JACK BERNARD'S TRAVELS

Posted by jdbernard743

· June 13, 2015

Four Attractions You Should Not Miss In Rome – Plus One Bonus Extra

#1 Opera at the Baths of Caracalla

The Baths of Caracalla were constructed in the 3^rd Century. These public baths were constructed in an effort to curry favor with the Roman population. The site is impressive as an historical remnant, but today it is best known as the venue for summer opera productions performed by the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. This summer Puccini is the featured composer with performances of Madama Butterfly, Turandot, and La Boheme. This summer’s series isn’t restricted to opera (Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, and Elton John will also perform), but opera delivers its most dramatic experience.

Once, on a Pan Am layover, the hotel concierge told me about an outdoor opera at the Baths and I gathered a couple of other crewmembers to join me. We sat on the grass far from the stage and were transfixed as the music of Tosca spilled from that monumental stage. I’ve learned more about opera since that night, but I’ve never had a more memorable opera experience.

The summer season is short. This year Madama Butterfly opens on July 6 and the three operas run concurrently until August 7^th. That’s it – one month but well worth the effort if you’re anywhere near Rome during that time.

#2 Pantheon

It’s difficult to overstate the impression one gets upon entering the interior space of the Pantheon. Originally conceived in 27 B.C. by Marcus Agrippa and rebuilt to it’s current state by the Emperor Hadrian in the 2^nd Century, it is an engineering and architectural miracle. The concrete (Roman version) dome is the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. The oculus or opening at the top of the dome is the primary reason for its structural integrity and for preventing its collapse. While the dome is perfectly symmetrical on the interior, from the outside it is not, because the material is thinner at the top and gives a slightly rounded appearance.

Another surprising engineering fact is that the height (distance) to the oculus and the interior diameter of the building are exactly the same (142’), which must account in some way for the integrity of the unsupported dome. It’s a great mystery.

The obvious question when looking at the oculus is what happens when it rains? The answer is another triumph of engineering. The original marble floor of the building is still in place and slightly convex with holes drilled to drain the water. Surprisingly, when it rains very little water reaches the floor as much of it evaporates before it reaches the surface.

When it was built the building honored a pantheon of Roman gods, but since the 7^th Century it has been a Catholic church dedicated to St. Mary and the Martyrs.

I wasn’t prepared for the impact of seeing the Pantheon from its interior. On the outside it appears to be another huge colonnaded structure with a triangular pediment and an inscription. Inside it is overwhelming. Don’t miss it.

#3 Church of St. Ignatius

The Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola is dedicated to the founder of the Society of Jesus. The original structure, the Collegio Romano, was built in 1551, but was rebuilt in the baroque style at the behest of Pope Gregory VX, an admirer of the Jesuit founder and its doors reopened in 1650.

The church is fascinating structure, simple on the outside and tucked into a small piazza on a narrow street midway between the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain. Its simple exterior belies the opulence of its interior. Architecturally it is interesting because its “dome” was never actually completed because the builders ran out of money. Their very creative solution was to hire a painter to paint a trompe l’oeil dome thus giving viewers the impression that they are standing beneath an actual dome.

The church is a quiet sanctuary, not heavily trafficked, and well worth a visit especially if you’re in the neighborhood and visiting the Pantheon.

#4 Piazza di Spagna (morning)/Via del Babuino (evening)

It may seem odd to include Piazza di Spagna (The Spanish Steps) and the upscale shopping area nearby as an important attraction while telling readers to avoid Trevi Fountain, a similarly popular tourist hangout. The reason is simple; Trevi is a tourist trap, and you’d be lucky to hear Italian spoken by the selfie-stick and sunglass sellers nearby, whereas the Piazza di Spagna neighborhood is where wealthy, stylish Romans live, shop, eat, stroll and hang out when the tourists leave at dusk. Granted it doesn’t have the gravitas of the Coliseum or the Forum, but it is where contemporary Romans strut their stuff. Grab an outside table at La Buvette on the Via Vittoria and check out chic Roman women toting large shopping bags from the likes of Chanel, Dolce and Gabbana, Gucci, Armani, and Versace. This year they’re all in black and white. Check out my earlier blog on the trend.

