I couldn't get tickets for any museums I was interested in, so I debated taking the train to Ostia Antica or going to see the Pantheon that everybody said was a must-see (I filed it under "eh" myself). So I set out walking, trying not to consult the map too often. First I went too far southeast and had to go back north, then I struggled to find street signs - instead of signs on poles at every intersection they are carved into buildings, but maybe only once per intersection, maybe not at all. The map has tiny print that is slightly blurred (no, it's not my eyes, the rest of the map is fine), and there is no straight line to anything from anywhere except the Metro. The map of Rome looks like someone dropped a plate of spaghetti on a blank page and said, let's go with that. This was not what I was looking for, but at least it gave me some orientation:
Nope, that's not it, that's some overdecorated cake.
I don't remember its name, but it had chocolate in the middle.
In that same alley I pass a shop advertising gluten-free pizza and pasta. Really? I ask, and the kid hanging outside says yes. I move on to see the object of my travels, which I filed under big whoop. If you want to see pictures, look it up.
I had intended to find a different shop with gluten-free pizza and good reviews, but I was really tired and just wanted to end the day. I ordered what I thought was a gluten-free pie, "Margharita style", but apparently he thought my choice was the regular Margharita through the language barrier. I ate half of it, and it was mediocre. My first clue was when the bill came for 8 euros instead of 12 and I began to have doubts.
I decided to take a bus back and looked for one going to Termini, where the subway branches cross and where you can buy more tickets, since my 3-day pass ends tonight. I got on a bus, but apparently it was at the end of its route and I had to get off and find another. Which was okay, because I hadn't figured out how to use my ticket on that first one. After 4 tries on the second one it accepted it, and I rode around the city seeing things I had not seen. I got to Termini, bought a 2-day ticket on the third try, and walked home. I keep walking past this random archaeology:
This kind of thing is everywhere. Random buildings will have a broken brick arch sticking out of them.
When I got back to my room all hell broke loose inside me. The last two times this happened I attributed it to food poisoning, but now I think it's my gluten reaction after 12 years without, so if you wondered, now you know. The toilet is too high for my feet to touch the floor, so I prepared by bringing in my footstool, pulling over a table to rest things on, and bringing in a solid, lined wastebasket from the bed area. Then I spent an hour or so emptying out and sweating profusely, then spent at least another hour with uncontrollable shivering. At one point I kicked over the basket of puke and had to clean some of it up with toilet paper. It was a pretty horrible afternoon, but it could have been worse - I had thought about jumping on the train to Ostia while I was at Termini. That would have been bad.
Tomorrow is the trip to Vesuvius and Pompeii, meaning I have to get up before sunrise and breakfast again, so I'm packing my backpack and pants pockets to be ready. We're supposed to have pizza after the volcano and I requested gluten-free, but I don't think I can bring myself to eat it. I may have to live off of prepackaged things I can find at the little grocery stores to feel safe. I will survive on cookies and fig bars and nuts. I can't risk that happening on a bus or public toilets. Damn you, gluten.
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