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Entries Tagged as 'Rome'

Cinema at 35,000 Feet

July 20th, 2013 · No Comments · Books, Dubai, France, Italy, Lists, Paris, Rome, Travel

A significant percentage of the movies I have watched in the past two months has been while flying. In part, it’s because so few films I am interested in seeing have come out during that time. But a big part of it is the array of movies-on-demand available for viewing on the big and modern […]

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The Bums of Long Beach

July 17th, 2013 · No Comments · Abu Dhabi, Barcelona, Long Beach, Paris, Rome, Travel, UAE

A few years in Abu Dhabi might lead a person to believe homelessness is not a significant problem around the world. In the UAE, everyone has a job … or they are headed for the airport. It’s the law. Which can lead to some jarring sensations, when you leave the UAE and touch down almost […]

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Ciao-ciao, Walter Zenga

June 2nd, 2013 · No Comments · Dubai, Football, Rome, soccer, Sports Journalism, UAE, World Cup

The first time I was in the same building with Walter Zenga was in 1990, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. He was the starting goalkeeper for Italy, and they were facing Austria in the opening game of the World Cup. Zenga did not allow a goal, which was a fairly common outcome, for him, […]

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The Scenic Tour of Italy’s Countryside

May 26th, 2013 · 2 Comments · Abu Dhabi, Italy, Rome, tourism, Travel, UAE

  We spent barely 18 hours (the cretins!) in Florence, and then it was right back out of town, south to Fiumicino Airport, near Rome, for the final two events of a visit to Italy. We did not return via the A1 autostrade, Italy’s most-traveled highway. Instead, we detoured south and a little west to […]

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Misadventures in Eating, Italy-Style

May 23rd, 2013 · No Comments · Italy, Rome, tourism, Travel

How hard can it be to solve a menu in Italian? The names of the various pastas (pasti?) transfer directly into English. Spaghetti is spaghetti and rigatoni is rigatoni. And we should be able to recognize basic Italian dining words, like “funghi” or “prosciutto” or “pollo” or “porchetta”. What could go wrong? As it turns […]

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Buongiorno from Gaeta

May 19th, 2013 · No Comments · Italy, Rome, tourism, Travel, UAE

  And now for the indolent half of Italy 2013. This country, you may have noticed on a map, has hundreds of miles of coast, and a person might reasonably expect the existence of lots and lots of seaside hotels and retreats … and a person would be right. Three years ago, we did a […]

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Arrivederci, Roma

May 18th, 2013 · 2 Comments · Italy, Rome, tourism, Travel

And so we packed and left the tiny apartment  in Trastevere and joined up with (what we have found to be) the typically not-quite-honest Rome cabbie, who delivered us to Termini for not quite 18 euros. Seeing as how the meter had read 13-something, when we got out, how it ended near 18 is a […]

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Rome Cinema, the Short Bus and a Final Night in Trastevere

May 17th, 2013 · No Comments · Paris, Rome, tourism, Travel

  Sure, it’s a little odd. When on vacation we sometimes go to the movies. In Paris. In Rome. It would not be unreasonable to expect that, on only the seventh day in Rome, something historical or important remained unseen or unexplored. But, sometimes, you just don’t feel like making the effort. Instead, we went […]

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Inside the Sistine Chapel

May 16th, 2013 · 1 Comment · Rome, tourism

The Sistine Chapel may be the No. 1 tourist destination in the world, the top-of-the-list individual site for everyone who comes to Rome. Which makes seeing it … a test of character and patience. You are in competition with much of the planet to see the place with your own eyes. Some of the most […]

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‘Angels and Demons’, and a Resto’s Second Chance

May 15th, 2013 · No Comments · Paris, Rome, tourism

  One of the best-known works pertaining to Rome and the Vatican and Rome from the past few decades is, sad to say, Dan Brown’s very schlocky popular novel: Angels and Demons. The book came out in 2000, and the Tom Hanks movie in 2009. I began to reread the book, just ahead of coming […]

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