Bonus Extra: Rome Masters (Italian Open) Tennis

One extra item to include if you’re a tennis fan is the Rome Masters, sometimes called the Italian Open. The tournament takes place in May as a warm up for the French Open at Roland Garros. I’ve been to the US Open, Wimbledon, and the French Open – all impressive venues for the tennis crowd – but watching the top players in the world play in Rome was the best of all. The crowds are smaller, the prices reasonable, and the setting spectacular. The stadium venues are smaller and the outside courts stunning. Last month I watched two of the world’s best women players play on the near court while two of the best men played on the far court. I love the umbrella pines in the background and the shaded far side. Last year I was at Roland Garros. If I had a choice I would take the Rome Masters over Roland Garros any day for the spectator experience.

Enjoy…

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Categories : Art, Theater, Travel, Uncategorized, Weather, Work and Adventure

Posted by jdbernard743

· June 12, 2015

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Four Roman Attractions – To Avoid

Recently I’ve been evangelizing for “slow travel,” a leisurely way to see more of the world by consciously seeing less of it. It sounds contradictory but there’s a reason why it works. Travel provides an extraordinary opportunity to learn about people and cultures and place them in their historical and contemporary contexts. Slow travelers begin by reminding themselves that they can’t see it all. They are students of world history, geography, art, music, architecture, anthropology, languages – what Zorba called the “full catastrophe” (never mind that he was talking about marriage and family; the phrase covers all situations). Here are four famous attractions that you should avoid unless you have ample time in Rome.

#1 St. Peter’s Basilica

It sounds blasphemous to suggest skipping the flagship church in the Catholic empire, but standing in line to visit St. Peter’s is a judgment call considering the wait, the sweat, the sore feet and the pushing and shoving. The midday lines run between two and three hours, and once inside there is no time to linger, appreciate, or pray. Wasn’t that the point originally? The basilica is magnificent, and it is not to be missed, but consider viewing it from a distance. The beauty of its interior detail notwithstanding, I guarantee the experience will be much more satisfying if done at a distance. I was lucky enough to visit before there were lines and before Michelangelo’s Pieta’ was attacked by a lunatic with a hammer. That was a long time ago. The world’s population has doubled since then and they’re all standing in line in St. Peter’s square as I write this on a Thursday afternoon in 2015. By all means take a good look at the exterior but skip the cattle call for the interior tour.

The best and most satisfying time to see view the basilica is just before or after sunset. There will always be people in the square, but there is something special about seeing the basilica’s luminous spirituality when the architecture dominates and human interference is at a minimum. One night, after dinner with friends, we strolled around the square after dark. Michelangelo’s dome dominated the night sky. It was a different experience than fighting the crowds that swarm there in the daytime.

The church and the square were a collaborative effort. Bramante, Michelangelo, and Bernini were the principal architects. Bramante is credited with the basic design, Michelangelo with its dome, and Bernini with the elliptical, colonnaded square fronting the church. The most impressive way introduction to the complex is to approach by way of Via Concilliazione the broad divided road that begins at Castel Sant’Angelo and leads directly to the square with the church and it’s enormous dome in view all the way. It is truly a remarkable architectural achievement, but I suggest skipping the long lines and taking the long view – preferably at night.

#2 Trevi Fountain

Anita Eckberg and Marcello Mastroianni cavorted in it, circa 1960, as an expression of La Dolce Vita. It’s Rome’s largest fountain and over the top in it’s baroque-ness, but it’s been a long slippery slide to tackiness since the days of La Dolce Vita. Souvenir stands, pizza by the slice, pickpockets, T-shirt shops, black socks and sandals; Trevi has them all. Take a look at this picture. I took it this morning. Can you think of a good reason why anyone would endure the heat, the chaos, and the human zoo to peer through the Plexiglas barrier to see an empty fountain covered with aluminum scaffolding or watch workmen scrub the genitals of Oceanus? It’s a setup for disappointment.

On the other hand, Rome is justifiably famous for its fountains. Resphigi celebrated them in his 1917 symphonic poem, The Fountains of Rome and Roy Pulvers, a Portland, Oregon attorney and recent acquaintance of mine, showed me a book his father compiled called Roman Fountains: 2000 Fountains in Rome. A Complete Collection. The senior Pulvers was a little obsessive perhaps, but he developed a passionate curiosity about the fountains and followed it up with research and the the writing of the book. The fact that there are 2000 fountains in Rome proves that Trevi is not that singular and given its current state of disrepair, one of its least interesting. I took this photo of a fountain near our apartment last week because of its likeness to fashionably contemporary infinity pools. It’s not as dramatic as Trevi, but I didn’t have to peer over another sweating tourist to see it.

