Ciao from Roma,

It's been well over a year since the last blog post. That's the way it gets I suppose. I like to think my life is so full of wonderful things that writing about them rarely makes it high enough on the to-do list.

Anyway, I am back in Rome (just me, no other Muench folks) to teach 2013 Engineering Rome (http://engineeringrome.wikispaces.com). if you're not in the know, it's a 3-week study abroad class from the UW with 17 students, myself and a teaching assistant.

Today is the first day in Rome for me and it was a bit surreal. Many things had not changed at all since we were all in Rome in October/November 2011. I suppose I should expect that since there are lots of things here that were here 2,000 years ago. What's another 2? However, there are many things that have changed. I took a very brief tour around the Campus Maritius area (Campo del Fiori, Piazza Navona, etc.) and noted the following:

• Campo dei Fiori: just as I (we) had left it.
• Piazza Navona: even MORE tacky paintings for sale at night. Also, no people there dressed as the statue of liberty, death, or something else just standing there hoping you will throw them a Euro. Perhaps in some strange series of events it's outlawed?
• Castel Sant'Angelo: same...including the playground below in what used to be the moat. Fond memories of that playground. It's kind of a dump of a playground but by Roman standards it's quite good...and far away from traffic! The cheap carrossel. is still there.
• Gelateria de Teatro: our favorite gelato off the beaten path last time. Well, now it's blown. Definitely on the path. They've moved the store out to the main street, added seating inside and now have about 6 tables outside with 12-15 chairs. I went by at about 4:30 p.m. and there were over 20 tourists there. Totally blown. On the up side, gelato is still great. Had a rosemary, honey, and lemon gelato.
• Tratorria "Da Tonino". Went there for dinner tonight. Not as good as I remember. Prices are still very low (8 Euros for pasta primi piatti) but seems to have been converted into a clone of the tourist restaurants down the road. Disappointing. Also, life is too short to drink house wine in the tourist district.
• 116: still operating.
• 16 Via Cimatori: saw the door. That's it. Still there. No dog poop.
• Bar Giulia: still there and functioning.
• Guys selling those splat toys at all major tourist attraction: still going strong. W