magicbeans. nothing if not awkward.

went to look for the large art supply store nearby, but it was mid-day and they were closed. some of the people i was with went off in search of a show at a nearby museum, but we were also quite close to the pantheon, which as an architectect i felt somewhat obligated to check out. and it is an amazing space. and the light that comes in through the occulus really does have a sense of mass. but all the decoration added to the lower half when it was converted into a church just muddles things up.

bought veggies today, plus rice noodles, soy sauce, and tofu, and made a stirfry for dinner. not exactly italian food, but at least i'm eating well.

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justin and sarah.b wanted to go out and see the coloseum tonight and asked if i wanted to come. and i'll have plenty more chances but i'm still in the stage of wanting to drink as much of rome in as possible.

the path we took was a little indirect and winding and full of dead ends but everything here is amazing. it leaves you without other words for it. we walked around part of the ancient roman forum and sarah.b asked about the ruins of a giant gate. "what is this called again?"

justin and i had no idea. he said, "i've seen it. i don't have to know anything about it." and that's the feeling you get. just seeing these things that are thousands of years old fills you with so much that facts seem somehow trivial and extraneous.

we thought about sqeezing under one of the gates and into the coloseum, but settled for walking around it, looking up at it, into the openings we could see through, at the stray cats that inhabit many of these ancient sites.