I suggest you give Trevi a pass and check out some of Rome’s other great fountains. The shipwreck boat fountain in Piazza di Spagna is especially interesting, and if you’re there early in the morning you won’t have to stretch to see it. If you’re OCD about fountains like Roy’s father, the book, all 928 pages and 9.7 pounds of it, is available through Amazon Prime for $98. You can bet Amazon and UPS are losing money on shipping that one by Prime.

#3 Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel

There are two primary reasons to visit the Vatican Museum. While it contains other wonderful art its two primary assets are the Raphael Rooms, a suite of rooms filled with Raphael frescos, and Michelangelo’s work in the Sistine Chapel. These two artists’ work represents the pinnacle of Renaissance painting, and while it is a privilege to be in its presence the museum tour is another setup for disappointment, since the crowded rooms and herding of people make it difficult to see the work or appreciate it.

The photo above shows the line for admission to on Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. It is like this every day and continues until 4 p.m. when the ticket office closes. The museum stays open until 6 p.m. The picture doesn’t show the whole line; that trails off to the left for another 100 meters and the wait is roughly two hours long. There is a line avoidance strategy – join a group that has priority admission – and the surrounding streets are lined with sales reps of tour companies recruiting people to sign up. There is some advantage in doing so, but with so many groups with priority status that line is only marginally shorter than the other one and rarely worth the cost.

If you have only a few days to see Rome there are other remarkable attractions and avoiding long waits will help you conserve energy and reap cultural and historical dividends.

#4 Trastevere

Trastevere is an old Roman working class neighborhood on the west side of the Tiber River. Fifty years ago it had charm and local color and was a favorite neighborhood for locals digging into their roots and looking for a good reasonably price Roman meal. Anchored by the Basilica of Santa Maria the Piazza Santa Maria, Trastevere’s historical center, became a favorite of celebrities and movie stars and outsiders began to notice the area.

The district was a place people came when they were looking for an authentic Roman experience and restaurants like Sabatini’s gained notoriety and prospered. Souvenir shops moved in and twenty years ago the neighborhood began to spoil. I ate at Sabatini’s thirty years ago and enjoyed a romantic meal with good service. Twelve years ago I returned and was served barely warm pasta by a surly waiter who was annoyed when I asked for “il conto,” (the inflated check for the disappointing meal).

Last week M and I returned to Trastevere to look around. It was even worse. The streets were dirty and crammed with tourists. We shared a gelato and walked back across the Ponte Sisto pedestrian bridge to have a look at the old Jewish quarter on the eastern side of the Tiber. Much more interesting. Trastevere has lost its character and charm. Like Trevi, Trastevere is better left to less inquisitive, less curious travelers. There are other sections of the city that have retained their charm and authenticity – and good food at reasonable prices – but it might take a little research and investigation to dig them out.

Today’s list of attractions to avoid is not meant as an arrogant pronouncement or curmudgeonly rant about tourists.The intent is to give the time challenged visitor advice on how to best use that limited time. Rome is full of attention worthy attractions. To balance things out tomorrow’s post includes a list of Roman sights that shouldn’t be missed.

Ciao

Categories : Art, Books, Fashion/Lifestyle, Personal/Family, Travel, Uncategorized, Weather, Work and Adventure

Posted by jdbernard743

· June 3, 2015

· 2 Comments

Rome: Over and Under

The surface of Rome is crowded with antiquities and monuments dating from before the time of Christ, through the Etruscan and Roman periods, the founding and dominance of the Catholic Church, and reaching perhaps it’s highest expression in the Renaissance painting and sculpture of Rafael and Michelangelo. But there is more to Rome than what appears on the surface.

Life is thriving over our heads and underground in the Eternal City. It is often difficult to think about looking up when there is so much straining for our attention on the ground, but if you do you notice that rooftops across the city are alive with greenery. This picture was taken from our kitchen window, and there are similar views from the living room and bathroom. Our apartment is on the 5^th floor of a building just off the Piazza di Spagna, and while the facades of the historic buildings on the street are neat and orderly the interior courtyards and rooftops are alive with new growth.

