Training Log Archive: Charlie

Very nice day in Ostia, ancient port city of the Roman Empire. I had seen many photos, but had no concept of the scale. It is an enormous area, mostly quite ruined, but some of the buildings quite intact, including a theater, the Forum, the Forum baths, a Capitolium, various houses, etc. really fascinating, and the first really beautiful day of my trip. Mostly it has been cool, cloudy, occasionally some rain. Then after several hours among the excavations, a beautiful lunch at a fine seaside restaurant, a real pranzo. Calamari, moscardini fritti, spaghetti with calamari, mussels, clams and shrimp, big ones with the heads on. A nice pitcher of Prosecco, pronounced "onesto" by Tullio, and a caffè macchiato. Very fine, and seemed like a nap would be in order.

C • Ostia 8

A very fine evening with Tullio and Giulia and their friend Umberto who had accompanied us to Ostia. Their younger daughter Cristina came over with her young man Emiliano and a chocolate cake for Giulia's birthday, and it was generally a fine time, picking up about 40% of the conversation, less from Emiliano who is very fast and doesn't enunciate, more from Cristina who is very expressive, and getting filled in periodically in English by Tullio and Umberto. A very nice party. There was a lot of prosecco, and one over chilled bottle of champagne. Long travel day tomorrow.

Event: Flying Pig XIX - U.S. Individual Champs - Sprint-Middle-Long
 

There's been a lot of walking around town, and of course a lot of study, but pretty limited internet. Finished up at school today around 3:30 and hopped the excellent high speed train for Rome, having said goodbye to all my new friends, as well as a few from last year. Nice evening in Rome with my friends Tullio and Giulia, speaking Italian, eating, drinking wine, and watching a bit of TV. TV here is a bit over my head. They talk too fast for me, and I just don't have the context. However, I certainly recognize a bunch more of the political figures after a week or so. Tomorrow maybe a trip to Ostia, which would really be entertaining.

Out tramping around the neighborhood with Alvaro after dinner. Remarkable fellow. He decided he wanted to go for a walk without dogs, because he wanted to walk uninterrupted by all the sniffing, peeing and visiting they do. As much as he walks, one might think he would be slender, but that is not the case. After we came back he took the dogs out in succession. No idea when he might have returned from the last one, because I went off to bed around 1015.

C • Alvaro 1

Been dosing heavily with vitamin I, stretching and rolling. Thinking about a little jog attempt later today.

My back was about the best it has been this trip, so I went out to explore a bit. Took the passerella to cross the tracks to the north, ran around the soccer stadium where Fiorentina plays and explored the neighborhood a bit, coming back on a different passerella. A few tender spots, but not bad.

Another long walk with Alvaro and a succession of his dogs. Alvaro is a prodigious walker, taking each of the three dogs three or four times a day. Two of them only go around the block, but Desi seems to be happy going for hours. I go on these excursions for the sociability of it, and also because Alvaro is quite a font of historical information about Firenze. Or more like a fire hose. I don't say much, and don't really have to, but the discourses are pretty interesting. With all the concentrating I am doing, 5 hours a day of classes and talking with Alvaro so much, I am sleeping better than I have in years.

First day with no particular plans. Went out with Alvaro and one of the dogs at around 9 or so, then split off to go sight seeing. I visited the church of San Egidio, then an exhibition of old paintings and photographs of Florence in years past at the Casse di Risparmio di Firenze. Very nice exhibit, free, at the local bank, a private collection. Alvaro tells me they often have some free exhibit of private collections there. Then the archaeological museum, lots of Etruscan stuff, Roman, Greek and Egyptian, including a large collection of mummies. Last museum stop the museum at San Marco, including the collection of art belonging to Fra Savonarola, the more or less ruthless reformer who was himself hanged and burnt in the Piazza della Signoria in 1498. Then a bunch of walking around, looking up various old palazzi and churches, walking outside what is left of the city wall Oltrarno to Porta Romana, then back through the center, including a stop at the Loggia in the Piazza Signoria, more or less my favorite place in the center, and home again, stopping for lunch in the Piazza Beccaria. Got home about 3:45, pretty tired.