Cousin Anne

Thursday morning, I tried to pay TIM 20€ online to add an international roaming plan to my wife's cell phone for our trip to Switzerland. By law, all cell phone providers here have to allow a reasonable amount of roaming data and calls for countries within the EU. Unfortunately, Switzerland is not part of the EU, so it would have been prohibitively expensive to use the phone there without such a plan, which includes 10GB of data and 500 minutes of calls for 30 days. Unfortunately, as in the past, their website refused to accept any of my credit cards. So I called support and explained that I couldn't pay online. The woman said, "no, that works." I explained that it didn't work for me, and she repeated that it works just fine. After going around a few times, she said "can't you just go to one of our stores to pay it in person?" Sigh. She finally told me that she had spent enough time with me already and had to hang up, even though she never even admitted that there was an issue. As a test, I then went onto the Iliad web site and added some money to my SIM card account using a credit card, and it immediately went through just fine. We will be switching Dee from TIM to Iliad after we get back from Switzerland!

My cousin Anne is in town this week, along with her spouse Tillie. Anne and I grew up across the country from each other, barely knowing each other as kids. I have only seen her a few times in my life, but in recent years we have all really enjoyed getting to know each other at some family gatherings. Anne and I probably disagree on most political issues, but we don't care -- we love and enjoy each other, so who cares about politics? I love being with them. Tillie is great to talk with, and Anne always shows enthusiasm and enjoyment of whatever is going on. They are wonderful. And I'm not just saying it because they read the blog! They brought us some loot that we had asked for, including taco seasoning and chili powder, so we were especially happy that they came to visit! 😀

At 10am we picked the two of them up at their hotel, which is near the Institute, only about 15 minutes from our house. After hugs all around, we drove together to Ostia Antica, an ancient Roman city near the coast which was covered by silt for centuries when the river changed course, preserving the town remarkably well. Doug handled some crazy driving situations on our way, too.It was sunny and warm, enough so that we sweated a bunch, but not as hot as a week or two ago. We tried to use the Rick Steves app as a tour guide, but it seemed very confusing: we got lost almost immediately, so we soon gave up on him. Too bad, as we have enjoyed his stuff very much before. We spent about two hours walking through the ruins, with the floor mosaics in particular being well preserved and impressive. Next time we go there we will pay for a tour guide to get more out of it. Some people say it is similar to Pompeii, and that may be, but it is hard to compare one place with a tour guide and the other without.

Doug, Tillie, Anne, Dee

View of Tillie from the top of the amphitheater

Then we drove back downtown to the Institute, about 40 minutes. It was great to visit along the way. They really enjoyed seeing how we opened the big door and the gate and the parking post at the Institute, not to mention how tight it is to park inside. We walked up the street to a nice restaurant called Target, which Dee and I went to last fall with Fiona Givens and Ugo. The food was excellent, and I ate way too much: a tasty salmon salad and a calzone. After the meal, we walked down the main street and got some gelato (I had my first lemon granita since we arrived!), then walked back to the Institute and showed them the inside. From there we walked to see Michelangelo's statue of Moses at St. Peter in Chains church, and then to see the St. Mary Major cathedral, all within about 15 minutes of walking. Tillie has some knee issues and I think we did her in with too much walking and stairs, but she enjoyed it and didn't complain.

Tillie, Doug, Anne on the steps up to see Moses

 

Outside St. Peter in Chains church

Tillie and Anne in front of the cathedral

When we left the Institute, it was hot and sunny. Within 30 minutes, the sky was dark and it started to rain, then it started to pour as we left the cathedral, about a 10 minute walk back. Everyone got soaked! It felt good, but still. We had left a nice bunch of umbrellas at the Institute, without a clue that we would need them. From the cathedral I headed a different direction to go to the TIM store at the train station and pay the 20€ in person for the roaming plan. Along the way I ducked into a shop where I paid 3€ for a small umbrella. That helped somewhat, but I was still completely soaked, especially my tennis shoes because the water was deep in many places on the sidewalk. The girls were offered 5€ umbrellas on their route and opted not to buy them. When we all got back together at the Institute, we were not a pretty sight, but we laughed at the fun adventure. The street in front of Tiger (a fun Danish store) was a deep river. Tillie said with dread, "we don't have to cross here, do we?" We did. Luckily we had some kitchen towels that were put into service to dry us all off. Everyone agreed it had been a fine day, especially the visiting. We dropped them off at their hotel about 5pm and got home soon thereafter, with the rain down to a light drizzle and the air cooled off. Hopefully their trip to the Amalfi Coast the next day will have better weather. Dee and I were wet from the rain and sweaty, an interesting combination, so we each decided to take a quick shower just to feel clean and dry.

The main road we walked on at Ostia Antica was made from large irregularly- rounded stones with grass between. It made for tricky walking, and was hard on Tillie's knee in particular. I was carrying my walking stick, but didn't feel the need to use it. Tillie enthusiastically accepted it and felt the benefit right away, which made my day. 

Anne is crazy about knitting like I am, so while we were waiting for Doug at the Institute, she tried out my square knitting needles (Cubics Nova Platina by Knitters Pride). She was wowed by them and ordered herself a set that very night! 

Anne told us they used Tripmasters to plan this vacation, which is a service that will set up whatever you want, and save you money in the bargain. Sounds very interesting.