But it isn’t just the rooftops where Roman life thrives. There is a surprisingly active subterranean life too. There is a subway (Metro) that moves large numbers of people through a city choked with narrow twisting 7^th century streets and transportation gridlock, but there is also a surprising tunnel that begins at the Spagna Metro station and leads like the labyrinth of Knossos to the headwaters of the celebrity-rich Via Veneto. I’ve spent a lot of time in Rome over the years and thought I knew the city, but this underground passagio caught me by surprise and reminded me of the Illuminati’s escape route from the Vatican to Castel Sant’Angelo in Dan Brown’s thriller Angels and Demons.

The passagio begins inside the entrance to the Metro station at Spagna (the Spanish Steps) and turns to the left just before the ticket turnstiles for the trains. The entrance is marked Via Veneto and Villa Borghese.

The passagio then winds it’s way under and up the Pincian Hill, one of Rome’s seven hills, to the entrance of Villa Borghese. Walking above ground, the streets leading to the Villa and the top of the Via Veneto are narrow, sometimes steep, and start with a the 135 Spanish Steps that climb from the piazza to the small square and the church of Trinita dei Monti. The steps, built in 1723-1725, were the gift of a French diplomat who probably got tired climbing the cobbled hill.

Rome’s Metro consists of two lines, A and B that cross at Termini Station. Line B, that includes the tunnel was built in 1964 and today it’s showing its age. It’s modern but dog-eared, and the shiny stainless and Pirelli rubber coated floors need a tune up. There are long escalators linking different levels and half of them are out of order or at least out of service. The good news is there is usually one in a set that is working. This one actually looks pretty good.

Sadly, the expensive, extensive, underground network is not heavily trafficked. I’ve walked it several times when there is no one in the long sightlines of its hallways.

It’s a shame that more people, especially tourists, don’t use the passage. It was well designed and includes display cases for local businesses and a significant amount of public art – paintings and mosaics.

At the end of that long, half-mile walk through the Pincian Hill you break into daylight at the top of Via Veneto and the entrance to Borghese Gardens.

M doesn’t like subways or the Metro. She wants to be above ground to check out her surroundings. There’s a part of me that is like that, but I’m also fascinated by the mystery of underground construction and awed by the accomplishment of such complicated transportation solutions – Rome, New York, London, Paris, Berlin – they’re all different but equally efficient. I take M’s point, however, and one of the best surprises when you’re above ground in Rome is looking at the rooftops. It’s fascinating to check them out. Rome is crowded and there is very little open ground for private gardens. Most people live in apartments and the rooftops offer the only opportunity to be surrounded with lush green vegetation or an ivy canopy to shade yourself from the heat. I love this scene.

If you’re not a rooftop resident there are a number of hotels with rooftop bars and restaurants. This one is in Trastevere:

Or, if you’re a tourist with an urge for a Rome rooftop experience there are apartments like this one on VRBO and Airbnb to satisfy that urge:

Rome is full of treasures, some public, some private, but it’s worth exploring to see what is beneath the surface or over your head. I know you’ll find it interesting; maybe not as exciting or interesting as Marcello and Anita did, but that’s another blog.

Keep your eyes open over and under Roma. Arrivederci!

Categories : Art, Food/Restaurants, Travel, Uncategorized, Work and Adventure

Tags : Rome

Posted by jdbernard743

· May 31, 2015

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It’s All in Black and White

In Rome (and New York, apparently) it’s either fashion or food. Today it’s fashion, and it’s all in black and white. Karl Lagerfeld once said, “Black and white always looks modern,” and this month in the fashionable neighborhoods around Piazza di Spagna and Via Condotti Karl’s dictum has been optimized. Women, men, thin, tall, short, heavy, young, old, and all the store windows are full of it.

