Rome. October, 1980

I was wondering this morning if teenagers still use the term “going steady.” Or has that become passé, replaced with something more current of which I’m completely unaware? Do teenage boys give a ring to their steadies, rings which the young girls wear on chains around their necks? The rituals of my elementary and high-school years that seemed so important and weighty at the time. Do they still exist? I wonder if these Roman teenagers lined up on a school trip in the Piazza Navona even have words for such behaviors. Or do the Italians, with their characteristic combination of casualness and intensity, simply assume that “going” means “going steady”?

Rome. October, 1980

Whenever I travel to a place that has the ruins of an ancient civilization, such as here in the Roman Forum, I think about all the people who’ve walked these streets before, centuries before, 2,000 years before. Whatever else these thoughts may do, they always make me feel “right sized.” Just as when I try to imagine the vast, limitless expanse of the universe. The concept of an infinite universe scares me. Walking in the ruins of the Roman Forum, not far from cafés and pizzerias, doesn’t.

Rome. October, 2011

It was Dr. Blake’s first visit to the Eternal Città. So I wanted to make sure I brought him to all the must-see spots. Keeping in mind his dislike of heights and crowds. (It was a holiday weekend and the city was packed with tourists.) First stop: My favorite building in the whole wide world: the Pantheon. When I lived in Rome back in the 1980s, I’d stop here regularly, just stroll in and marvel at the dome, the niches, the floor. Now...there are restrictions on how to enter, how many people are allowed inside, cordons holding back the crowds, guards yelling for people to keep quiet.

Rome. October, 1980

Picnic lunch in Rome. You can have just so many meals in restaurants before you want something simpler, something less fussy, more casual. Ecco! Some cheese, some bread, olives, figs, pears and a bottle of wine. A sunny place to sit down. A good friend. More than 30 years later, I can still remember how warm the sun was, how terrific those rosette rolls were.

Rome. October, 1980

Could this be my favorite taxi stand in the world? One where a local denizen seems to be hailing down a car for you? In the gardens of the Villa Borghese, high above Rome’s bustling Piazza del Populo, Dali and I strolled early one morning, alone to play among the statues. Well, almost alone. There was a chatty young woman who was demonstrably and lengthily explaining some crisis to a friend as they passed by. It was then that Dali gave me another Italian vocabulary lesson: chiacchierone.

Santorini, Greece. October, 2011

It’s hard not to take pictures of every corner here on this high-altitude Aegean island. The limited palette, the geometry, the dazzle of simple light and shadow. Not a lot of people. Who needs people?

Santorini, Greece. October, 2011

If you say so.... What do you think? French tutoring?