Rome - chaos and beauty

Sorry for the delay in blogging. I ran into the perfect storm; Rome and expensive internet access. I just landed in Bucharest (amazing observations for later) from five days in Rome. The point of the Marshall fellowship is to give Americans a view of Europe, North, South. I will say that Brussels is the "new Rome" with an international city that speaks a multitude of languages with a history and a split government; Hamburg was orderly, introspective in its' history; clean, and sophisticated.

Rome is rough, chaotic, beautiful, and struggling to compete in the new world. The agenda was varied; a meeting at the Chamber of Deputies (the Italian House of Representatives); meeting with the a Deputy Foreign Affairs Officer; a meeting at ENI (sixth largest privately held oil company in the world); a half day at a 1000 year old vineyard; a meeting at the Bank of Italy with the research office; a meeting with officials dealing with immigration; and finally meetings with former EMMF (European fellows).

Off the top of my head; my view of Italy has changed, or deepened, significantly. Italy is struggling in the world globalization rate. They are highly dependent on specialized manufacturing (clothes, furniture), and tourism. The birth rate in Italy is the lowest in Europe. Currently the government does not exist because of a lack of confidence vote. And they think highly of Americans, regardless of Iraq and Bush.

I was struck with the chaos of Rome. It is a fast city, with fast talking Italians. Traffic moves quickly and without rules. People are very emotional, with men and women enjoying each other everywhere. I was overwhelmed with this city. I'm overwhelmed in Anchorage sometimes. We stayed one block from the Pantheon, 1/2 a mile from the Coleseum, and 2 miles from the Vatican City.

Everywhere you walk is antiquities, everywhere. It is almost numbing and unbelievable. My touchstone for Rome was a few trips of Vegas; Rome almost looked staged because it was so massive and prevalent with the history.

The food was of course the best; pasta, pasta, and pizza. Vino. Sparkling water. Bread. Cheese. Pasta. Pasta. Olive oil. I love the food.

I will post some pictures and more later. The internet in Bucharest is slow, but effective. I think video will be difficult.