Scioperi e Carciofi ( strikes and artichokes)

Today the buses, the metro and commuter rail service have stopped due to a general strike throughout the country.  Too bad about our two month old reservation to get into the Palazzo Farnese (French Embassy) to see the paintings there by Caracci.  The Ministry of Infrastructure actually has a web site where one can view the dates and nature of upcoming strikes.  There will be strikes affecting rail service on April 12 and April 15.

On the brighter side the weather was fantastic yesterday when we took the train into town for lunch and to visit the ruins of ancient Rome.

 We also met with Cristiana to swap Italian for English conversation.  She is a doctor at a hospital here and has three daughters including one who is taking a Masters degree in Economics at Oxford and another studying economics at the Dauphin in Paris. She worries about meeting people on the internet and her worst fears were realized yesterday when she met us.

The worst thing that happened yesterday was watching our train home roar through our station without stopping.  The best thing was discovering carciofi alla Romana.