I’m lovin’ Rome. Lovin’ it. Though it is hot. Hot as hell. Which I think is very appropriate as our apartment is in the shadow of the Vatican. You can almost see the Basilico from our room. If your neck is 17 feet long. And Catholicism and hell just go hand in hand. On so many levels.

And I’ve seen… I’ve seen… I’ve seen Lila. Which, trust me, is cause for no complaint whatsoever. She offers more fun and rewards than ancient Rome ever could. And in between Lila-times there are wedding things. Lots of wedding things. Which involve eating (massively), drinking (even more massively) and socialising. Rome’s always been a sociable place, right back to Frankie Howerd and the days of the Forum.

So Wednesday night, the day we arrived, we were taken for a ‘pre-wedding’ dinner at a gorgeous restaurant right in the centre, where the streets are cobbled, the piazzas teeming and the food outstanding. When we left at midnight it was so warm and balmy and we were so boozed up and fuzzy that we walked back to the apartment. An hour of gorgeousness along the river.

Then was Thursday, or wedding day as is known. In the magnificent Grand Synagogue. Which is like a Jewish version of a cathedral with lots of marble and columns and Roman type stuff. And from there we bussed up to the hills to a villa for eat, drink and merriment. In vast quantities, all done outside. What’s the Italian for ‘al fresco’.

Today we had a lunch. Again wonderful, again everything abundant to the point just before ancient Romans would have been puking up to prepare for the next onslaught, but this time Lila came too. When we had deserts we learned from her the origins of the term ‘grazing’ as applied to humans eating. Something her grandfather excels at. See above.

Tomorrow we’re going on a walking tour. We love walking tours. And we’ll learn why Trevi has a fountain; where Caesar called Brutus a double-crossing motherfucker; why Italian steps are Spanish and if the Pantheon and Parthenon are just one building sold twice or 2 separate things.

Ciao

A xxxx