$1.68 Souvenir from Italy

I've remarked before that one simple souvenir I like to bring back from foreign countries is money. On our trip to Italy two weeks ago we got cash from an ATM just in case we needed it. It turned out we didn't. Even the subway in Rome could be paid by tapping a credit card directly at the fare gate. (It was the same with the subway in Panama City... how many more years until this 2010s tech appears in the US?) Thus we strove to spend down our cash but leave just enough to take home as a memento.



There's what was left in our pockets when we headed to the airport last Saturday— €1.47. Or about $1.68 at current exchange rates. Or about $1.98 at the cooked exchange rate the ATM in Italy charged me. 😡

This money now goes in my bagged collection of various foreign currencies I keep in a desk drawer. ...Which I should've checked before the trip... because I already had €5.26 (about $6) from a previous trip years ago. Well, now I have more Euros.

We Forgot to Buy a Real Souvenir in Italy

Earlier today I posted about bringing home a bit of money from Italy as a souvenir. Sadly, no, it's not ancient denarii or sesterces... though that would be awesome if we did! It's just a few dollars worth of modern coins. They're not even particular to Italy because they're Euro. There are 20 countries that use Euro.

I'm not much into souvenirs from foreign countries. So many of the things sold as souvenirs are stupid crap— and just make the house look junky when displayed. Hawk and I will often buy one thing we agree on as a physical memento, something that means something to us and represents the place we visited. For example, we brought back from our Panama trip a painted wood carving of a harpy eagle. This trip, though, we forgot to shop for a souvenir. 😱

How did we forget? First of all, like I just said, it's not a huge reflex on our part to buy ready-made-for-tourists stuff. Second, there surprisingly weren't gift shops scattered all around Rome prompting us to buy stuff. I mean, that's awesome. It's awesome that a city filled with so much history doesn't have junk peddlers every 3 meters trying to monetize the tourist experience.

Sure, we have all our memories of the trip. But no unique souvenir means that we have nothing physical in the house to remind us of a great trip.

Sick and Tired... But Enjoying the Pool Anyway

I was too busy all week to use the pool even as the temperatures have gotten warm. I was too tired in the evenings to use the hot tub as I'd been waking up at 4:30/5am all week due to jet lag. So tops on my list for today, Saturday, was "Relax at the pool, dammit."

Today I even slept in 'til a leisurely 6:30am. But a new wrinkle appeared. I am sick. I've come down with a cold, probably from my quickie trip to Phoenix Mon/Tue. The sickness is slowing me down, but I'm not going to let it keep me from the pool, dammit!



This morning Hawk and I soaked in the hot tub. After lunch we went back out to hang out by the pool a while. Between the weather being not quite as warm as the forecast promised and my achiness and fatigue from this cold, I didn't feel like swimming or even wading in the water. But I did enjoy sitting on the deck for a while, in the shade, a cup of punch in hand.

Sadly, because the aches and fatigue, even relaxing by the pool took a lot out of me. I went back inside after an hour or two to lie in bed until dinner time.