When in Rome

I am in Rome, the city that I have been four and a half years ago. This time I am here for POPL,which is a prestigious conference in my research area, Programming Languages.

 It is not the perfect season to visit Rome, but I am not here for sightseeing. My advisors and I have a short paper at one of the workshops after POPL. I am going to give a five minute presentation, followed by five minutes for questions. Pretty exciting and also pretty unnerving...

 I arrived yesterday night. Today, I was hoping to take a day trip to a small town in the south, but the weather was rainy, and I didn't feel like going. So instead I wandered around the city. The more I wanted to escape from the crowds and the tourists, the more I found myself surrounded by them. I wanted to find a cute little Italian café, and polish* my slides while sipping a cup of cappuccino. However, I ended up visiting the Trevi fountain. I took some pictures to show my parents since they insisted that I should get a new camera and send them pictures of the places I visit. I did that, but the weather sucked, and I don't really like taking pictures. It feels like I am missing the moment. Especially when I don't have enough time, which is the way I feel almost all the time. I always rush to places, as if they are gonna fly away. Maybe they would. I don't know... The restlessness is a trait I have in my soul. I kinda like it though, I like doing things fast.

 Anyways... While wandering around, I stopped by a modern looking Italian bookstore. I like going into bookstores. I think bookstores tell you a lot about a country. This one was very elegant looking. The books had picturesque covers, and lots of colors. I stumbled upon several Murakami books. Took pictures of them to send to the murakamistuff blog. There were several Mo Yan** books, which reminded me of how much I wanted to read his books. I should...




 I had picked up a map from the hotel lobby, but I didn't use it at all. I just wanted to go wherever my feet took me. After two hours of walking, I realized how hungry I was. Then I came across a cute patisserie. I peeked from the window, a baker was working inside, baking delicious looking biscuits. I don't know how they are called, but they were so delicious. I bought different kinds, including a purple meringue one (they are called "beze" in Germany and Turkey). The price was quite reasonable. I didn't have the patience to take pictures, since I gulped them down so quickly as if somebody was gonna eat them if I didn't. I did. After this delicious stop, I decided to check out the map since I was passing by familiar touristic places that I couldn't remember their name of. Not that I really cared, but I was getting tired. I was getting closer to Vatican. I wanted to check the bus schedule, but couldn't really find a way to go to the Pignoto, the hipster quarter of Rome. While waiting at the bus stop, I saw a huge second hand bookstore across the street. I was being called, vehemently. This bookstore had a authentic cafe, so it was time to drink some cappuccino. Two euros for a delicious cup was a good deal, so I spent some time enjoying the free wifi, trying to find a small trattoria for lunch. I couldn't get any work done, since my feet were very wet due to my crappy emektar boots. It was time to get going after touring this interesting bookstore. Next to the bookstore, was a crowded food shop. I wondered why it was so crowded, and decided to give it a go. Since there were no tourists inside, I thought that might be a good sign, so I ordered a classic from the menu which looked quite safe( cotto, funghi, mozzarella) for 4.70. It turned out that there were some ham inside this delicious crep looking pita sandwich.

Well, I unconsciously knew that would happen, because I was fantasizing about eating some on the way from the airport. I thought about ordering something else from the menu, but something inside tempted me to eat it. I never done this in my life before. Quite a thrilling experience, every bite I had, I thought that I would have a hunch to puke it out. But it was very delicious, so I decided not to care. "Think of it as turkey ham" I told to myself. Maybe it was turkey ham, who knows. Would I do it again? Probably not on purpose, but I don't want to turn out to a person who abondons her principals. I had broken so many rules in the recent years, now it all feels so normal. But I am still against pork products. Just that I had a *small* piece of ham and I liked it doesn't mean I am gonna start eating pork. Well, after this ground breaking experience, I hopped on to a bus, and came to the hotel. Now, I am gonna start working on my presentation.

 * I actually have to restructure my slides rather than polish, but let's be positive :)
** In case you don't know, he is the literature Nobel prize winner for 2012.