But first, we need a soundtrack. Every fashion show needs musical accompaniment and these guys are a perfect fit. They call themselves Stageless, but they do have a CD and a Facebook page. They’re strictly street musicians. Yesterday they were in front of our apartment on Via del Babuino, where the narrow street with tall buildings creates an echo effect. The muted trumpet echoed in the neighborhood, and when we heard it through our open apartment window we had to go down to find out who was playing. These three guys are the best street buskers I’ve ever heard. They do upbeat, funky, New Orleans and soulful jazz, and they do it all well – especially the trumpet. We stood on the opposite side of the street, listened, and fed their open guitar case Euros. This morning we ran into them again in the big square in front of the Pantheon. Here’s a black and white fashion parade from the last two days in our neighborhood. Imagine, if you will, a soulful rendition of Summertime https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZWuyU-QC4E when you watch the black and white show unfold. – or this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51MB9fboJTE Let’s check out street fashion in Rome:

On the way to work, at the bus stop, on the Metro, or just shopping, black and white is everywhere. Having noticed the trend, I was curious to know what fashionistas were saying about it and found this by Lauren Laverne in The Guardian. “What better way to get dressed chicly, quickly, than by wearing black and white? In the words of Coco Chanel: “Women think of all colours, except the absence of colour. Black has it all. White, too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.” Theoretically, of course, this is absolutely correct. Unfortunately it can be surprisingly tricky to get black and white right in real life. The problem is, simple and easy are two different things. Monochrome is simple but wearing it requires a bit of forethought. Try too hard and you’ll look like a French mime. Don’t try hard enough and you’ll look like a bored waitress (disclaimer: if you are a bored waitress this is an awesome look, carry on). The key is to choose the right monochrome for you, and style it up (but not too much).” It’s definitely trending (see my blog post #trendinginrome), and it’s trending from teen street wear to the Via Condotti power boutiques.

It’s not limited to the high end. It’s trending across economic strata. At breakfast this morning we sat next to a group of women friends meeting before work. Two of them, in black and white, agreed to let me take their pictures. The other women at the table went to lengths to tell me that the woman on the right was a famous soprano – though we didn’t get her name. At another stop, the shop girl on the left (below) helped M look for a small leather purse. She got upset when I tried to take her picture without asking, but happily agreed to pose for this one, and I thought there was some irony in the fact that the woman washing the windows at Chanel fit right into the black and white fashion blog. Everybody is trending black and white.

Just before lunch we saw these two women. The one on the left, beautifully dressed was pacing up and down Via del Babuino carrying on an animated conversation while the one on the right was loading up at the ATM for lunch.

This might not be earth-shattering news, but Italy is at the forefront of design and fashion and it’s fun to be here and watch a trend developing. Whether it’s gluten-free pasta, racy sports cars, or street fashion, Italy is right there. In Bella Roma it’s all about food, fashion, and fun. And, we always finish with a little gelato.

Categories : Fashion/Lifestyle, Food/Restaurants, Music, Travel, Uncategorized, Weather, Work and Adventure

Posted by jdbernard743

· May 27, 2015

· 2 Comments

Rome: A Tale of Two Neighborhoods

The Roman spring is legendary. Southern Europe is warming up but the rest of the continent is just beginning to thaw. Schools are in session and the bulk of this summer’s visitors are still in the planning stages for their Roman holidays. It’s the perfect time to visit.

The last time M and I were here was October of 2003. We rode our bikes from the lakes in the north (Como and Maggiore), south to Milan then down through Tuscany and Umbria to Rome. It was a first-rate adventure but by October the locals were exhausted, tired of tourists, and looking forward to their own vacations. By then the weather had changed and our four days in Rome were rain drenched. It was an exciting trip, but this year is totally different; the weather is perfect, the people welcoming, and the city full of energy.

This is Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps) at 8:30 this morning. You rarely see it so empty. Our apartment is just four doors down the street to the left (Via del Babuino).

Italy and Rome are hugely dependent on the tourism. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it contributes approximately one-third to the Italian GDP annually, and UNESCO estimates that more than half of the world’s artistic and historic patrimony can be found at its countless archeological sites and more than 2000 museums. There is hardly an area that is not drenched in history and artifacts, monuments and great art.

Although summer is almost a month away, May is the beginning of high season and it’s the real reason we are splitting our time between two apartments. When we started our search in March, apartments were beginning to fill up and we couldn’t find just one place for the duration of our two months stay. We were disappointed at having to move during our stay, but it turned out to be a surprise advantage. The two apartments we’ve chosen are in two vastly different neighborhoods – Prati and Piazza di Spagna – and we are seeing two of the faces of Rome from the inside out.

