January 5, 2005

My first day on foreign soil. when we drove along the highway it was easy to forget that this was Italy. But in the city itself, in both old and "new" Rome, there is such a juxtaposition of classical and modern. There were the ancient bridges next to the modern streets, the 19th Century buildings alongside 13th-17th century churches, even a gothic church with spires everywhere. Yet there were the people. The old men living in a shack along the highway. The lady in a fur coat waiting to cross the road, standing next to graffiti. We saw the Alps as we left Milan, and I think I spotted a couple of ruins from the plane.