One Cab Ride in Rome

The Pantheon at night.

That sentence sums up my last trip to a tee. Like the one cab ride I took in Rome, my 2 weeks in Italy were exhilarating, thrilling (no seat belt in that taxi) and empowering. While I hung on for dear life as my driver whipped me around the narrow alleyways of that old city, the old Patty would have been praying, "Dear Lord, let me live to eat one more gelato", but the Patty in Rome was giddy, laughing the whole way and raring for more!

I've been back for over a month now and have been working on keeping the same feelings with me in my everyday life....personally and in my work. I figure it doesn't have to go away just because I'm not surrounded by the freedoms of travel, a wonderfully old and crumbling city or yummy pasta. I can be more go-with-the-flow, more accepting of what is and not focusing on what isn't. I can be more independent and not let my brain gremlins get the best of me when encountering new situations and new people. All of these things were already there, but for some reason I needed to go to Italy to figure that out! Not that I'm complaining of course.

What can I figure out on my next trip?

Here are some of my favorite photos I took in Italy:

The tiles in Siena's Duomo.............................................Looking out from under the Pantheon, Rome.

Festivities leading up to Il Palio in Siena.

A favorite moment...sitting high above Il Campo, people watching with a beer and a sandwich.

The backside of Siena's Duomo.

One of the many religious reliefs on the walls of Siena.

Il Campo, Siena, at night.

In the Jewish ghetto in Rome.