Prati, our first neighborhood, is basically middle class and residential. Located just north of the Vatican, it includes the Vatican and St. Peter’s within its boundaries but there is very little tourist spill over. Walk two blocks north of the Vatican wall and you’re in a neighborhood free of restaurant touts, sunglass sellers and selfie-sticks. You rarely hear English spoken except by the waiters and bartenders, and there are no menus in four languages. There’s a real local feel to the neighborhood.

Our apartment in Prati was a bare bones unit with a bedroom just large enough for a double bed, sandwiched between a tiny kitchen and the small modern bathroom on the other side. It was cozy, adequate, and met our needs.

Its real advantage was its location. It was, as I said, a real neighborhood and within two days we were known and recognized by the grocer, the staff at “our” café, and the people at Ristorante Il Colibri on the corner. Within days we were familiar with the bus and Metro routes as well as most of the streets from St. Peter’s Square to Piazza Clodio where the Vodafone girls knew us from our repeated visits to get the Italian Sim cards working.

Prati was our base for a little over three weeks. Last weekend we said goodbye to Georgio and Lilyana at the Café NovecentoTredici, and moved operations to a larger apartment in the heart of the heart of the tourist area – Piazza di Spagna. The new living room is two stories tall with a sleeping loft above and a view of Roman rooftop gardens to the north.

There’s one small, really small, drawback; the elevator is a vertical coffin for two. You should have seen us getting our bags up when we moved in. Size is only one of the “small” drawbacks, it’s so temperamental that if any one of its three doors is left ajar or opened prematurely the bells and whistles go off throughout the building. M was scolded mercilessly by one of the lower floor residents today and we’re both glad we didn’t have a word for word translation.

That’s it for the drawbacks. On the other side of the ledger, the entrance is four doors from Piazza di Spagna and a block from Via Condotti – Rome’s Rodeo Drive. There’s hardly a luxury brand that isn’t represented on its short, four-block length. Our apartment is on the 5^th floor, over a Chanel store, across the street from Tiffany & Co., a stone’s throw from Missoni, and a block away from McDonald’s.

That’s it. You heard it right; Mickey D is right here in the heart of trendyland, just the other side of the Spanish Steps. But, this is not your fat cousin’s McDonalds. The entrance to Mickey’s takes you into a dark, sleekly designed espresso bar with fresh squeezed blood orange juice, and a pastry case (see below) full of tarts, cakes, and breakfast pastries.

This is no Styrofoam and paper cup joint. The cappuccinos are served in big ceramic cups and the pastries come on plates. The tables are located in little alcoves with indirect lighting and a step above a cobblestone walkway that leads you to a stairway up to a mammoth restaurant space – also sleekly Italian in design.

It’s been years since I was in a McDonald’s, but I have to tell you the cappuccinos here were well crafted, the croissants flaky, and the fresh squeezed juice sweet and pulpy. At 9.6 Euros for two of each, I think it might be our go-to spot for the next three weeks. The same breakfast up the street ran us 37 Euros ($40) on Sunday. And, McD also has a stunning gelato bar. A vacation in Rome is not about saving money at Mickey’s, but Rome’s influence on Mickey is duly noted and shouldn’t be lost on the observer. This is a city that is obsessed with food, fashion, design, and history.

Last year in Paris we were focused on seeing art and studying its history. We loved the markets and sidewalk cafés, but our attention was primarily directed to seeing the art and visiting the museums small and large that house the outstanding collections. This year we’re more involved in food and people watching. There is a different vibe here. People are fashionable but casual and the pace is slower. Life slows and the streets clear around lunchtime, and there are so many good places to eat and so many different ways to deliver it – bars, cafés, trattorias, pizzerias, tavola caldas, bistros, wine bars, ristorantes and even tearooms.

With walking as our only exercise it is a challenge to keep the Pillsbury Doughboy from taking over, but even though a true Italian meal includes antipasto, primi piatti, seconda piatti, dolci, and vino the portions are not American-sized and we usually manage to limit ourselves to splitting an antipasto and two primi, only eating one meal out. We have another month here, so we might have to avoid the scale when we get home. Here’s my motivation; I need to fit in this elevator for three more weeks – and get my bags down too.