a very leiseurely lunch we drove around and saw several of them. Traffic was too bad for us to get out and take pictures, but it was very interesting to see them. And FYI Corsica is TOTALLY a wonderful place - very relaxing with a very slow pace of life. Why don't American's live that way? Seriously - work from 9 to noon -2 hour Siesta - work 3 or 4 more hours and then go home. Oh, and Wednesdays off (including school children). It's no wonder people in the Southern Mediterranean live longer!

So anyway, the day before that, we were in Sorrento, Italy. Actually we docked in Naples, and then took a bus up a VERY steep hill and along a mountain path over to Sorrento. Started out at a farm. When we got to the farm a bunch of the guys were like OOOH - Cows! They were from New York. I kinda rolled my eyes and went - oh good grief, if I wanted to see a farm (again) - I'd just drive 5 miles East/West/North (South takes you into downtown Indy). But when we got there it was really more like a big garden where they made everything they could eat. The cows only produce enough milk to make the homemade Mozzarella (which they demonstrated and was wonderful). There were Lemon trees, Kiwi trees, Olive trees. Besides the Mozzarella they made homemade wine, Limoncello, Limoncello creme, lemon marmalade and bitter orange marmalade. Mostly what I was stuck by again was that people slowed down and enjoyed their lives. Anna was our tour guide here. She had done foreign exchange to Idaho. I was going to guess Iowa or Indiana when she started describing her experience. It certainly was culture shock for her and them.

Once again, Atlantis did a great job on the cruise- my heterosexual friends probably won't understand completely - but for 10 days Ray and I got to be the norm. Held hands, kissed in public (just a little - hey, were an old couple now) - watched young lovers act crazy and were glad they had a chance to do that. It's just nice to be the norm and the 'old married couple' that hopefully inspire others - rather than having to worry about saying we're single men (which we're about to have to do at US Customs). It was nice to talk with other gay couples of all ages, and just really be us. I heard one guy talking to his partner about his Crestor and how he was developing type 2 diabetes, etc. etc. and the guys around him giving him advice and talking to his partner. It was just so NORMAL - and now I'm on Crestor so I was paying attention. And so much a part of growing up and older was around us. Ray and I are talking about where we want to retire. We're still trying to figure that out. I want to retire where who we are as a couple is just not an issue. I don't want special treatment. I don't want attention. But after 16 years together, two successful careers, and contributing to the welfare of others, I just want to be treated respectfully and not harassed. And to have our relationship treated the same way. Is that really asking so much? Why can that happen in Europe and other countries and not in the US?

Time for some more wine.