Italian Interruption

Monday night

I was vacationing by myself in Italy, and found, to my delight, that my friend Steve S. was going to be there at the same time. I met up with him in a beautiful courtyard, or piazza, surrounded by historic buildings, including a majestic cathedral. All was swell until I suddenly had to go to the bathroom. I excused myself, and had to run all the way around the cathedral, down some steps, through a few doors, and then up some more interior steps till I located a rest room just in time. The toilet was in the lobby of a nice hotel, near the concierge desk. It seemed to be up on a riser, and was enclosed by some oval walls, but if I stood, people could have seen my head, and they probably could see my feet and hear me, if they tried. The guy who was working the desk was a black man, wearing an exotic costume. At first I thought he was a Beefeater, but soon realized that he was dressed as a Vatican guard, with the fancy helmet and everything. I saw him walk outside to give someone directions, and fully expected him to speak Italian, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that he spoke English; he was an American, too.

*****

The whole embarrasing bathroom thing aside, what could be better than meeting a friend in an exotic locale around the world? I've only had this experience once, and it didn't really involve a friend of mine. I accompanied my future wife on a trip to Finland, and our trip coincided with a seminar in Helsinki that would be attended by some of her former coworkers in Maryland. We went to a restaurant and had a very pleasant time, as my wife caught up with them. The only strange thing was that we were all a very long way from home. I thought, "How grand is this? If only we, and our friends, had the money to get together around the globe." "See you in Amsterdam!"