People I Have Asked: On the Train to Florence

On the train from Rome to Florence, our seatmates were two teenagers from California (brother and sister) who'd had to leave their parents in Rome.  Their father had been hospitalized the night before (possibly for appendicitis, although I don't think the diagnosis had been settled at this point.)  The father was apparently okay, but the doctors had kept him in hospital for observation.  So the parents sent the kids on ahead to the hotel they'd booked in Florence.  

They were pretty self-assured, these two.  I remember that they had their summer reading books with them; the girl was reading Slaughterhouse-Five.

Kyle

Kyle's sister

Somewhere between Rome and Florence

Italy

June 2008

People I Have Asked: Rome, Italy

I'm pretty shy, but traveling with Mr. Hunter sometimes inspires me to break out of my shell and ask people to pose with him.  Most often I'll ask people who've become part of the journey somehow -- they work at a pleasing restaurant or at our hotel, we've had an interesting conversation, or maybe they've become temporary traveling companions on a bus or a train.  

Here are the people I asked to pose with Mr. Hunter in Rome.

The helpful Valentina, who worked at Hotel Latinum.

Ann, the pastry chef from California.

Ann hopped on to our transfer from Fiumicino Airport to the hotel, only she was headed to a different hotel in a different area of Rome, and this set into motion an extra long journey.  The driver tried to find Ann's hotel first, only he couldn't find it, so he kept circling Rome.  He also kept assuring us that he knew where he was going.  We passed some of the big landmarks repeatedly; we'd think, "Maybe this time..." but then yet againthe Vittorio Emmanuele II monument or the Colosseum would appear, and our hopes would be dashed.  At one point, the driver attempted to turn down this narrow cobblestone street, but a tough fellow stood in the way and would not let the van through; it was a pedestrian-only street!  (See photo below.)  Finally our driver circled back and dropped Ann-the-pastry-chef off a couple of blocks from her hotel, and then he was free to deliver us to the Latinum.  Phew!

The man who would not let us pass.

Mr. Hunter and the wood carver.

And, of course, there was the wood carver at Bartolucci.  I was super-shy to ask him, but I could not let the opportunity pass.

There was one person in Rome whom I regret not asking to pose with Mr. Hunter: the Middle Eastern mother of two who helped us get back on our way when we'd gone too far on bus line 105.  

Rome, Italy

June 2008

The Wood Carver

I love this.  I love this a lot.  

After visiting the Pantheon, we wandered down a pedestrian street

 and came across a life-size wooden Pinocchio figure sitting on a bench.

This Pinocchio is a mascot for a little toy shop called Bartolucci.  Beside the bench was an open store front where a wood carver was busy making another Pinocchio.

Well. 

 All those woodworking tools.  Mr. Hunter.  

How could I not ask Mr. Woodworker to pose with my wooden friend?

It was my first day in Rome, so I was jetlagged.  I couldn't remember the Italian words to ask the wood carver to pose for a photo, so I shyly offered Mr. Hunter to him and held up my camera. 

 I remember the man as being serious, nonplussed.  But when I look at the photo now, he seems to have this gleam in his eye.   Bemused slightly, but friendly.

An entry for the Mr. Hunter Hall of Fame.

Bartolucci

Via dei Pastini

Rome, Italy

June 2008