Italy - day 3!

well, today was just amazing, all around. we had a bit of a fiasco in the morning as the girls and I overslept, and were trying to rush to get everything ready to make it to the post office on time. in the midst of this, the porter's office called to let us know our missing carseat bag had arrived from the airport! great news, since now we don't have to replace a carseat, and because I had stuck my toiletries bag in there since our suitcases were so close to the weight limit, and thus have been without my usual face wash/moisturizer/deodorant for the past three days (the baby powder-scented spray deodorant sold at the local bottega is just not the same). 

after getting that sorted, we were off! i'm amazed at how we are already better oriented to the city, and we walked a much more direct route to the post office than we did yesterday. and lo and behold, they were indeed open!! the postal employee was very nice but spoke very limited English. I wasn't too worried about that initially, since the staff at the College had prepared all the forms for us and even called down to the post office today to let them know we were coming (honestly, I'm not sure how people manage to do this without this built-in network!). but then, he found some problem with the forms, and kept repeating a phrase to us that we couldn't understand. I thought we might have to try to call the College from there to sort out the trouble, but then he motioned to one of his fellow employees who came over and they discussed the situation for a minute. the other employee seemed to be saying that there wasn't actually a problem, and so with a wave of the hands, the original employee buckled down to the process of getting us our appointment at the police station for the permesso di soggiorno. this required multiple forms to be printed out and signed, including one form printed on what appeared to be an old dot matrix printer, on which he slammed down a very official looking stamp. about twenty minutes later, we were all finished. we are to appear at the local police station on August 28 for finger-printing and to complete additional paperwork to grant us legal status to stay here beyond 90 days. 

we then walked back towards the Piazza Navona. along the way we spotted S. Eustachio's church, with quite the unique deer head atop the roof. the church was closed for the afternoon, so after a quick look around the portico, we continued. 

I don't think I will ever tire of the Piazza Navona. there is so much to see, from the sculptures to the fountains, to the people themselves. we ran into a street performer who initially was standing statuesque himself, with his tie and briefcase halted in midair. then someone threw a coin in his cup and the spell was broken. he started pulling people from the crowd to mime with him. Greta was not interested, so I jumped in. Cecilia didn't know what to make of it either. ;) 

at this point, Greta was asking to go home. we stopped for a family picture in front of the Bernini fountain and then popped into a small grocery store a few blocks off the Piazza Navona for some essentials: sandwich bread (I settled for hamburger buns), yogurt, milk, salami, vegetables, fruit, blueberry jam, sausages, and food for dinner tonight. we also picked up a bottle of limoncello, a glass of which I am currently enjoying as I type. la dolce vita, indeed. we continued towards home and I had to stop in at another grocery store to pick up laundry detergent and some other things the first place did not stock. the stroller makes for a good sherpa, but still, I did not envy Nick the job of pushing it up the Janiculum Hill towards home. 

we all relaxed for a bit in the apartment and then Nick headed off to practice for a few hours while I put on my domestic goddess hat and cleaned, swept the floors, and did the first few loads of laundry. so far so good, although I had to run the dryer through a second short cycle to get the clothes completely dry. the girls had some much-needed downtime to read books and play on their own. then it was time to cook! the previous musician's family left many household supplies including some spices, but unfortunately no salt, garlic powder, or olive oil. so we had tuna steaks au poivre (cooked in a pan with butter), rice (which I thought was normal white rice but turned out to be a cousin of arborio rice ... it did NOT take kindly to being boiled), and asparagus (which I overcooked). my kingdom for some lemon juice and a garlic clove! but it actually tasted okay, and Greta even said she liked the rice. 

after dinner, we went for our first passeggiata, the traditional Italian evening stroll. Greta was thrilled to be able to bring her scooter (another gift from the previous family!), although she decided she didn't like riding it on the "bobbly" roads (cobblestones). we headed down the hill towards St. Peter's, cutting through the bus station to avoid the traffic and the majority of the hill.

the NAC chapel is on the left; our apartment is directly on the right

it's a bit surreal, coming out of the slightly ghetto bus station, turning to the left, and immediately seeing St. Peter's Square and Basilica come into view. we all stopped in our tracks and stood there, entranced. Greta actually started singing softly to herself. then she wanted to pose for a whole photo shoot. the girls were so excited to see the fountains and it was lovely to visit at a time when not many people were around (both for better viewing, but also for safety for the girls). as we meandered along, taking in the colonnades, the central obelisk, the statuary and all of the beautiful things, Nick reminded me that the architecture of the Square is designed to symbolize the Church reaching out to the world. I had to blink back tears several times, thinking of God's faithfulness to the Church throughout history and around the globe, and his faithfulness to me and my family. it is truly unfathomable. 

buona sera, friends.