12 MAY 2017: ”My life as a Roman didn’t get off the smoothest start. A big guy whose name tag said he’s Francesco held up a huge knife and looked perplexed as I tried to tell him what I needed in a cheese shop. “Vorrei…formaggi,” I said timidly– and somewhat obviously–as I pointed to a monster wheel of blue cheese.
“Si, gorgonzola” the clerk chirped as he started hacking off a hunk from the huge block that was way more than I needed. Next stop was a deli, where I asked for prosciutto. “Che tipo? ” the baffled but sympathetic clerk asked, “we have 25 kinds.”
These were introductions to how much there is to learn about daily life in the Eternal City, but how incredibly good it feels and tastes to be at home in Rome. With a week-long gap between two cruise inaugurals arriving and departing from Civitavechia, it was a wonderful opportunity to get an insight into La Dolce Vita on an extended Roman holiday.
I started checking with apartment rental agencies and glommed on to an on-line listing that seemed almost too good to be true: A one-bedroom, 1,000 square foot apartment with a fully equipped kitchen in a sixteenth century building for less than $200 a night.