ROME!

The plane took off! The plane continued on to Roma! We're actually here! Volcanos can't keep us from Europe.

We're just here for a day. We'll take the train to Venezia tomorrow. Right now we've checked into our room early. We're staying at the Merulana Inn Residence mostly because it's near the train station. It turned out charming, however. The decor is smart and modern, with beautiful floral drapes and a modern color scheme. There's free Internet and all the mod cons. As I said, they let us check in early, even insisted we have breakfast. If you're looking for a convenient place in Rome, Merulana Inn Residence is terrific.

I put up a picture of the E.U.R. building. I can't remember the name, but it's called the square colosseum for obvious reasons. I saw it a few years ago and it was under "restauro." We drove by it on the cab ride in from Fiumicino so I thought it would decorate this post nicely. (If you want to see it featured in a spectactular movie, check out Julie Taymor's Titus. She uses it to great effect. (Plus it's a dynamite movie.)