My feet are tired, but my soul is at rest.  The last four days have been exhausting, but fantastic.  Kelley, Justin, and I had Friday night Guest Night at New College, Oxford, to kick the Grand Tour Condensed into four days.  Guest Night happens once every other week.  It takes place in our high-ceiling Harry Potter dining hall, and the food for Guest Night is definitely better than normal.  Wine flows like, well, rain in England.  Kelley and Justin had never been to Europe before, so we were determined to do it well.  We did.

We started with the early morning flight to Paris, leaving London at 7 AM.  We were determined to have a whole day.  The early morning flight, though, leaves from London at 7 AM.  The only bus that gets you to the airport in time arrives a couple of hours earlier than is necessary, and requires a 2 AM departure from Oxford.  We did, but we had to forge ahead.

Day 1 in Paris meant lots of walking on very little sleep.  We got two stellar tours of the city, though: one from my Oxford friend Gugli, a native Parisian (who dressed much more stylish and looked much more at home in Paris than he usually does at Oxford), and my friend Jesse who works for the EU in Brussels.  Jesse said that she could always be convinced to see Paris.

One amazing thing about the city is how well it uses its river.  You can see the Seine from most of the city.  Atlanta my home city, and Rome, my favorite international city, have the Chattahoochee and Tiber, respectively.  These are great rivers of literary significance (yes, the Chattahoochee even was mentioned in Finnegan’s Wake and Moby Dick) and historical significance, yet neither city paid attention to them.  Paris’ use of the Seine was my favorite thing about the urban plan.

The Parisians were very nice—contrary to American perception.  They were like a host—gracious, cordial, kind, friendly, even if they were a little bit aloof.  My Oxford friend Tom joined us.  Saturday we didn’t do a lot of sight-seeing—we walked the Marais over to the Latin Quarter, past Ile de la Cite and Notre-Dame, and settled in for an outstanding dinner at a place called L’Entredgeu in the 17th.  We went out for a bit after (though we had no sleep, we just dealt with it)—and we were turned away from a bar named Hippopotamus for not wearing the right shoes—and decided to get up early the next morning to do a bit more sightseeing.

Day 2 we did the Musee D’Orsay early in the morning, then visited the Louvre.  I was lucky enough to go with my family on a great trip to Paris almost nine years ago.  I remembered the highlights of the Musee D’Orsay and the Louvre, but they meant a lot more to me this time, having studied Impressionism, Greek, history, Italy, and more.  These great places and great works can serve as a reference point of where we’ve been and what we learned since we were there last.  I remember the Musee D’Orsay nine years ago, with my mother and sister telling me why everything I was seeing was important—this time, I was having to make my own judgments.    We then spent a leisurely afternoon near the Eiffel Tower, and went up to Montmartre that night.  We were at the Sacre-Couer church on the top of the hill, and we were regaled with the strains of Kanye and Akon.
Kelley stayed in Paris another day, but Justin and I hit the morning flight for my favorite city to visit, the Eternal City, the City of Fountains: Rome.  They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, but we saw it in one.  I give the best one-day tour of Rome that I know.  We went to the ancient city first, then up the Campidoglio, following to the Campo dei Fiore, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and Spanish Steps.  We went back to the hostel for a quick nap, and with the big sights out of the way, we got to do my favorite part of the city—walk around and enjoy life.  We had an outstanding dinner in Trastevere, and saw the city from atop the Janiculum.  The next day, we visited St. Peters, went to a movie (a very Italian experience), and hit the road.

I love Italy.  The Italians are passionate about everything, for good or for ill.  Rome never stopped entertaining for these reasons.  I gave the rundown in the last paragraph of what we did, but you don’t do Rome, you experienced it.  So here’s what we experienced:

We visited my favorite pizzeria in Rome, a by-the-slice dive joint called Pizza’s House.   This formerly disgusting place has been renovated to look moderately sanitary.  Many Italians I’ve met are unusually passionate people who assign love and hate in a bizarrely erratic and unconditional way.  I did not know what I wanted to order, but Justin committed to Spinach immediately.  The Italian guy LOVED him for his decisiveness.

Later on that day, we went to a coffee shop.  Justin was a bit turned off by the tiny Italian espressos, and ordered several times before settling on a larger Americano.  The coffee shop woman HATED this.  She went to all the Italians in the store and kept laughing at Justin changing his order.  On the flip side, the woman loved me this time, as I learned my lesson and was decisive about my espresso.

We saw something that made me glad to be a sports fan.  Italian soccer players are notorious for taking dives—i.e. flopping and calling foul when they weren’t touched.  We saw two Italian young men walking down the street in a bit of a heated argument.  All of a sudden, one of the guys trips himself, starts screaming bloody murder, claims to call the police, he has a broken arm, etc.  Any fan of Italian soccer will know that he will get up in a second, dust himself off, and go on his merry way.  Forza Italia!

All in all, a great trip.  Now it’s back to business.  More updates on the world of Oxford and politics—and fun—to come.

If you ever visit, particularly Rome, happy to provide recommendations!
ERB